Good teams win ugly games.

They win when everything works great. They win when many pieces seem to be in place. They win when it seems nothing is working.

It was that kind of night at the Saddledome on Wednesday night as the Flames turned back the San Jose Sharks by a score of 3-2. They found a way to win.

On The Line

Playoff spots are won and lost in games like the one tonight.  The Flames need to be able to dominate a struggling teams like San Jose if they are to repeat as playoff performers.

The Flow

The game was marred with periods of very dull and non-energetic play.  It was not until after the Flames scored at the half way mark of the first period that either team showed any life.  This trend would continue throughout the game.

Three Stars

1 – Jarome Iginla. No player played particularly spectacular tonight but Iginla created numerous chances and should have finished the night with at least 2 or 3 more assists. 
2 – Robyn Regehr. Was physical all night and sound on the blue line.  Scored what can be considered the game winning goal despite the last second goal by the Sharks.
3 – Patrick Marleau. Finished the night with 2 assists and stood out as the best San Jose player on the night.

Big Hit

Flames defenseman Robyn Regehr crushed a San Jose player in a rare offensive zone hit.  Regehr had jumped up into the rush and finished his check just to the left of Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov.

Big Save

Just a minute after the hit of the game Flames goalie Mikka Kiprusoff made an absolutely outstanding save.  Sharks forwards Milan Michalek and Mark Smith were granted a glorious 2 on 1 with just Flames defenseman Jordan Leopold left to skate back to try and break up the play.  Michalek sent a beautiful saucer pass over Leopold’s stick and Smith was left with an easy one timer into a wide open net.  Kiprusoff was able to slide across the crease with a fair amount of speed and blocked the shot in his equipment.

The Goat

The Flames were consistently having trouble clearing their own zone tonight.  They were lucky to get out of the first ten minutes of the first period even at 0 –0.

Mr. Clutch

The nod has to go to Mikka Kiprusoff.  The Flames scored their go ahead second goal of the game just a minute after Kiprusoff made the Big Save.

Odds and Ends

Only 4 penalties were called in the game.  Calgary received 3 of them…All six Flames defenseman received the same amount of ice time +/- just 1 minute and 53 seconds…Only 2 Flames had over 20 minutes on the ice (Regehr and Ference), the lack of special teams minutes can explain this…Stephane Yelle lead the Flames in Face-offs win percentage with an amazing 72% won.  Overall the Flames were 54% on the night.  A contender for the goat of the night Marcus Nilson lost all 6 face-offs he took…Tonight’s win improves the Flames record to 14-8-2.  They are currently in 4^th spot in the Western Conference.


Next up – The Edmonton Oilers.  Friday November 25^th.  7:00 pm MST. Available on Sportsnet and Fan 960.

Lines -

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

Hamrlik-Phaneuf
Leopold-Regehr
Ference-Warrener