Deliberately named by
his boss earlier in the
day as the reason why
the Flames lounge in
last place in the NHL's
Western Conference,
Roman Turek responded
with one of his better
efforts of the season
last night.
Although Calgary
coughed up a two goal
lead and had to settle
for a 2-2 tie with
visiting Vancouver, it
was Turek and Canucks
starter Dan Cloutier who
turned an entertaining
tilt into a
cliff-hanger, both
netminders coming up big
at various key points in
the game.
For Turek the contest
was a critical test
given Flames GM Craig
Button had stated in a
newspaper article
earlier in the day that
Calgary's primary
problem this horrific
season has been
inconsistent to awful
goaltending.
The Flames outshot
the Canucks 39-32 on the
night and both
netminders - Cloutier
early and Turek later -
had to stand on their
heads as both teams went
toe-to-toe in generating
chances.
"It was a hard
fought game,"
conceded Canucks Ed
Jovanoski, who netted
the tying goal in the
third period, on FAN960.
"They jumped on us
early. It was a big
point for us."
The key save of the
evening was undoubtedly
Cloutier's miraculous -
and somewhat lucky -
stab at shot from the
stick of Jarome Iginla
three minutes into the
third period. The
Vancouver netminder,
whom many said was
Vancouver's Achilles
Heel at the beginning of
the campaign, never gave
up on the shot, diving
across the crease and
extending his reach by
thrusting his stick out
in desperation. Iginla
was astonished to see
his shot hit the flat of
Cloutier's stick and
skitter away, preventing
the Flames from taking a
3-1 lead.
"He's been our
MVP this year,"
said Jovanovski of
Cloutier. "In the
first period, when they
had that shot barrage,
he's the guy who kept us
in it."
The tie did little to
help Calgary's already
hopeless position in the
standings, the Flames
two points in arrears of
Phoenix for the basement
in the NHL's Western
Conference.
Calgary is 14 points
out of playoff spot.
Flames dominated the
opening frame,
outshooting the Canucks
17-6 and picking up a
1-0 lead when Chris
Drury struck for his
16th of the season,
deflecting a Denis
Gauthier point shot on
the power play through
the legs of Cloutier at
11:41.
Calgary appeared to
take a two goal edge at
the eight minute mark of
the second period but a
puzzling phantom call by
referee Kerry Fraser
waved off a Craig Conroy
marker, Faser apparently
ruling Cloutier had been
interfered with by Rob
Niedermayer in a rare
call of
"coincidental
contact" where the
Flames winger wasn't
penalized yet the goal
denied.
|
2003
Draft Watch |
|
If
the draft was held
today ... |
|
Pick
|
Team
|
Player*
|
| 1 |
Buffalo |
Nikolai
Zherdev |
| 2 |
Atlanta |
Marc
Andre Fleury |
| 3 |
Carolina |
Eric
Stall |
| 4 |
Calgary |
Nathan
Horton |
| 5 |
Florida |
Milan
Michalek |
| *ranking:
McKeen's
2/13/03 |
|
But Calgary overcame
that obstacle only two
minutes later, Jarome
Iginla batting his own
rebound out of the air
and behind Cloutier at
10:20 to give the Flames
a 2-0 margin.
It was Iginla's
eighth goal in the last
six games and his 23rd
on the year.
Vancouver pulled to
within one again when
Brent Sopel picked up a
loose puck at the
blueline on a Canucks
powerplay and whipped a
wrister past a screened
Turek at 13:14.
Jovanovski then tied
it at 12:01 of the third
when Matt Cooke's
cross-crease pass found
the stick of the Canuck
defenceman for an easy
tap-in.
From there both
goaltenders were forced
to come up with several
large saves, not the
least of which was Turek
on Trent Klatt, the
Canuck winger all alone
for a sharp backhand
opportunity with a
minute to go in
regulation.
Flames were two for
six on the power play
while the Canucks scored
once on three
opportunities with the
man advantage.
There were 18,252 in
attendance, an SRO
audience, the eighth of
the season for one of
the worst teams in the
NHL. That in itself
qualifies as a miracle.
The Flames travel to
St. Louis for their next
game, the start of a
five game road trip.
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Your
Calgarypuck
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