It was another test
in a season of tests.
With the morning news
that ultra-hot Miikka
Kiprusoff would be gone
from the Flames net for
at least a month and the
loss of useful centre
Jason Morgan to waivers,
the Calgary Flames faced
another gut check,
another hurdle amid the
wreckage of persistent
injuries to Steve
Reinprecht, Craig
Conroy, Blair Betts and
Roman Turek.
For one period they
failed that challenge,
coming out flat, flat,
flat in the first period
and falling behind
early, good enough for
the welcoming Colorado
Avalanche who won for
the 11th time in their
last 12 visits to the
Saddledome, claiming a
2-1 victory over Calgary
in front of a
disappointed New Year's
Eve crowd of 18,469.
With the Flames back
on their heels much of
the first period,
Colorado jumped into an
early 2-0 lead, Peter
Worrell deflecting a
John-Michael Liles point
shot behind Flames
starter Jamie McLennan
at 8:10 while Steve
Moore finished off a two
on one break with Dan
Hinote at 17:07.
"We seemed to be
a little tentative and waiting
to see what Colorado
would do," analyzed
McLennan on FAN960 of
the first period.
"We didn't get a
good start," said
assistant coach Rob
Cookson on FAN960.
"It's
disappointing. In this
league, if you don't
have a lead it's tough
to come back."
Calgary finally
jumped to attention at
2:50 of the second when
Rhett Warrener, who
hadn't scored in 100
games until netting the
winner against Edmonton
last weekend, plugged a
shorthanded screen shot
past Avs starting
goaltender David
Aebischer.
The goal seemed to
energize the Flames, a
team to that point which
looked like it was
waiting to be beat,
waiting for the worst to
happen and effectively
letting the death wish
come true.
Flames directed 17
shots at Aebischer in
the second period and 10
more in the third but it
was likely Calgary's
abysmal powerplay, now
with only one goal in
its last 47
opportunities, which
finally did the Flames
in.
"Right now it's
coming down to getting
some of those skilled
players back to work on
special teams,"
acknowledged Cookson,
referring to the absence
of Reinprecht and
Conroy, essentially
conceding the Flames
injuries are finally
playing a part in
wins/losses.
Aebischer finished
with 30 saves on the
night, including bailing
himself out of a colossal
blunder in the third
when he fluffed a
clearing attempt and had
to dive across the
crease to pre-empt
Stephane Yelle from
scoring on an otherwise
easy stuff.
"Abby has been
playing great for us and
it was nice for us to
back him up and clear
out those rebounds for
him tonight," said
Steve Moore of the Avs
on the FAN960. "It
was a good confidence
builder for us to show
us we can hold on to
those leads."
The loss was a costly
one for the Flames,
Colorado advancing into
a fifth place tie with
Calgary in the NHL's
tough Western
Conference.
Calgary is now
19-11-3-3 on the year
with 44 points, six
behind Vancouver with
two games in hand, tied
with Colorado and only
three points ahead of
LA, four points ahead of
Dallas with Nashville
looming six points back
in ninth place.Â
"Bottom line is
wins here," said
McLennan. "We're in
a situation where we're
in a dogfight in the
standings. It's so darn
close in our division
between 10th spot and
fourth spot. We've got
to get the points."
Calgary was looking
for its 11th win in
December which would
have been the most wins
in a month for a Flames
team in 13 years.
Avs failed to score
in their two powerplay
opportunities and had 29
shots in the game.
Next up is Vancouver
on Saturday night at the
Saddledome.
