Powerplay Deader than Dead

Through the opening frame the Flames were less dominant than Tuesday's contest, however, still controlled much the play keeping the fans bored and drawing four penalties. For the Flames they had five powerplays in two periods and zero goals. Three posts, but zero goals. A good team like Detroit will destroy you if opportunities are squandered repeatedly.

The Flames were the first to score with Daymond Langkow's rebound jam, his first goal in six games, courtesy of a nice play on the blue line by Mark Giordano who got the shot on net.

The only pressure Colorado sustained was midway through the third when the pace quickened and the hits intensified. The extended play continued for almost 10 minutes without a whistle as Calgary withstood the pressure with their consistent defensive presence that included good help from the forwards.

Both goalies got their fair share, which wasn't much, of work. Peter Budaj getting help from the post and making most of big saves. Kiprusoff made a huge save on the line with two minutes left and held on to triumph for his second shut out of the season.

Notes: No Andre Roy still, likely won't play against a Detroit team either. Lombardi is close to returning which means Prust or Nystrom draw out. Despite a quiet night Iginla recorded his 400th assist.

Should the Flames maintain their “go get the net attitude” with the 51 shots on goal, they can pursue their winning streak again. Nonetheless, there are certain challenges the visiting team will have to anticipate. For starters, they are 3-6-0 on the road while the Avs are 4-4-0 on home ice – so, resilience will play a pivotal role in their success. Secondly, in terms of penalty killing, the difference between the two teams is marginal, and capitalizing on the power play may be difficult for the visiting team. Thirdly, Budaj may present a certain challenge, and the flying, fearless forwards will have to crash past his brick wall. Finally, with Sakic anticipated to be back in the line up, can the Captain be a deterring factor for the determined Flames?

It will be this last challenge that will instigate sports fans to stay glued to The Sports Network (SNET-W) at 7:00 pm tomorrow. Fans on the run can join in the fun on the Fan 960 - a play by play summary will be hosted by the Voice of the Flames, Peter Mahar and his colour commenter, Mike Rogers.

Tips of the day:

The BBC line (Bourque, Boyd and Cammalleri) had been effective at home
The defence can make one mistake only; but too many mistakes can be way costly
Silence can be golden but gold can become rusty if silenced for too long
The firing 5-3 squads will have to rifle their shots to get past Budaj.

Auch! On a closing note, Vandermeer and Lombardi are still out of the line up indefinitely.

Calgary Spends Entire Game Shooting Straight at Goalie

Two steps backwards and one step forward. That's the way the Calgary Flames have been six game winning streak in October. Two divisional rivals faced each other for the third time this season with Calgary taking the first two. Calgary returned home to play against Colorado and a hot Peter Budaj. The Flames faced the same stoic netminder, albeit they didn't test him hard, but they did throw over 30 pucks at him, 20 blocked, after two periods.


The score was indicative of the play, however, two goals came in the last 15 seconds after over 50 shots saved by Peter Budaj.

Calgary dominated play after two on all facets. It was rare for Colorad to maintain sustained pressure in the Flames zone, however, they did strike first when Dion Phaneuf forgot that he plays defence leaving Marek Svatos open in front.

Sustaining pressure deep in the Colorado zone for much of the second, Calgary finally capitalized on a bouncing puck sequence that went from Boyd to Cammalleri to Bourque who chipped in his forth of the season.

One aspect of Calgary's game that was clicking was the powerplay. Special teams were incapable again to get quality chances on the five chances in the first two periods. They started the third period with a two man advantage and got nothing out of it except Colorado's first powerplay.

Both teams returned to full strength and that meant Calgary resumed their dominance downlow racking up their 40th shot, most of the season. Calgary again went on the PP where Bertuzzi, showing some soft hands, almost put the Flames up with a sweet between the legs attempt but Budaj came up big again.

Not to be deterred the Flames again relentless on the puck finally made the Avs pay the price for failing to clear the zone. Scott Hannan tried to flip the puck out of the zone but Adrian Aucoin elevated to grab the puck, put it on his stick, and blasted (he has the hardest shot not Phaneuf) a shot top corner to give the Flames the lead.

The blast would prove to stand as the winner as Colorado couldn't wake up in time to mount an attack against the Flames. When tested, which was rare, Kipper stood tall in net. In the last 15 second two goals by the Flames, an empty netter by Iginla and a nice snap shot by Moss with 5 seconds to spare.

