Quick Start Turek Finish

Rick Charlton

January 8th, 2002

It was the Roman Jarome show again last night in New York.

The rather simplistic formula of Roman Turek and Jarome Iginla was trotted out once again last night in a critical 5-2 Calgary road victory over the Islanders, cementing the two Flame players as the dead heat candidates for team MVP honours so far this year.

Iginla scored once and added two assists to extend his league leading point total to 52 while Turek nailed down the win under a hail of third period Islander shots.

The win pushed Calgary's record to 19-14-8-2 on the season, good for 48 points and a much needed three point cushion over trailing Phoenix for eighth spot in the Western Conference.

The win also put some distance between the Flames and the charging Los Angeles Kings, now five points in arrears of Calgary.

While the Flames are certainly keeping an eye on the rear view mirror, the win also left Calgary tied with Dallas in the very tight Western Conference, one point behind St. Louis and three behind Colorado and San Jose. At press time the Blues were up three goals on the Sharks suggesting a potential three way tie for the 4th spot in the West.

This one carried an eerie similarity to the 3-1 Calgary win over Buffalo last week where the Flames jumped ahead early then seemed to wilt badly down the stretch.

The first period was all Flames and Calgary built a 3-1 edge while outshooting New York 16-8. But the Islanders came out storming in the second before outshooting the Flames 20-3 in the final period.

Incredibly, the Flames scored on two of their three third period shots.

Flames opened the scoring only a minute in when a stumbling Marc Savard from the side of the net tossed a pass to a wide open Jarome Iginla streaking in. Iginla took only a split second to blast a shot through Islander starter Chris Osgood for his 29th of the year.

But the Islanders tied it at 4:43 on a broken play when Islander defenceman Dick Tarnstrom fanned on a point shot but the dribbler found its way to Mike Peca alone in front. Peca then deposited the puck to a wide open net, Calgary starter Roman Turek had moved out to cut the angle down on the Tarnstrom shot.

Calgary regained its one goal advantage only 34 seconds later when Dean McAmmond, with his first goal in five games and 11th on the year. McAmmond deflected a Petr Buzek point shot behind Osgood.

Flames continued their strong play throughout the period, overwhelming the Islanders at times, an effort that paid off at 18:41 on a crisp passing play when Chris Clark notched his fourth of the season. Iginla passed up ice to a rushing Toni Lydman who streaked into the Islander zone then hit an open Clark who finished the play with a crisp backhand behind Osgood.

Garth Snow took over from Osgood to start the second and the switch seemed to give the Islanders life But Turek held the fort for the Flames until Steve Montador, with his first career NHL goal, whistled a shot through Snow at 12:17 of the third after a brilliant pass by Iginla.

Shawn Bates finally broke through the Turek wall with an even strength goal at 16:12.

The Islanders pulled Snow with 2:08 to play but Turek made a series of excellent stops before Wilm iced the win with an empty net marker with 15 seconds to play.

A key to this game might have been the offensive play of Calgary's defence, jumping into the play as they had in the first six weeks of the season and seemingly rattling the Islanders who didn't appear to be expecting the tactic.

Calgary's defencemen, which had been inordinately soft in front of their own net of late, showed some muscle this game, giving the Islanders little from the slot, particularly through the efforts of Bob Boughner.

The game may have been a costly for the Flames as Rob Niedermayer appeared to blow a knee on an ugly hit from 6' 6" Islander defencemen that left the Calgary centre writhing in pain. The official early word was a sprained knee on the original hit and a sprained ankle on the landing.

Flames were zero for two on the powerplay and the Islanders were zero for three.

Final shots were 37-25 for the Islanders.

Next up is New Jersey tomorrow night.

Calgary has now defeated New York eight straight times, a statistic which bodes well for an Islander visit to the Saddledome next week.

Turek is 18-10-7 on the year.

Box Score

FLAMES LINES

OUR THREE STARS

1) Roman Turek - Who is more valuable - the league's leading scorer or the guy who stops the puck? On this night, it was Turek. 

2) Jarome Iginla - a dominating offensive performance 

3) Bob Boughner - With Derek Morris and Denis Gauthier out, the veteran is stepping up his play and making a difference.

SAVE OF THE GAME

Amid a flurry of chances in the last two minutes, Turek slid across the crease to deny an open net to Brad Isbister. Wilm then scored to cement the win.

HIT OF THE GAME

Not much doubt about this one as resident Islander monster Cairns stood up Niedermayer at the 15 minute mark of the first period. To call this a dirty hit might be extravagant as Cairns didn't appear to stick his knee out and Niedermayer, after doing a mid-air swivel, seemed to land awkwardly.

NOTES & STATS

Steve Montador stepped into Dave Scatchard early in the first period after Ron Petrovicky was elbowed heavily by Scatchard early in the first. Coach Greg Gilbert must have been happy to see that. . . . . . A dreary day weather-wise meant the Flames skipped a visit to the World Trade Centre site, one of the few teams which hasn't used a New York trip to pay their respects . . . . . . . Attendance was 13,285 on the night, which actually left the Islander television announcers incredulous with delight considering the pitiful mid-week crowds of the last few years. . . . . . . After our article on NHL hits last week it was interesting to note the two teams had racked up 24 hits by the end of the first period - which might be an average for an entire game in Edmonton. Long Island is one of the highest hit total buildings in the NHL and it didn't disappoint on this night, the Flames outhitting the Islanders 40-33. Boughner and Petrovicky led the Flames with eight each while, predictably, Mike Peca and Cairns led the Islanders with five each. . . . . . . At one point the Islanders were annihilating the Flames in the faceoff circle by a margin of 20-9, but the Flames clawed their way back and at least looked "respectable" with a final percentage of 44%. Conroy has been struggling in the faceoff circle and finished this night at 43%. Alexei Yashin was 64% for the Islanders. Amazingly, Peca was a dismal 40%. . . . . . . Steve Begin was a scratch with the flu.