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Cinderella
Bites Back
Flames
Force President's Trophy
Winner to Brink
May
1st, 2004
D'ARCY
MCGRATH
May
day! May day!
The
Calgary Flames played
their first hockey game
in May since 1989, the
year the Flames won the
Stanley Cup. The contest
had nowhere near the
significance of the last
May encounter, but try
telling that to the
depleted Flames squad
that ground the league's
best outfit to a 1-0
victory in the enemy
confines of Joe Louis
Arena.
With
the win the plucky,
never-say-die Flame club
takes a three games to
two lead in their
Western Semi-Final, with
a chance to clinch the
series and advance to
the Western Final with a
win on Monday night, in
the sure to be loud
Pengrowth Saddledome.
Who'd
a thunk?
The
Flames did all the
little things right in
this one.
They
came out of the gates
strong, putting up their
best first period of the
three games in Detroit,
and possibly their best
first frame in the
series.
There
were no goals to show
for the start, but they
did have lots of
chances, setting the
stage for a potential
road setup.
The
Flames got in some
penalty trouble in the
second period when the
club took three straight
second period penalties
in the second period,
giving the home side a
great chance to jump out
in front in the contest.
"I
thought all the
penalties were
questionable",
Darryl Sutter told the
media at his press
conference after the
game.
"We're
not just playing the
Detroit Red Wings",
he stated, "but
that's OK".
OK,
indeed as the Flames
were able to shut down
the Detroit powerplay,
the third of which ended
with Wing captain Steve
Yzerman taking a puck in
the eye off of Rhett
Warrener's skate and
leaving the game. It was
ironic that it was
Warrener's skate
deflection hitting
Yzerman as just a week
ago it was Yzerman's
stick hitting Warrener's
eye to send him to the
sidelines.
Yzerman
was taken to hospital
for observation, and as
of yet we don't have
word on his long term or
short term status.
A
few minutes after the
kill the Flames seemed
to find their legs
again, mainly due to a
great cycle shift from
rookie Chuck Kobasew,
veteran Stephane Yelle,
and the called out Oleg
Saprykin.
Saprykin
was singled out after
the game four loss when
he failure to remove the
puck from hostile
territory led to the
Wings game winner in the
third period.
The
trio kept the puck deep
for a long shift and
then changed on the fly
one by one until Jarome
Iginla fought loose the
puck and sent a backhand
pass into the slot to
Craig Conroy. Conroy,
playing without the jaw
guard that has made him
ineffective in this
series, took the puck to
the net and beat Curtis
Jospeh high to the short
side for the game's only
goal.
The
Flames almost went up
two late in the second
when Iginla one timed a
shot that Joseph kicked
out to keep the score
close heading to the
third.
Detroit
poured it on in the
third stanza, but were
unable to get many blue
chip chances as the
Flames did an admirable
job of keeping the Wings
from the scoring areas.
The
game wound down to a
climax with the puck
pinned deep in the zone
and Stephane Yelle
battling without a
stick. At one point the
puck slid to Iginla who
fluttered a backhand
short of leaving the
zone.
"When I saw Iginla
get the puck I thought,
just get it out",
Craig Conroy told CBC
after the game.
"When it fluttered
over his stick I thought
oh no!".
But
little came of the
miscue as the Flames
wound down the clock and
sent the game back to
the rabid Calgary fan
base with something to
really cheer about on
Monday night.
The
Flames biggest triumphs
in club history, a list
that includes a Stanley
Cup win and an upset
over the Edmonton Oilers
- have all occurred on
enemy ice, and not at
the Saddledome.
It
would be a nice chance
to see a little history
made on home ice.
With
this club, don't rule it
out.
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