Marc Ciampa
April 24th, 2004

If you're the Calgary Flames, what do you do for an encore?

Having already stolen home ice advantage away from the Detroit Red Wings, they have an opportunity this afternoon (1:00 p.m. MT, CBC/ABC) to take a commanding 2-0 series lead heading back to the Pengrowth Saddledome. But if you're Darryl Sutter how do you prepare your team for what will be a jacked up Detroit Red Wings squad, determined to avenge Thursday's defeat?

FLAMES KEYS TO SUCCESS:

• Faster start: Miikka Kiprusoff saved the Flames in the first half of Thursday's game before Calgary finally got their legs. Chances are, if they come out flat again today the Red Wings will capitalize.
• Patience: One thing that worked to perfection Thursday was that the Flames didn't panic when Detroit was all over them early. The patient style of game eventually paid off with the overtime victory.
• Play with the lead: An early goal could get the Red Wings second-guessing themselves with the chance that the Flames just might escape Detroit up 2-0.

EVERYBODY KNOWS...

Curtis Joseph has owned the Flames throughout his career but what might make him especially difficult to beat today is his record in afternoon games (1.48 GAA, .944 save percentage)… Also, his record this season following losses was 8-1-1.

EVERYBODY SHOULD KNOW...

With 13 different goal scorers in these playoffs, the Flames have the most spread-out offence of any team. Only five Flames (Iginla, Clark, Gelinas, Simon, Saprykin) have more than one goal and only Iginla has more than two goals.

Detroit has ten different goal scorers in the playoffs. Only Brett Hull (two goals) and Robert Lang (three goals) have more than one.

ROSTER UPDATES:

Calgary: Dean McAmmond (back) and Steve Reinprecht (shoulder) are both out for the rest of the season. Dave Lowry (abdomen) and Denis Gauthier (leg) are out. Toni Lydman (upper body) and Chris Simon (leg) could return later on in the series.

Detroit: Dominik Hasek (groin) has been out since December. Other injuries include Niklas Kronwall (leg), Jason Woolley (back) and Mark Mowers (foot) all out for this series.

FAST FACTS:

Detroit's record in overtime is now 2-10 in their last 12 games, dating back to 2000…. The Flames have won back-to-back overtime games. Previous to that, they had lost eight in a row in playoff OT dating back to 1991… Ray Whitney is a -4 so far in these playoffs, with only one goal scored… Rhett Warrener has the lowest plus/minus rating on the Flames at -3… Calgary's average payroll is $1,468,394 while Detroit's is $3,482,885. Detroit's average age is 32 with 20 players over the age of 30… Detroit was a very good bounce-back team during the regular season, with an 11-4-4-1 record following a loss (2-0-0-0 following an overtime loss)… Detroit's all-time record when falling behind a series 1-0 is 14-23 (.378)… Calgary's all-time record when leading a best-of-seven series 1-0 is 5-1 (.833) with the only loss coming in the 1986 Stanley Cup Final against Montreal.

QUOTABLE:

"You've got to focus. You've got to take each game whatever is thrown at you, whether it's lots of shots or not a lot of shots or traffic or whatever. I've been in both situations where you've faced a lot of shots and not a lot of shots, and you have to take whatever is given you, whatever game is being played out there, you've got to be able to play." - Red Wings goaltender Curtis Joseph on staying in the game when not facing a lot of shots. 

"The game-winner in overtime was a turnover down low, a poor read and then bang-bang play from behind the net. It was a very difficult play for the goaltender to stop, and it was top corner, too. Curtis was good, and Calgary found a way to win this hockey game." - Wings coach Dave Lewis on the overtime goal. 

"We knew we had to weather the storm early, and that's what we did. We knew we were going to be tired. That showed, but at the same time, we showed the grit to hang in there in the first period. You're going to play against stars that are older than you. You have to find a way to earn your respect, and many of those guys did that starting with tonight. We respect them a ton, but we can't let them affect the way that we play." - Darryl Sutter on game one. 

HEAD-TO-HEAD:

Calgary leads best-of-seven series tied 1-0

Apr. 22: Calgary 2 at Detroit 1 (OT) Calgary: Regehr, Nilson (Kiprusoff 29 shots, 28 saves) Detroit: Lang (Joseph 18 shots, 16 saves)

Detroit won the season series this year 3-1-0

Nov. 4: Detroit 3 at Calgary 0 
Feb. 26: Detroit 2 at Calgary 1 
Mar. 3: Calgary 1 at Detroit 2 
Mar. 16: Calgary 4 at Detroit 1

1978 Preliminary Round (Red Wings win 2-0)

Apr 11 Detroit Red Wings 5 at Atlanta Flames 3 
Apr 13 Atlanta Flames 2 at Detroit Red Wings 3