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Deplete
Flames Chase
Avalanche
Flames 6 Avalanche 3
Darren
Linn
March
31, 2006
The
task was a daunting one.
The Calgary Flames who
had stumbled a bit in
recent times were facing
the red-hot Colorado
Avalanche in a battle
for 1st place in the
NorthWest division, and
more importantly the 3rd
seed spot in the Western
Conference. On top of
the way the two teams
had been trending
lately, the Flames have
suddenly found
themselves resembling
the emergency ward at
Rockyview hospital as
much as a hockey team.
If they were to beat a
very good hockey team,
they had to achieve that
victory without the
likes of Jordon Leopold,
Rhett Warrener, Mike
LeClerc, Marcus Nilson,
Jamie Lundmark and a
dressed but unavailable
Darren McCarty. As the
old saying goes, it was
gut check time.
To
beat a team like the Avs
with an undermanned
squad, you would suspect
that the team would have
to score a couple and
hope that Miikka
Kiprusoff could hold the
fort at the other end
long enough to escape
with a point or two.
Early on, it trended
that way, but then a
funny thing happened on
the way to defeat. The
Calgary Flames decided
to revert back to a
version they know all
too well from a couple
years ago. Hit �em
hard, grind �em down,
come at them with wave
after wave of aggressive
fore checking and
effective cycling. It
worked. In fact to use
another old saying, it
worked like a charm.
This
was the most
well-rounded and
complete game the
Calgary Flames have
played in a very very
long time. It was, for
the Flame faithful, a
thing of beauty. It had
it all. Big hits.
Garbage goals. Pretty
goals. Good goaltending.
Secondary scoring. All a
part of the mix that
will decide the playoff
fate of a club picked
earlier this year to go
a long way into May.
Well done guys, very
well done indeed.
On
The Line
As
mentioned...same as
every night they have
played the last 3 weeks
or so. 1st place in the
division, 3rd in the
West, etc etc. More so
than those maybe? Send a
message to the rest of
the Conference that this
club will not back down
from adversity and are
not going anywhere
anytime soon. Message
sent, and received.
The
Flow
It
was an odd start for the
home side actually. The
team came out firing on
all cylinders and
dominated the Avs early
on, but there wasn�t a
whole lot of physical
play by either side.
Then they Flames seemed
to get lulled into a bit
of a trance and it cost
them. Right after
scoring a PP goal to get
that coveted 1st goal of
the game, the Joe Sakic
show took over. The
future lead pipe
hall-of-famer, scored
two goals in less than
30 seconds to quiet a
boisterous Dome crowd,
and stake his club to a
one goal advantage after
the 1st period. That�s
when the Flames
seemingly took too heart
whatever it was coach
Sutter had to say during
intermission and came
out on a mission in the
2nd. The whole club came
out hitting and hitting
a lot. Led by Dion
Phaneuf, the Flames
upped their physical
part of the game as well
as pressuring the
opposition. They never
let up either and
finished the period with
a 2 goal lead. The 3rd
was more of what the 2nd
period contained, and
the Flames won this game
going away.
Three
Stars
1
� Shean Donovan
I
have been very hard on
Donovan for the better
part of this season and
with very good reason.
Tonight the popular
player showed what he is
all about and what had
been missing most of the
year. With the prettiest
goal of the night after
deking an Av dman and
then leaving Budaj
wondering what plane
just flew past him,
Donovan showed glimpses
of getting his
confidence back. A very
good sign for all Flames
fans.
2 � Joe Sakic
What a
wonderful hockey player
this guy is, and maybe
the best Captain in the
NHL. With a couple goals
and really the only guy
on the Avs to give the
Flames trouble all
night, he gets the nod
here.
3 � Jarome Iginla.
I hope the
nervous Nellie�s that
have ridden this guy
since October saw this
game, because that is
what a difference maker
he can be WITHOUT
scoring goals. He led
the entire team in
icetime with an
astounding 25 minutes.
What a horse and showing
signs of Iginla playoff
warrior.
Big
Hit
Dion Phaneuf absolutely
flattened Jim Dowd
during a Flames PP in
the 2nd period. Dowd
decided to take on a
charging Phaneuf coming
in off the point. He
won�t make that
mistake again.
Big
Save
Shortly after Shean
Donovan had restored the
Flames to a 2 goal lead,
Miikka Kiprusoff robbed
Milan Hedjuk with a
possible game saving
chest stop.
The
Goat
Pierre Turgeon. When a
veteran of Turgeon�s
calibre finds himself at
a -3 on a night when the
opposition only scored 4
even strength goals, he
has to look at himself
in the mirror. This
stellar stat was
achieved with a little
over 15 minutes of
icetime to make matters
worse. One guy that
perhaps will never
recover from the lost
year.
Mr.
Clutch
Tonight's award in this
category will be
unpopular with many I'm
sure. Too bad!! This one
goes to two guys who
have been much lamented
on Calgarypuck.com as
well as on radio calling
shows....Cale Hulse and
Bryan Marchment. With
the sudden loss of
Jordon leopold, and with
Rhett Warrener still on
the shelf, these two
guys stepped up and
delivered a very solid
game as a pairing. They
combined for 31 minutes
and a +4 rating and an
assist. Not bad for a
7th and 8th dman now is
it?
Odds
and Ends
As mentioned in the
opening, sick bay is
overflowing. With 6 guys
that would or could be
dressed as regulars, the
Flames need to avoid
anymore serious nicks
and bruises. This is
about as depleted as the
club has been since the
playoffs of 04. A sure
sign that Sutter's move
for depth was astute and
successful when they can
dominate a club like the
Avs the way they
did......When is the
last time the Flames
chased an opposing
goaltender?......Unusual
move by Joel Quenneville
to pull his G with over
5 minutes left and down
3. I like it and don�t
understand why more
clubs don�t try
it.......Any complaints
about the officiating
tonight? Those guys were
good and need to be
applauded for
it.....Tonight is a
perfect example of
spreading icetime among
dmen, with totals going
23, 23, 21, 21, 16, and
15. More importantly?
They wont be completely
gassed against the
Oilers......With the
Canucks losing a SO to
the Wild, the Flames
pull away from them a
bit more as well....8
pts ahead of 9th bodes
very well....Calgary won
the battle of the
faceoff dot as well
garnering 52% of the
drops.....41 wins on the
year now, but Duha and
many Flame faithful have
them worse off than 04.
I just shake my
head.......
Next
up � Tomorrow
night, 8 MST, Hockey
Night in Canada against
the despised Oilers of
Edmonton.
Lines
-
Huselius - Langkow �
Iginla
Kobasew - Lombardi �
Amonte
MacDonald - Yelle �
Donovan
Simon - Ritchie - Iginla
Regehr - Ference
Hulse - Marchment
Phaneuf- Hamrlik
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