Notes: Yet another night where Jarome Iginla was largely non-existent. Is the guy injured or is just losing his edge? And not, the empty netter doesn't count.

Check it out on SNET-W at 7:30 pm tonight.

Most certainly, if they can display “the killer instinct” that was not evident in San Jose. If they can gather their wits and sharpen their skates, they can challenge their western conference rivals who are sitting behind at 16 points. Nonetheless, although the stats favour the home team (in terms of the number of wins and points earned); Sakic and his troops are a talented bunch who will not doze off in the rink. Speaking of talent, they came back from a 2-1 deficit against the Oilers late in the third to earn the two points in the shoot out win. Besides, they have played fewer games than the Flames (16:18).

Statistical perspective: On the plus side, the visiting team has won only 4 games on the road while the Flames are 6-2-1 – hence, home ice will certainly be an advantage for them. More importantly, if they can fortify their power play and penalty killing statistics, the Flames can establish the desired momentum to counter their opponents.

Keys to the game

 The 3 D’s will be a must for the Flames – Domination, Discipline and Defence.
 The forwards would have to be feisty, fearless and forceful.
 The strong tidal waves from the “Sea of Red” will be a critical factor for the home team’s success
 Above all, it is anticipated that the refs will make good judgment calls minus the biases (of course).

Injury List
J. Vandermeer – out with a leg injury
M. Lombardi – out with upper body injury

Check out the best of the West on The Sports Network (SNET-W) with a play by play summary hosted by the brilliant voices of the Flames, Peter Mahar and Mike Rogers on The Fan 960.

Fans Pissed for Paying PPV Fee for Garbage

Re-match from last season's opening playoff series, only problem, just one team showed up. The Calgary Flames left home to fly to San Jose to play against the nearly perfect SJ Sharks. Turns out they should have stayed on the plane. When playing against the elite teams, Calgary, still, year after year, are marginal at best. Mike Keenan attempted to rouse the troops in Calgary against Toronto and succeeded to some degree thinking he found gold with an Iginla Boyd Glencross line. Nothing translated to success tonight.

Game Lost in One Minute in the First

Stats in the first period alone, total shots, 20 SJ - 5 Flames, total penalties, 4, total goals against, 4, one sided reffing? Sure, hooks called on one end were not reciprocated, same with interference, blame the refs for changing the outcome of the first sure, blame them for soft and bogus calls in the third (both ways), but that doesn't change Calgary simply being horribly outclassed yet again.

Keenan experimented with a new top line and was burned with zero offence. He experimented with Pardy and Glencross on the PK and was BURNED for three powerplay goals. Chaulk up a 'blame point' against the coach for inabilities of running a PK and start players. Mind you, he doesn't lace up the skates.....

Calgary didn't even try to claw back (don't blame the flu) in the second, instead giving up a goal in the first minute. Luckily though (?) it was McElhinney in net. No point covering such a loser team when they fail to show up, I just feel sorry for those who paid the 10 bucks for PPV. Final score above.

Notes: Pardy factors into the lineup regularly with the absence of Vandermeer for an extended period of time. He was victimized for penalties and shotty defensive play on the PK. Another solution perhaps in the works?

It is possible although the San Jose Sharks are #1 in NHL standings while the Flames sit in the third position. But does it matter? Not in the least if their performance is identical to Tuesday night’s game: having better puck possession; winning majority of the face-offs; playing effectively in the defensive zone; and displaying their shooting squad attitude can make a significant contribution in the outcome of a game.

Optimistically, the Flames’ power play percentage is much better (20.69%) than their counterparts (16.09%), and capitalizing on these opportunities would definitely fortify the momentum. However, since the Sharks penalty killing is 85.71%, a lot of scheming will be required from the visiting troops. More importantly, as long as the Flames maintain discipline on ice, they can enhance the Boyds, Bertuzzis, Conroys, Iginlas, and Nystroms to maintain dominance over their western counterparts.

The keys to this game
- Maintaining cohesiveness and control.
- Winning face-offs and out shooting the opposition.
- Maintaining a strong fort at the blue line

Can the Flames prolong their winning streak once again? With the right moves perhaps they can. Check it out on PPV. Keen listeners can tune in to the Fan 960 for the only voice of the Flames and his flamboyant commenter at 8.30 pm.