It took the Calgary
Flames all of two
minutes to discover that
goaltending alone was
not the sole ingredient
missing from their
winning ways of
December.
In a game all
important for a club in
a four team death match
for three playoff spots
the home squad was
disorganized, lethargic
and somewhat despondent
in a sloppy 5-2 win over
the Atlanta Thrashers.
The first period
started roughly twenty
minutes early for the
Calgary Flames as the
Thrashers, and
specifically their young
star Illya Kovalchuk,
dined on Calgary miscue
after miscue to score
twice and take a 2-1
first period lead.
First Kovalchuk
cruised into the slot
and took a left alone
rebound from the slot
and beat Miikka
Kiprusoff despite a maze
of Flame defenders on
the scene merely
watching.
Dean McAmmond tied
the affair when some
patented Shean Donovan hustle
to leap on a wide open
net opportunity and
notch the score.Â
With a handful of
minutes left in the
period the Flames took
back to back penalties
for high sticking -
first Craig Conroy with
a double minor then
Rhett Warrener with a
single minor - to give
the Thrashers a two man
advantage to close out
the period.
Kovalchuk lit the red
light for the second
time in the period when
he took a cross ice feed
from Dany Heatley and
blasted the puck through
Kiprusoff's pads.
Kiprussoff, used to a
mere 20 shots a night
when he last tended goal
for the Flames, faced 12
first period shots. The Thrashers would only come up with 13 more, the rest of the way.
The Flames regained
some of their steam in
the second period,
taking a measure more of
the play to the visitors
and were rewarded when
Matthew Lombardi
finished off a dandy
three way passing play
to score his 12th of the
season.
Chris Clark shot the
puck into the Thrasher
zone to an awaiting
Steven Reinprecht who
directed the puck back
to Clark behind the
Atlanta cage. Clark
found Lombardi all alone
off to the side of the
net and he beat Atlanta
stopper Passi Nurminen
short side.
The Saddledome crowd
finished the last half
of the second period
blasting Kovalchuk with
raspberries every time
he touched the puck. The
young hot shot winger
gave the patrons a hint
of over reaction by
laying on the ice on two
occasions through two
periods to attempt to
draw penalties.
The Flames were lucky
early in the third
period when they managed
to escape some rather
tense moments in their
own zone, including a 90
minute stretch when
Robyn Regehr broke his
stick, but hung in long
enough to let the
offence take over.
Dean McAmmond scored
his second of the game
when he found a loose
puck off of Jarome
Iginla's skate and
wristed one past
Nurminen.
A few minutes later
the Flames salted things
away when Iginla himself
scored, finishing off a
great cycle shift with
linemates Oleg Saprykin
and Craig Conroy by
lifting a great
backhander past Nurminen.
The win allows one to
gloss over another
sketchy effort by the
Flames, and another game
where their special
teams could of let them
down.
The Flames were zero
for five on the
powerplay for the second
straight game, but that
doesn't even begin to
explain how uphill the
man advantage battle
appeared. The club
literally didn't have a
chance up a player, but
did manage a goal,
McAmmond's second, a
dozen seconds after a
penalty expired.
The Flames head off
to Vancouver for another
game tomorrow night,
their first of five back
to back occasions to
play out the schedule.
