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Flames
Blow Another Lead
Drop
Overtime Game to St. Louis
October 26th, 2002
D'Arcy McGrath
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AP Photo |
| Home Sweet Home?: Flames
come up empty on home ice again. |
Sooner or later they're
going to have to put in a full night's work.
For the fourth straight
Saddledome appearance the Calgary Flames found a way to limit their
take, dropping a 4-3 over time decision to the St. Louis Blues.
And, just like their
previous engagements the Flames appeared to be on their way to their
first home victory only to give up the big goal with dwindling amounts
of time left on the clock.
"We can't keep
coughing up games and points," Flames coach Greg Gilbert said.
"We've proved we can play with teams like St. Louis, but when it
comes down to some tough situations in the game, we are not reacting
properly."
The Flames took a first
period lead when Jordan Leopold scored his first goal in both the season
and his career.Â
Early in the second period
the Blues tied it on a powerplay when former Oiler captain Doug Weight
notched his fourth goal of the season. Before the contest was over,
Weight was to add two assists to his total in a dominating performance.
Before the end of the
second period the Flames retook their lead when Martin Gelinas added his
fourth of the season to send the Flames to the third period with a lead.
Sound familiar?
The Blues owned the third
period territorially, scoring twice on ten final frame shots compared to
the Flames one goal on six.
Cory Stillman notched the
game at two just four minutes in, then put the Blues up for the first
time two minutes later. The former Flame now has four goals and eight
points on the season.
The Flames tied the score
on a powerplay, breaking a four game and over 20 advantage slump. The
goal came with the club's third line on the ice with Chris Clark doing
the honours. Clark now has three goals and six points on the season,
putting him just a point behind Jarome Iginla and 5th on the club.
Finally with just 24
seconds left on the clock Eric Boguniecki, the Blues rookie, put the
game away in overtime, giving the Blues their fifth straight win.
The overtime loss has the
Flames winless in their last four games, but still in 8th place in the
conference with eight points in nine games.
An optimist would point
out that the Flames do have points in seven of their last eight games
though they've let more than one opponent wiggle off the hook.
Will the points in disappointing
out comes be the difference this season, or will the points lost on home
ice early be the team's downfall when April comes around?
The Flames now get four
days off before playing the Buffalo Sabres at home on Thursday.
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