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Depleted
Flames Strike Back
Calgary
Forges Series Lead In
Game Three
April
27th, 2004
D'ARCY
MCGRATH
Them
western winds were a
howling.
A
crazy storm front sent
pre-game activities
inside, and put somewhat
of a damper on the usual
40 minute build up to
game three in the
Western Conference
semi-final.
Clearly
barometric pressure
didn't bother the Flames
however, as the home
squad defied the injury
law of averages and
pushed ahead in their
series with the Detroit
Red Wings with a 3-2
win.
The
Flames already down a
full second line and two
of five top defenceman,
learned earlier in the
day that Rhett Warrener
wasn't able to withstand
the glare and suit up in
the all important game
three of the series
against the clearly
superior Detroit squad.
No
matter, the Flames
received all world
efforts from the
Stephane Yelle and
Marcus Nilson lines and
pseudo fourth defenceman
Mike Commodore in
turning the tables on
the favoured Red Wings.
Calgary
got off on the right
foot off the bat,
getting the puck deep
and causing trouble in
the Detroit end. The
Flames couldn't cash in
on the lion's share of
chances shooting wide to
often despite a 3-0 edge
in first period
powerplays.
The
Wings actually opened
the scoring early in the
second period when
Robert Lang pounced on a
crazy rebound off of his
own shot, off linemate
Darren McCarty's skate
off a Calgary skate and
back out, past Miikka
Kiprusoff.
For
momentum sakes, the
Flames were lucky to
pounce back quickly when
Stephane Yelle directed
a shot at Curtis Joseph
through a Chris Clark
screen and through the
goaltender's pads.
Two
minutes later the
helmet-less Jarome
Iginla converted his
first point of the
series when he took a
Martin Gelinas centering
pass and one timed a
powerplay shot past
Joseph.
The
goal was the second
powerplay goal scored on
home ice in the
playoffs, after Chris
Clark scored in game six
against Vancouver in the
first round.
The
Wings tied the score
later in the period when
Jiri Fischer had a point
shot redirect of a Flame
body and past Kiprusoff
to notch the score.
The
goal had a real dampening
affect on the crowd,
with the inevitable
Detroit surge assumed to
be just around the
corner in the hotly
contested contest.
Yet
it was the Flames that
bounced back, with
Marcus Nilson feeding
Shean Donovan in tight
and beating a bewildered
Curtis Joseph to put the
Flames ahead to stay.
The
Red Wings held a
territorial advantage in
the third period but
weren't able to test
Kiprusoff on an intimate
level as the Flames
marched on to victory.
The
win gives the Flames a
guarantee of six home
dates in the 2004
playoffs, a feat that
few would have imagined
only four weeks ago, let
alone eight months ago
when the season began.
The
hard luck Flames getting
by with only three core
defenceman and one half
of their assumed top six
forward brigade is a
story in itself.
It
will be interesting to
see just how far this
tale will continue.
Clearly the Flames have
no designs in making it
a short story.
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