Daymond Langkow scored a pretty tip in for a rare road PP goal that stood as the game winner for the Flames. Coming into Chicago to open the longest road trip of the season, Calgary appeared to be back to their old losing ways early in the first.
Dion Phanuef committed a number of early defensive giveaways that lead to penalties or glorious scoring chances. You could only shake your head and wonder how the score wasn’t lopsided going into the 1st intermission. Somewhat surprisingly the answer lied with the goalie, Kiprusoff appears to be back in form saving 33 of 35 shots on goal stoning Chicago a number of times late in the game.
Calgary went down first trailing 0-1 off a nice Robert Lang tip that beat Kiprusoff. It appeared as if the old Flames were back running around lost in their own zones. The intensity was average and the half filled arena didn’t help pick things up. Thankfully, the second period was more interesting and intense with a number of big hits by the Calgary D.
Calgary kept on throwing pucks at the net but it appeared they wouldn’t be able to solve Khabibulin. That was until Owen Nolan blasted a shot from well outside that went top shelf past the outstretched goalie glove. Calgary tied it up and kept the pressure going.
Third period saw more secondary scoring. First a lucky goal from Sarich off a skate put the Flames up by 1. Chicago had a couple glorious scoring chances but the point blank shots didn’t beat Kiprusoff who appears to be back in old form. 2 minutes after Sarich scored Langkow potted his 11th on the PP.
The Flames wouldn’t be able to sit back as less than a minute later Chicago drew within one after a mad scramble in front of the net. The final 5 minutes proved to be interesting as Chicago relentlessly pressured Calgary and nearly tied it up with seconds to spare but in the end Kipper’s tall play saved Calgary and secondary scoring ruled the day.
A good start to a long road-trip with a number of signs pointing to positive gains for the team. Next up is Florida Tuesday.
