The Minnesota Wild have long been known as a team that can cause fits to any other in the NHL. With the patience of a neurosurgeon, the Wild follow their game plan to a tee. Get the puck deep, send one forechecker in no further than the top of the circle, and then clog the neutral zone with four bodies scattered to various depths. When followed, it’s effective, it’s frustrating for the opposition, and it’s boring as watching Parliamentary procedure.

The Flames on this night, fell right into the trap of the Wild and looked for all the world like a team that was doing nothing more than going through the motions. So in essence, the Minnesotans had done what they came to do.

Almost.

With a 3rd period like nothing seen in the Saddledome for many a year, the Flames came out like the Ottawa Senators on a 5 on 3 and literally stole the game from the clutches of defeat.

On The Line

A six game winning streak, points in seven straight, and the chance to create the longest streak in Cowtown in 13 years. Also a chance for Jarome Iginla to show the rest of the NHL world why he is regarded among the best on the planet.

The Flow

With a team like Minnesota as the opposition, flow is a risky proposition. Once again they were able to execute their game plan to perfection in the first 2 periods, creating turnovers in the neutral zone almost every other break out. The only real flow was the stream to the sin bin from both sides. Till the 3rd period when all hell broke loose and the flow was one of pucks by the bunch at helpless Wild goalie Dwayne Roloson.

Three Stars
1 - Jarome Iginla. The Calgary captain showed why he is among the highest paid players in the NHL once again this night. The winning goal, two assists, 22 minutes of ice time, and giving it the whole “follow me boys” in the 3rd period, earns this spot hands down.
2 - Dwayne Roloson. The former Flame was outstanding on the evening, particularly in the 3rd period when he faced an unbelievable 25 shots. If not for his heroics, the Flames looked like they could have had seven or eight in the 3rd alone.
3 - Daymond Langkow. The much maligned center scored the key tying goal with just under six minutes left in the 3rd, which allowed for the Iginla heroics later on. Also was 2nd among the forwards with over 19 minutes of ice.

Big Hit

Wild behemoth Derek Boogaard caught Darren McCarty with his head down in the 1st period and plastered the recently concussed Flame tough guy. McCarty was no worse for the wear thankfully.

Big Save

Dwayne Roloson had about 15 of these in the 3rd period alone. However, the one that stuck with me on this night was by Miikka Kiprusoff who stoned fellow Finn Mikko Koivu whilst the Flames were killing a five on three disadvantage in the 2nd period. That one goes in, and I doubt the results would have been the same.

The Goat

Even though he came back and contributed to the win, the horns on this night go to Flames forward Chris Simon. On the Wild’s first period goal, Simon was coming back to his own zone and got tangled up with fellow Flame Roman Hamrlik and wiped him out. When he got back to his feet right in front of his own net, Simon did nothing. Which was a problem. Instead of turning around and picking up the Wild forward, he stood in front and helped provide a screen for Koivu to pop one in. Get out of the way Chris!!

Mr. Clutch

Who else? Jarome Iginla. The St. Albert native literally pulled his team along with him in what can only be described as a performance of a maestro. He is starting to look like the most dominating player in the game once again when all facets are considered. On top of his game would be an understatement.

Odds and Ends

No offense to Roger Millions and the staff at SportsNet, but Mike Brophy adds absolutely nothing to your pre-game and between period spots. He literally uttered the following statement tonight (or something very close) “ Look out for Minnesota, they have eight guys named Joe and they can all skate”. Thanks for that “Broph“……What was with that call on the too many men against Minnesota? Calgary takes a penalty and Roloson heads to the bench, Wild player jumps on the ice and they get a penalty. Brutal call by the linesman…..Then to make matters worse, Paul Devorski calls an even up phantom call as soon as the puck was dropped afterwards. Even more brutal…… An interesting detail from Asst. coach Jim Playfair after the game on Fan960, when he admitted that Darryl Sutter never even went into the dressing room after the 2nd period, but instead opted for the players to figure it out for themselves. He was right…..What did Steven Reinprecht do to deserve the least amount of ice time in this game among forwards not named Weimer? It’s a head scratcher…..Flames tie a team record with 25 shots on net in ONE period. Unbelievable, and only one less than the entire game total for the Wild….Miikka Kiprusoff is now tied with Shean Donovan and Jason Weimer in team scoring totals after being awarded an assist on the winning goal… Another new twist in the Isles/Pens game, when during the shootout, Rick DiPietro knocked the net off its moorings while sliding back to unsuccessfully stop a shot, it was reviewed in Toronto and they called to Pittsburgh to go over it. Thankfully they didn’t overturn the goal as it would have been ridiculous to penalize the scoring team for the goaltenders mistake….Flames win the battle of the dot this night by the narrowest of margins 51-49%….Roman Hamrlik continues to impress with his all around game, and also led the team with 23 minutes of ice…Dion Phaneuf continues his Calder consideration worthy season by adding goal five of the campaign…

Next up - High flying Detroit hit’s the Saddledome ice on Wednesday the 16th.

Lines -

With over 15 line combos counted up front, take your pick. They did, however, start the game like this ...

Reinprecht-Iginla-Kobasew
Amonte-Langkow- McCarty
Simon-Wiemer-Donovan
Nilson–Yelle-MacDonald

Hamrlik-Phaneuf
Leopold-Regehr
Ference-Warrener