The moroseless
mathematics of their
situation has finally
caught up to the sinking
hearts of their fans.
Calgary Flames are 15
points in arrears of a
post-season berth after
a 4-3 loss last night in
Anaheim, their season
essentially over, the
next meaningful game for
this franchise now eight
months in the future.
The only calculating
left to do is figuring
out the most direct
route to the nearest
golf course come April.
The end came in
typical Calgary fashion,
the Flames pointing a
gun at their own feet
and pulling the trigger.
Jarome Iginla will
wear the goat horns,
retrieving the puck deep
in his own zone only
seconds into overtime
but then losing it in
lame fashion to Steve
Rucchin who fed a
wide-open Mike LeClerc
for the point blank game
winner.
This after Toni
Lydman had dramatically
brought the Flames even
with only a tenth of a
second left in
regulation.
|
2003
Draft Watch |
|
If
the draft was held
today ... |
|
Pick
|
Team
|
Player*
|
| 1 |
Buffalo |
Milan
Michalek |
| 2 |
Carolina |
Nathan
Horton |
| 3 |
Atlanta |
Braydon
Coburn |
| 4 |
Calgary |
Marc
Andre Fleury |
| 5 |
Nashville |
Nikolai
Zherdev |
| *ranking:
Redline Report
1/27/03 |
|
The loss drops the
Flames to 18-27-8-4 on
the season, preventing
Calgary for the second
straight game from
moving out of last place
in the NHL's Western
Conference.
With only 25 games
left and a 15 point
deficit not even an
egghead with a slide
rule would be willing to
calculate the odds of
ending seven-tenths of a
decade of futility.
Anaheim opened
scoring on a broken
play, Rucchin collapsing
in a heap in front of
the Flames net after
taking a stick in the
face, distracting enough
Flames for a split
second to allow Patrick
Kjellberg to corral a
loose puck and beat
Calgary starter Jamie
McLennan short side at
10:37 of the second
period.
But Oleg Saprykin
swooped in from the left
side and drifted a
rocket through the
wickets of an astonished
Jean Sebastien Giguere
at 17:06 to tie the game
through 20 minutes.
Calgary took a 2-1
lead on a two man
powerplay when Chris
Drury's blast from the
point eluded a screened
Giguere at 3:01 of the
third.
But Sykora then tied
the score at 6:09 before
giving Anaheim the lead
at 10:11 with another
point blank drive on
Flames starter Jamie
McLennnan.
From there it was two
goals within 11 seconds
- one-tenth of a second
left in regulation and
10 seconds into overtime
for the Anaheim win.
Flames outshot the
Ducks 33-24.
Calgary was one for
six on the power play
while the Ducks were one
for four with the man
advantage.
Next up is LA
Thursday night.
