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Toothless
Flames Fall to Sabres
Big
Line Continues Big Zero
October
18th, 2003
Rick Charlton
Last year's worst
road team and the worst
defensive team so far
this young season was an
overpowering opponent
for the Flames last
night, Calgary dropping
a paralyzing 2-0
decision to the Buffalo
Sabres in front of
14,139 unfortunate
paying witnesses at the
Saddledome.
|
| McAmmond |
Conroy |
Iginla |
| Gelinas |
Betts |
Donovan |
| Saprykin |
Lombardi |
Kobasew |
| Oliwa |
Lowry |
Clark |
| Ference |
Lydman |
| Leopold |
Regehr |
| Gauthier |
Warrener |
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It's games like this
where the Flames have
consistently
self-immolated
themselves these last
seven years out of the
playoffs, points against
an inferior opponent
clutched away as they
torch themselves with a
less than stellar
performance.
There's no excuses
for us," said
Flames Chuck Kobasew
after the game on
FAN960. "There's no
reason why we couldn't
have countered with a
better effort."
If the Flames are to
break their endless
cycle of early April tee
times, they'll need to
beat the Buffalo's of
the world in their own
building on a consistent
basis.
But how many years
have we been praying for
that?
In the big picture
and more worrisome
perhaps, Calgary has
scored only five times
in four games this
season, a long way away
from coach Darryl
Sutter's insistence the
club would need to be
top fifteen offensively
to qualify for the
post-season.
A 1-0 victory over
Edmonton on Tuesday was
nice but still left
questions as to the
whereabouts of superstar
captain Jarome Iginla
and his linemates Craig
Conroy and Dean
McAmmond.
The MCI line has been
sniffing around the net
in their four starts
this year but close only
gets you a cup of coffee
at the corner store in
the NHL, worth nothing
on the ice and certainly
nothing in the standings
if the trend continues.
The high-powered
trio, booed off the ice
at the end of the game,
have zero points on the
season.
"Overall,
obviously we didn't put
enough pressure on
them," deadpanned
Calgary assistant coach
Rich Preston after the
game. "It was just
really sporadic, our
offensive output the
whole game."
The shutout loss, at
the hands of Mika
Noronen in his first
appearance this season,
drops Calgary's record
to 2-2 with Minnesota on
the road coming up next.
Calgary was shutout a
club record 10 times
last year but only twice
in the second half of
the year under Sutter.
And now once this
year.
This one started off
on the wrong foot right
off the hop, Andrew
Ference's head exploding
as he passed to a
Buffalo player in front
of his own net, Alex
Kotalik putting the
Sabres ahead only 1:33
into the contest.
Kobasew appeared to
have tied the contest in
the first but his
breakaway second effort
slightly illegal as he
jammed the net, the call
being he had pushed
Noronen into the net
along with the puck.
Flames had a chance
to draw even in the
second with a five
minute advantage after
Adam Mair tried to
decapitate - a
deliberate attempt to
injury - Denis Gauthier
but Calgary managed only
two shots on goal, one a
weak shot from the
point.
Giving up a a goal in
the final minute of a
period - in fact, a
final second of a period
- is as deflating as it
sounds, Miro Satan
wailing away at a loose
puck in the crease with
little interference
until the red light went
on with six-tenths of a
second remaining.
Flames were outshot
20-18 on the night,
continuing a trend of
giving up very little
five on five which is at
least one bone that can
be thrown to the
disappointed masses.
But even in The Age
of Defence you still
have to outscore the
other guys and five
goals in four games is
pretty much as close to
flatline as it gets.
Calgary was zero for
four with the man
advantage while Buffalo
was one for five.
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