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Leetch
Sinks Flames in Overtime
McLennan
Shuts Out Rangers for 60 Minutes
November 7th, 2002
Rick Charlton
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AP Photo |
| Iggy Pop-less: Iginla and
the Flames couldn't solve Dan Blackburn |
Another night, another loss in
overtime.
And a point or better in 10 of its last
11 games.
It was another glass half full/half
empty night for the Calgary Flames, losing a discouraging 1-0 overtime
decision to the New York Rangers, Calgary's third overtime loss already
this season, but leaving the Flames with at least a point in an eighth
consecutive game.
Calgary has collected five of a
possible six points to date on its current five game road trip on the
eastern seaboard with two more games to go.
Flames also missed a chance to become
only the second team in NHL history to sweep all three New York teams on
a single road trip after earlier victories at Long Island and in New
Jersey.
Chris Drury might have won the game for
Calgary for the third consecutive night, taking a brilliant Scott Nichol
pass while short-handed late in the third period and batting a shot off
the post behind winning netminder Dan Blackburn.
But a pinching Brian Leetch took a
sharp cross crease Mark Messier pass for a one-timer that barely eluded
hard-luck Flames netminder Jamie McLennan only 51 seconds into overtime
to seal the win for New York in front of the obligatory sellout crowd of
18,200.
"Mess had some time, he's a great
passer . . . . .it was on my tape and went in," said Leetch of the
winning play.
It was the first time in eight games
the high-powered Flames, playing for the third time in four nights, had
scored less than three goals, but oddly enough, the third time in only
14 games this young season the Flames had been shutout.
"I think we played very strong for
most of the game," said Flames defenceman Robyn Regehr. "Jamie
McLennan played a tremendous game for us in net."
McLennan stopped 34 of 35 shots in the
loss while Blackburn halted 26 shots for the shutout.
"We want to keep moving up,"
Regehr added, emphasizing the extra point the Flames received and eyeing
the standings where the Flames sit at 5-3-3-3 on the year, good for 16
points and yes, fourth place in the NHL's Western Conference pending
results from the late games tonight.
The most difficult part of this road
trip is probably now in the rear view mirror, with Mike Keenan's Florida
Panthers next up on Saturday and the hapless Atlanta Thrashers the next
night. Interestingly, it's exactly this type of situation which sank
Calgary last year, putting in solid if not unexpected performances on
some nights but wasting those efforts in losses against the lesser
lights in the league.
If anything, the next two games,
virtual must wins if this team is to continue up the ladder as Regehr
wants, which will test the professionalism and maturity of the emerging
Flames.
Neither team last night was able to
manage any length of fixed pressure, both playing well in their own
zones, perhaps more a surprise for the Rangers given their reputation
than we might have expected from the road team.
Calgary was zero for two on the
powerplay but stopped all five Ranger power plays. Flames were awful to
start the year on the penalty kill but have quietly moved into the top
half of the league overall.
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| Niedermayer |
Drury |
Iginla |
| Gelinas |
Savard |
Kobasew |
| Sloan |
Yelle |
Clark |
| Berube |
Johansson |
Nichol |
| Â |
| Lydman |
Regehr |
| Gauthier |
Leopold |
| Buzek |
Boughner |
 
1
Jamie McLennan
- Made
every stop he
should have
made and a few
more as well
to draw a road
point for the
Flames.
2
Dan Blackburn -
Wasn't as
challenged as
McLennan but
stopped 'em
all and got a
post for luck.
3
Robyn Regehr -
Throwing
Lindros around
most of the
night. He's
light years
ahead of where
he was last
year, living
up to his
potential and
starting to
make another
Pierre Lacroix
trade look
bad.
A
hard pass from
the point by
Vladimir
Malakhov with
only four
minutes
remaining
found Radek
Dvorak wide
open at the
side of the
net for a
quick shot,
but McLennan
slid across
the crease to
stack the pads
and send the
game to
overtime.
Eric
Lindros,
floundering
most of this
season, found
himself flying
when Toni
Lydman lined
him up for a
masterful
quasi-shoulder/hip
check in the
opening
minutes of the
game. Lydman
is mostly
known for his
puck-rushing
skills but has
also been
delivering
some physical
play the
coaches might
not have been
expecting.
You
know, you can
never say this
enough -
Lindros, Bure,
Richter,
Leetch and
Holik make
more than the
entire Flames
payroll ...
Flames Captain
Craig Conroy
sat out his
second
straight game
but declared
during a CTV
Sportsnet
interview that
he would be
ready to play
on Saturday
night versus
Florida.
Conroy said he
had skated 20
minutes
earlier in the
day. Doghouse
centre Marc
Savard played
10:04 in his
absence ...
Dixon Ward had
only 55
seconds of ice
time, barely
cracking a
sweat. Did
anyone notice?
... Jordan
Leopold showed
his speed
mid-way
through the
second period,
pinching in
from the
offensive
blueline but
finding the
Rangers
breaking out
behind him on
a two on one.
From a
standing start
Leopold
recovered to
catch Vladimir
Malakhov by
the Calgary
blueline,
erasing the
odd man
advantage. Or
maybe Malakhov
showed how god
awful slow he
is ... An odd
spectacle -
Chris Drury
led the Flames
with six shots
but his right
winger, Jarome
Iginla, had
zero ...
Regehr was
given the task
of handling
the
physicality of
Eric Lindros
and the
slickness of
Pavel Bure.
"It was
fun playing
against those
guys. I knew I
would face a
big challenge.
It was fun out
there to go
head to head
against those
guys and shut
them
down."
... Leetch led
the Rangers
with 25:31 in
ice time while
Lindros, off
to a
lamentable
start for the
Rangers,
played over 24
minutes after
being benched
two games ago
... Lydman led
the Flames
with 24:46 in
ice time.
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