Keepin' it close.
That's been the plan
for the Calgary Flames
the past few weeks, a
span of games that have
had them play a lot of
road games against a lot
of tough opponents.
In some games, like
last night in St. Louis,
the plan works to
perfection as they find
a few late goals and
pull one out.Â
However in other
circumstances they come
up short. They found the
short end of the stick
in Ottawa, in New
Jersey, and at home to
Detroit last week. The
same was true on
Wednesday night when the
Flames dropped a carbon
copy 2-1 decision to
those very same Red
Wings, this time in Joe
Louis Arena.
Hockey often has its
share of ironic twists
and turns.
This morning, the
already battered Motor
City squad had another
key injury when Kris
Draper went down with a
shoulder injury at
practice.
No worries Wing fans
... his replacement,
Mark Mowers, filled in
nicely, scoring the game
winner in the third
period.
The veteran Wings,
losers of only two home
contests all season,
were flat on their heels
to start this one, as
the visiting Flames,
tired from a game the
night before, came out
hard and carried the
Lion's share of the
play.
The Flames had the
Wings deep in their own
zone for most of the
first period, and if not
for the great
goaltending of Manny
Legace, or the tight
hands of some Flame
forwards they would have
likely secured a one or
two goal lead.
Legace, the author of
a similar 2-1 win in
Calgary last week, was a
great stand in as a
number one goaltender,
continuing his
reputation as the
league's best backup.
When the first period
dust settled the Flames
had a 12-5 lead in
shots, and a boot-full
of missed opportunities.
Once again in an
ironic note, it was the
Flames failure to score
on the powerplay that
did them in on a night
when yet another
grizzled powerplay QB,
Bryan Leetch was traded.
The Flames came up
empty twice in the first
and three more times in
the second, in what was
truly the difference in
the game.
The ever powerful
Wings, couldn't say the
same, however, as Henrik
Zetterberg broke a
scoreless tie 12 and a
half minutes into the
second period.Â
On the play Roman
Turek had trouble with
an unscreened point shot
by Mathieu Schneider, a
rebound popping out to a
maze of skates and
finally Zetterberg's
tape for an easy tap in.
Calgary had a few
more chances but it was
the aformentioned Mowers
that roofed a backhand
chance over Turek to
make it 2-0 midway
through the third.
Jarome Iginla brought
the Flames closer with a
great individual play,
but then the team lost a
beat in the last minute,
icing the puck twice and
nixing any late game
drama.
Next up for the
Flames is a possible
battle for 5th spot in
the conference when they
take to the ice against
the Dallas Stars on
Friday night.
