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Late
Collapse Nixes Point
Flames
Full Marks for Tie in
Dallas
October
29th, 2003
Rick Charlton
Never waken a
sleeping giant.
Jordan Leopold's
penalty midway through
the third period gave a
sleepwalking Dallas team
a spark of life, the
Stars scoring three
times in the next eleven
minutes, including Jason
Arnott's winner 17
seconds into overtime to
beat the visiting
Calgary Flames 4-3.
|
| Reinprecht |
Conroy |
Iginla |
| Gelinas |
Lombardi |
Kobasew |
| Saprykin |
Yelle |
Donovan |
| Oliwa |
Betts |
Clark |
| Ference |
Lydman |
| Leopold |
Regehr |
| Gauthier |
Warrener |
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For the Flames this
was a crushing defeat as
they were in clear
control of this contest
through to that decisive
moment. Or more
precisely, the Stars
looked to be accepting
of their fate.
At that point, the
NHL's 29th ranked
penalty kill would fail
in the clutch again
while rookie Dany
Sabourin, starting his
first NHL game, marred
an otherwise fine
performance minutes
later by allowing a soft
one to Guerin on the
inside post, lifting
Dallas off the matt and
extending the game into
overtime where Arnott
bagged the winner on a
Brendan Morrow rebound
only 17 seconds in.
Jarome Iginla also
scored for the Flames
while Guerin notched a
hat trick for the Stars.
"I felt good for
sure but I'd like to
have the win,"
Sabourin told FAN960
after the game. "We
have the point but . . .
. ." "I went
down, I thought I had
it," Sabourin said
of Arnott's winner.
"The first shot was
bouncing. I thought I
had the puck. They came
at the net and put the
rebound in. I was pretty
disappointed they
scored. But its over and
I can't wait to have my
second (start)."
The overtime loss
leaves the Flames at
4-4-0-1 on the year,
good for nine points and
a tie for seventh place
in the NHL's Western
Conference.
It was only Calgary's
second loss in its last
eight starts in Dallas.
In spite of the
setback, Calgary
collects three of a
possible six points on
its short three game
road trip, finishing
1-1-0-1.
Calgary opened
scoring on a quick rush
that saw Craig Conroy
putting a bullet pass on
the tape of Jarome
Iginla's stick,
deflecting the puck past
Marty Turco's
outstretched glove at
the 8:00 mark of the
first period.
Guerin tied the game
when he picked up a
loose puck behind the
net and took advantage
of a miscue between
Robyn Regehr and Conroy,
skating in front of
Sabourin and backhanding
the puck home at 14:50.
But Oleg Saprykin
stunned the 18,209 in
attendance when he
wheeled and fired a
harmless looking shot
from a sharp angle that
caught Turco's stick and
ricocheted into the
Dallas net at 1:35 of
the second.
For Saprykin, it was
a redemption of sorts,
the enigmatic Calgary
winger benched in
Colorado but coming back
with a physical,
involved performance in
Dallas.
Kobasew grabbed a
loose puck behind the
Dallas net and performed
a classic wrap-around,
catching Turco napping
at 6:19, sending the
high-priced Dallas
starter to the showers
with Ron Tugnutt
pitching a shutout the
rest of the way.
Calgary seemed to be
in control from that
point, grinding the
clock down on a
disinterested Dallas
side until Leopold took
his needless holding
penalty at 9:05 of the
third.
Guerin batted in a
loose puck at the side
of the crease on the
ensuing power play at
9:28 and you could see
the Flames visibly sag
while the Stars gained a
second wind.
Arnott then fed a
streaking Guerin coming
down the off wing who
wristed a bullet past
Sabourin on the inside
post at 11:35 to tie the
game.
Dallas outshot the
Flames 28-17, the first
time in four games the
Flames had surrendered
more than 20 shots.
Next up is Columbus
Saturday night at the
Saddledome.
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