Detroit 4 Calgary Flames 2

Flames Murdered in Motown

D'Arcy McGrath

November 25th, 2001

During the recent home-stand the Flames were playing with fire.

Game after game the team's defensive zone miscues and poor coverage were masked by stellar goaltending by Roman Turek, or blown chances by the opposition. On three other occasions called back goals saved their bacon.

As is often the case a team that plays with fire, gets burned, and so is the case with the Calgary Flames.

A very bad second period sent the Flames to their fifth consecutive decision without a victory, as the Flames fell to the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.

Of course the opposition deserves some credit, too especially when they lead the league with 20 wins, and have only failed to find eight of a possible 50 points coming into the matchup.

Yet the Flames, not the high powered Wings, were their own worst enemy in this one.

Like previous games on this road trip, weak defensive zone coverage, and colossal cough ups have led to numerous opposition goals - with numerous not being an overstatement for affect. On the trip the team gave up no fewer than 17 goals in four games, for an average of 4.25 per game.

The defensive gates opening have resulted in a team defence slip from first overall to a much less acceptable ninth.

First Igor Kravchuk let Tomas Holmstrom get loose in front of the net to put the Wings up by a score of 1-0. Replays were inconclusive, but Kravchuk may have tipped it by the Flames goaltender, Roman Turek.

In the second period back to back gaffs by Derek Morris erased a 2-2 tie and gave the Wings a fairly easy third period in cruising to their 21st victory of the season .

First Morris lost his check, Kirk Maltby, off a face-off in the Calgary zone. Yzerman fed the puck to Brett Hull who fired a one timer that just missed the Flames cage. As the puck bounced off the backboards Maltby lifted it high over Turek's shoulder to put the Wings up for good.

A few minutes later Morris was caught trying to glove the puck down at the Wings blueline, only to have the puck bounce over his head and into a deadly Wings two on one.

On the play, Igor Larionov fed the puck to Luc Robitaille, and the former King blasted a high shot over a helpless Turek.

The third period saw the Wings patiently playing down the clock, with the Flames unable to mount much pressure. The team's fourth game in six nights may have been catching up to them.

Robyn Regehr scored the other Flames goal in the first period. Brett Hull also replied for the Red Wings.

The Wings outshot the Flames by a 32-21 margin, which included a 12-12 mark after the first period.

 

Box Score

FLAMES LINES

McAmmond Conroy Iginla
Niedermayer Savard Clark
Petrovicky Wilm Wright
Lowry Begin Cowan
Regehr Morris
Gauthier Lydman
Kravchuk Boughner

OUR THREE STARS

1) Boyd Devereaux - Former Oiler stood out all night with hustle and heads up plays. Ended with two assists.

2) Brett Hull - Former St. Louis and Dallas sniper scored a patented one time goal, and set up another.

3) Dean McAmmond - Made the most happen on the Flames side of things. Goal and an assist in the first period.


SAVE OF THE GAME

Dominic Hasek was one part fortunate and yet another part skillful when he dropped and stacked the pads in the first period during a goal mouth scramble. Dave Lowry corraled the puck and fired it directly into Hasek's glove at a time that the Flames were looking to take a 3-2 lead. The Wings went on to take control in the second period.


HIT OF THE GAME

Late in the second period, Flame-killer, Darren McCarthy caught an unsuspecting Denis Gauthier with a thunderous hit into the boards as the defenceman pinched in on an offensive opportunity. Gauthier, no stranger to the "hit of the game" section, was quickly up on his feat and back into the play.


NOTES & STATS

The Flames struggling penalty killing looked much better against the Wings' high octane powerplay, foiling the group three times, including a section down two men. ... The Flames came up empty on their only chance of the night. ... Robyn Regehr scored his first goal of the season. ... Roman Turek's streak of gaining at least a point for the team in every games he's played this season came to an end. ... The Wings edged the Flames in the face-off circle by a slim margin, 53% to 47%. Craig Conroy, the Flames best draws-man all season was only good for 33%. ... The Flames out hit the Wings by a count of 23-16.


 

 

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