There are no good
times to hook up with
the NHL elite, but the
Flames had a lot of
factors going for them
when the arrived in
Vancouver on Thursday.
The Canucks were
coming off a road trip,
had been sitting since
Saturday night, and were
likely looking forward
to a home and home with
the Avalanche.
Oh, and their captain
and offensive leader
Markus Naslund was
hobbled by a sore groin.
The Flames took full
advantage, eking out an
impressive 4-1 victory.
|
| McAmmond |
Yelle |
Iginla |
| Gelinas |
Conroy |
Donovan |
| Saprykin |
Lombardi |
Clark |
| Oliwa |
Morgan |
Lowry |
| Regehr |
Leopold |
| Gauthier |
Warrener |
| Montador |
Lydman |
|
The
first period was a
penalty filled affair -
pretty much the exact
opposite of the type of
game the Flames were
looking to play.
It
was the Flames, however,
that came out of the
period with the only
goal, converting one of
their two powerplay
chances while the
Canucks came up empty on
three of their own.
On
the play the Flames had
pressure in the slot
with numerous chances to
score including a great
toe save by Mattias
Ohlund on Jarome Iginla.
It
was Iginla that got the
last laugh however when
he dribbled a rebound
off a Stephane Yelle
shot into the net as he
was being taken down,
his sixth of the season
and 2nd in two games.
It
marked the first time
this season that Iginla
has a) scored a
powerplay goal and b)
scored in back to back
games.
The
Flames and Canucks each
had eight shots in the
first period.
The
second period featured
more five on five play
with one minor penalty
called, giving the
Flames a chance to roll
their lines and use
their forecheck to hold
back the powerplay
Canucks.
The
Craig Conroy line, with
wingers Shean Donovan
and Martin Gelinas, were
especially effective, reeking
havoc down low with
their cycle and getting
numerous chances.
The
trio had their hard work
pay off when Conroy fed
Donovan in front of the
net. The puck flipped up
in the air, fell to the
ice and then Donovan
turned and roofed it for
his 7th of the season.
With
the goal Donovan
wrestled the lead back
away from Iginla, and
his first period tally.
"We
had some work down low,
and I ended up getting
the shot. It was great
we got two points out of
it. Everyone played well
tonight", Donovan
told Sportsnet after the
game.
"We
have four lines,
everyone can play with
each other. I have the
lucky hand now, but it
will be someone else
later."
And
luck they had in the
third period,
essentially scoring two
empty net goals to
sandwich a Canuck
shutout buster to salt
things away.
First
Martin Gelinas jumped on
a fortuitous bounce off
the end boards and fired
a low shot at an empty
Canuck cage.
The
rebound bounced back to
him and he managed to
slide the puck under a
leaping Craig Conroy
before Dan Cloutier
could get back to his
post.
The
Canucks foiled Miikka
Kiprusoff's shut out bid
a few minutes later when
a Maren Malik point shot
hit a skate went off
Kiprusoff and back out
front to a willing
Trevor Linden for his
6th of the season.
Iginla
put the capper on the
win with an empty net
goal with less than a
minute left.
The
win evens the season
series with the Canucks
at a win apiece plus a
tie.
Two
points vault the Flames
up the West Standing
into sole possession of
8th spot with 26 points.
Looking up they trail
the 7th place Sharks by
one point with three
games in hand, the 6th
place Kings by two
points with two games in
hand, and the 5th place
Predators by three
points with two games in
hand.
Next
up for the Flames is a
home game tomorrow night
versus the Minnesota
Wild.Â
