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 Former
Blues Large in St. Louis
D'Arcy
McGrath
October
22nd, 2001
When a player gets traded there are
certain dates that get marked on the calendar.
First and foremost a player looks forward
to playing against their old teammates, perhaps proving them wrong in
moving you along your way.
When said team makes said player the
scapegoat of past playoff disappointments, the calendar gets marked with
a dark, red pen.
Roman Turek played down the meeting,
telling the Calgary Herald it was just another game, that the two points
were the key issue at state.
By his play however, clearly nothing
could be further from the truth - as the big goaltender turned away his
former teammates 3-2 to advance the Flames early season wining streak to
four straight games.
The Flames opened the scoring in the
first period, when another former Blue, Craig Conroy with his first of
two on the night, extracted his own revenge, popping his third of the
season.
Conroy took a heads up pass from line mate
Dean McAmmond and beat former Flame, Fred Brathwaite, after cutting around the outside and using his speed to get in alone.
The score remained 1-0 Calgary, until the
second period when the Blues struck for back to back goals, only a
couple of minutes apart.
The game was tied when Jamal Mayers
scored a curious goal, one that Turek would likely love to have back. On
the play, Mayers cleverly tipped the puck only to have a sharp Turek
corral it, yet inadvertently steer it into his own net.
A few minutes later Pavol Demitra put the
Blues ahead for their only lead of the night, catching Turek down and
sliding the puck into the far side of the net from a near impossible
angle.
Before the end of the period the Flames
managed to tie the game, when Scott Nichol scored his second NHL goal
with Turek pulled on a delayed penalty. The goal came on an outstanding
feed from Jarome Iginla, leaving Nichol with a wide open net. The Blues disputed the goal
arguing that they had touched the puck, though replays showed they
hadn't managed control.
The Flames went ahead in the third period
on a goal by Craig Conroy, his second of the evening, giving the squad
their seventh win in nine starts on the season - setting a new nine game
record for best start in Calgary Flames history.
The goal came on a third period powerplay
after Conroy directed the puck towards a stretching Fred Brathwaite. The
puck bounced around wildly before crossing the goal line.
"I think it hit Pronger's leg, and
it was just nice to see it cross the line to give us the lead, with
Roman back there you knew we had a chance", said Conroy after the
game.
"I could have kissed him right
there", added Conroy when asked about Turek's third period save on
Doug Weight.
The Flames previous best start was set in 1989,
the season the Flames won the Stanley Cup. The franchise record was set
in 1978 when the Flames started the season with ten straight wins.
The win vaults the Flames past the Red
Wings into first place in the Western Conference, awaiting the result of
the Oilers-Predators game at Skyreach.
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Calgary Flames 3 St. Louis Blues 2 
