Who needs luck?
The Calgary Flames
stared the black cat of
calendar dates, Friday
the 13th, straight in
the face and came out
with a hard fought nail
biter, 2-1 over the
Anaheim Mighty Ducks at
the Saddledome tonight.
A club doesn't need a
whole lot of luck, good
or bad, when they get
top notch goaltending,
and that was exactly the
case on Friday night.
Miikka Kiprusoff
faced only 26 shots on
the night, but was
steady and calm
throughout the contest
in making 25 saves and
leading his club to
their third straight
contest.
For Kiprusoff it was
his second straight win
after coming off a six
week knee injury rehab,
the bread surrounding
Roman Turek's victory in
Vancouver in a streak
sandwich.
The Calgary Flames
now head out on the road
for a very difficult
road trip with a six
point cushion for a
playoff spot, a bulge
that few would have
predicted just a week
ago for a team that
couldn't put back to
back wins together for
over six weeks.
The game itself was
robbed of any real flow
by the officials with
nine penalties called in
the games first 30 some
minutes, leaving both
coaches with little
choice but to shorten up
their benches and tire
out the core of their
respective teams.
The Flames gassed
their first two man
advantages in the first
period but finally hit
PP pay dirt when Jordan
Leopold floated a seeing
eye shot through traffic
and past a startled J.S.
Giguere. If Giguere's
shoulder pads were just
a touch taller and a
little bit wider he
might have had it, but I
digress.
The Ducks got in
penalty trouble again
the second period when
Vinnie Prospal argued a
Sergei Fedorov hooking
penalty and landed in
the box himself, sending
the Flames to a two
minute, two man
advantage.
The streaking Jarome
Iginla took full
advantage when he
drilled a Craig Conroy
cross ice pass through
Giguere for his 28th
goal of the season.
The goal was Iginla's
9th goal in his last
seven games and
incredibly the Flames
captain has 16 of his 28
markers in the last six
weeks.
A few minutes later
it was pay back time
with the first of four
straight penalties
called against Calgary
resulting in a puck
behind Kiprusoff, though
it wasn't immediately obvious.
Steve Rucchin took a
pass in the slot and
fired the puck past
Kiprusoff into the net
and out off the goal
post. When play finally
stopped a few minutes
later the officials went
upstairs, checked the
replay and called it a
goal.
That was it for the
scoring on the night.
The Flames came out a
little jittery in the
third period, but
settled down and
prevented the Ducks from
mounting any serious
forays into the Calgary
zone.Â
When the Ducks did
penetrate the Calgary
line, the ever cool
Kiprusoff turned pucks
aside and preserved the
win.
The victory moves the
Flames nine games over
.500 for the fourth time
this season, giving them
a chance to finally get
that +10 monkey off
their backs Sunday in
Minnesota.Â
Tonight's game, a
contest very similar to
many of the team's wins
through their streak in
December, is exactly the
type of game they'll
need to play to be
successful in five very
onerous hockey barns.
A good trip now can
go a long ways towards
the club's first playoff
appearance in seven long
years.
