It appears reports of
the demise of the Roman
Empire were somewhat
overstated.
The down trodden and
left for dead
goaltender, boo'd by the
fans a few months ago,
and waivered by the club
just last week stood
Large, shutting out the
St. Louis Blues by a
score of 3-0.
Ironically the hard
charging Blues hadn't
lost a game since the
Flames marched into
Missouri and beat them
less than two weeks ago.
Luckily for St. Louis
the two teams aren't set
to meet again this
season.
The National Hockey
League's trade deadline
caused a stir in the
hockey world as it does
every year in early
March with many a big
name moving from one
local to another.
Lost in the hoopla
were some more subtle
moves made by the Flames
in picking up Chris
Simon and Marcus Naslund,
to add to the earlier
pick up of Ville
Nieminen.
A handful of days
later it would be hard
to argue that any team
has achieved more
mileage from their new
additions than the
Flames ... at least so
far.
The Flames opened the
scoring early, for the
second time in two
nights and by the same
authour, when newcomer
Marcus Nilson took a
backhand pass from
linemate Shean Donovan
and one timed his 10th
of the season.
A ten goal season may
now raise eyebrows for
perusers of tomorrow
morning's box scores,
but the player had only
six five days ago when
he arrived in Calgary.
The Flames outshot
the Blues by a 8-6
margin in the first
period despite the Blues
enjoying the only
powerplay.
St. Louis revved it
up a notch in the middle
frame, firing 12 shots
at Turek and coming
close on numerous
occasions.
The Flames answered
the Blues pressure by
adding some mid game
insurance when Jordan
Leopold made a smart
play in setting up Craig
Conroy for his 5th of
the season.
Leopold picked up the
puck on the blueline,
saw his shooting angle
was closing, but took a
step to his right and
fired a wrist shot
towards the Blue cage.
Conroy, in the slot,
tipped the puck home.
The Flames didn't
exactly sit on their
third period lead, but
they did tighten things
down, forming a wall
across the blueline and
trying to limit the high
budget Blues chances in
their efforts to draw
closer.
In fact the Blues
were only able to muster
seven third period shots
on their former number
one goaltender.
Roman Turek was
strong again in the
third on the chances he
did face, but it was the
Flames that zapped any
late game drama when
Chris Simon collected a
loose puck created by
Jarome Iginla to score
his second in Flame
silks into an empty net.
The win gives the
Flames 82 points on the
season, a mark that is
somewhat significant in
that in guarantees the
team a .500 or better
record for the first
time since the 1994-95
season. That season,
shortened by the 1994
lockout, had the team
seven games over .500, a
mark this year's edition
will have to best if
they have any hopes of
making the playoffs.
The win gives the
Flames an improbable
three points out of four
in back to back games in
two tough buildings
against two opponents
that would like nothing
better than to take a
pound of flesh from
Calgary.
Don't kid yourself,
the bottom line at this
time of season is the
two points, but the
interesting sub plot of
a Roman Turek shutout
adds a whole new
positive wrinkle to the
stretch drive.
Rome may not have
been built in a day, but
with one meaningful
night the confidence and
short term future of
this beleaguered
goaltender was built
from the ground up.
With very little
ground left to cover on
the 2003-04 season, the
Flames can use all the
help they can get.
