Look at this, the eighth road win of the season, the lowest in the NHL, but perhaps a sign of things to come? Langkow scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Calgary Flames won their fourth in a row with a 4-2 victory over the struggling Edmonton Oilers.
Albeit, Calgary will play St. Louis next and thus some may say they’re play is not reflective of ‘real games’. Nonetheless, things are starting to come together, especially defensively. For starter, Miikka is playing much better, making timely and key stops, showing why he’s going to be paid 6-8 million next season.
Stephane Yelle, David Moss and Jarome Iginla also scored for the Flames, while Fernando Pisani had both goals for Edmonton.
Calgary (35-21-9) moved one point ahead of both San Jose and Minnesota for sixth place in the Western Conference. The Flames jumped out to a 1-0 lead after an Oilers miscue just over seven minutes in when Shawn Horcoff lost the handle on a breakout pass. Kristian Huselius was there to backhand the puck to a wide-open Moss.
The Oilers responded a couple minutes later when Pisani picked up a goal on a rebound off Kiprusoff could not control. Zyuzin made gaffs on both goals tonight, one wonders if he’ll sit against St. Louis.
The play traded between the teams in the second on third. Calgary though largely dominated the 5v5 play again. It’s good to see some third line scoring (Godard with first Flames point tonight) and the top two lines continuing to produce.
Notes: Hemsky left the game in the first period with an upper body injury after Stuart leveled him in the second. Mark Messier was still in Edmonton on Saturday and tried to help motivate his former team as he took to the ice with the Oilers during their morning skate. Messier had another reason to get in a workout though as he and a team of former NHLers will be going head-to-head against the Texas Tornado of the NAHL on March 17.