Provincial Foes Tie Up the Year 

D'Arcy McGrath

December 31st, 2001

Sometimes a tie is a fitting conclusion to a well fought hockey game; this ... was one of those nights.

For the second straight home game the Flames used the "come from behind" methodology to forge key points in the Western Conference, to stem the tide of a losing month.

The game had hitting, scorings, some key saves from the goaltenders, and as CTV's Craig Simpson uttered during third period action on their telecast "this one was an epic".

The Flames started tentatively, with the Oilers taking the play to the home side for the majority of the first period.

The Oilers were rewarded for their jump when Rem Murray capitalized on a fortuitous rebound  and fired a backhand past a well screened Roman Turek.

Later in the first period the Flames tied the score at one on a classic set up by league point leader Jarome Iginla. Taking a page from the Power Forward Guide, Iginla marched straight up the middle between two Oiler defenders, held off a check and fed a streaking Craig Conroy. Conroy was successful on his redirection for his 13th of the season.

Conroy's career best goal total is 14, leaving him 42 more games to notch two more goals to best the mark.

The Oilers put themselves up a goal once again with a powerplay marker in the period's last minute. A wildly deflected point shot from Eric Brewer made it's way to Turek's crease, and was cashed in by Anson Carter.

Shots on goal in the first period favoured the Oilers, 12 to five.

The second period was a scoreless affair despite the fact that the Flames managed to carry the majority of the play. Shots on goal for the second period were 16 to six for the Flames, with Calgary coming up empty on four different man advantages.

The Flames finally tied the game in the third period when Steve Begin fired a seeing eye shot from the hash marks past a startled Tommy Salo. The goal was Begin's fourth of the season, and second in successive games.

From that point on the goaltenders ruled the day keeping the games' scorers at bay and forcing an overtime period. 

Each side had a handful of golden opportunities in the extra frame but the game remained tied when time ran out.

The final shots on goal favoured Calgary by a 35-27 margin.

The games sold out with 17,409 in attendance.

SAVE OF THE GAME

More by timing than by difficulty, Tommy Salo gets the nod for stoning Marc Savard on a hard slap shot in overtime, getting enough of it to steer the puck to the corner.

HIT OF THE GAME

Calgarian Jason Smith flattened Flame captain Dave Lowry with a stiff check on the goal line in the second period. The hit left Lowry sprawled out on the ice.

NOTES & STATS

The Flames injury woes took another major blow on the nigth when Calgary defenceman Denis Gauthier took a rolling puck slap shot in the face in the first period. The contact left Gauthier down on the ice for several minutes. The early prognosis is a broken cheekbone and a concussions, a combination that could see Gauthier miss over a month of action. With Derek Morris already sidelined with wrist surgery, the recently completed Petr Buzek trade takes on even more importance. ... The face offs were very close on the night with the Flames taking 52% of the draws. Clarke Wilm and Marc Savard led the way for Calgary. Marty Reasoner was an awful 11% in the circle on the night for the Oilers. ... The Flames out hit the Oilers 36 to 28 on the night, but Edmonton's Eric Brewer led all skaters with seven. Calgary was led by Chris Clark, Ron Petrovicky and Scott Nichol, as each had five. ... The Flames got offence from a line other than the Conroy-Iginla line again with Begin's goal. Over the course of the game all four lines had jump, creating chances, and carrying the play to some degree.