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CALGARY FLAMES 2000-2001 SEASON

Points ... 73 (20TH) Wins .... 27 (24th) Goals For ... 197 (25th) Goals Vs. .... 236 (20th) Home Wins .... 12 (27th) Road Wins .... 15 (16th) O.T. Losses ... 4 (12th)

Powerplay .... 14% (20th) Home P.P. .... 12.5% (27th) Road P.P. .... 17.5% (10th) Penalty Kill .. 79.9% (28th) Home P.K. .... 83.2% (20th) Road P.K. .... 76.9% (29th)

Martin Brochu recorded his 3^rd straight series opening shutout as the Saint John Flames beat the Providence Bruins 2-0 in the opening game of the AHL Eastern Conference Finals. It was the 5^th straight home playoff win for the Flames, who will try to make it six in a row on Sunday night.

The 4628 Harbour Station fans filled the arena with noise as the Flames took the ice and remained standing until the team recorded its first shot on goal. The fans didn�t have to wait long for the home side to take the lead. Just seven minutes in, with the Flames on a power play, Steve Begin redirected a Micki Dupont blast from the point, fooling Bruin goalie John Grahame. The Flames had a number of chances late in the 1^st to add to their lead, but Grahame kept the game close. Providence came close a couple of times in the 2^nd period, but Martin Brochu made several big saves, and the Saint John defense cleared the dangerous rebounds.

The Flames went up 2-0 in the 3^rd when Rick Mrozik�s point shot hit a Providence defender and found the back of the net. This goal seemed to deflate the Bruins, who only recorded a couple of shots in the last fifteen minutes of play. The Flames played their system to perfection down the stretch and controlled the pace of the game, skating away with a dominating 2-0 victory. The Flames were one-for-four on the power play and were able to kill all three penalties assessed against them.

• Martin Brochu leads AHL goaltenders with 7 wins and 3 shutouts.
• Sergei Varlamov�s 8 game point scoring streak was stopped, although he certainly had many chances to continue the streak.
• Steve Begin is 3^rd in the league with 7 playoff goals, and 1^st with 4 power play goals. He had only 12 goals during the regular season.
• Chris Clark missed the game with a back injury. His status is unknown for Sunday.
• Bobby Russell made his Flames debut, and fit in nicely with the close knit team.
• The Flames signed ECHL snipers Jamie Ling (brother of former Flame David), and Jeff Mitchell.

1. Begin (Dupont, Fata) PP
2. Mrozik (Tkaczuk, Begin)

http://scoreboard.canoe.ca/11446/FINA-89-AHL-PRO-SNB-11446-1.html

3. John Grahame, 36 saves.

2. Martin Brochu, 19 save shutout.

1. Steve Begin, game winning goal, assist, and excellence defense.

Murray � Varlamov � Botterill

Tkaczuk � Begin -- Russell

Betts � Roche � Fata

Royer - Doull

Walser � Martin

Montador � Scoville

Mrozik � Dupont

Scratches: Chris St. Croix (healthy), Miika Elomo (broken nose, out), Jason Morgan (facial laceration, day-to-day), Chris Clark (back injury), Jeff Dewar (healthy), Jeff Mitchell (healthy), Jamie Ling (healthy), Kenny Corupe (groin), Dany Sabourin (healthy).

Aaron McCracken is a freelance writer from New Brunswick. He covers the Saint John Flames for Calgary Puck / Fire on Ice. He can be reached at [email protected] .