Flames test Cloutier's cool
The Flames say they will continue to drive the net hard when the series resumes Friday.
VANCOUVER (CP) -- Canucks goaltender Dan Cloutier knows he's going to have to keep his fiery temper in check if the Calgary Flames keep trying to light his fuse by crashing into the Vancouver net during the NHL Western Conference quarter-finals.
Cloutier looked like a bowling pin as Flames forwards knocked him down and tried to roll over him in Vancouver's 5-3 victory Wednesday night that gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Game 2 will be played Friday at GM Place.
"I expected it all along," Cloutier, who made 26 saves, said Thursday.
"If you look at their lineup they have some gritty forwards. They throw a lot of pucks at the net and go for rebounds. I think they're going to keep doing it and it's only going to get worse.
"I just have to keep my cool and worry about stopping the puck and nothing else."
Calgary's Jarome Iginla wasn't trying to hide the strategy.
"That's the idea to try to make it as hard on him as possible," said Iginla. "There's still more. We still didn't test him enough. We have to keep trying to go to the net."
In the past, Cloutier's emotions might have put a dark cloud over his judgement. He would have rapped someone's ankle with his stick or maybe thrown a punch. If his temper was at the boil, he could have given up an easy goal.
With his 28th birthday coming up in two weeks, the Mont Laurier, Que., native is showing more maturity. He was assessed one penalty Wednesday, a questionable interference call when Calgary's Chuck Kobasew fell on him in the crease.
"I've matured in a lot of areas in my game," said Cloutier, who has 30 or more wins in each of the last three seasons.
"That's one of the areas. When you become a No. 1 goalie there's not much room to do things like that because you're playing every night. You don't want to put your team in trouble."
Coach Marc Crawford downplayed the amount of goalie contact, saying it wasn't excessive.
"That's how Calgary plays," he said.
"They're a very aggressive team around the net."
Canucks forward Brendan Morrison, who scored one of Vancouver's four play-power goals and had a pair of assists, said the team is going to have to do a better job of protecting Cloutier.
"Every time they were touched around the net they just fell," said Morrison.
"We have to do a better job of boxing out. We can't let guys in there. He (Cloutier) has matured over the years. He's going to keep his composure, but again we don't want them falling on him."
Defenceman Mattias Ohlund said Cloutier sometimes is sharper after being roughed up.
"Teams know he has a temper but he did a good job," said Ohlund, who had a goal and an assist.
"I think he plays at his best when he's fired up."
Flames players say they'll need to play with more discipline if they hope to win Friday night and return to Calgary for Games 3 and 4 with the series tied.
The strong work ethic which put Calgary in the playoffs for the first time in eight years seemed to take a holiday as the Flames took cheap penalties and managed just two goals on 10 power-play chances in Game 1.
"The first thing is we've got to stay out of the box," muttered centre Craig Conroy.
"You want to get out there and play hard and work and hit, but we were taking bad penalties. We were taking hooking penalties. Lazy, that's the bottom line."
Denis Gauthier said the Flames can't take penalties but also can't lose their edge.
"We're going to have to be a more physical team, put pucks deep and try to put some pressure on them," he said.
"That's going to be the turning point for us if we're able to do that."
Vancouver captain Markus Naslund said the Canucks also can't afford to take the 10 penalties they were called for Wednesday.
"We have to be sharper," said Naslund, who had three assists in Game 1.
"We have to stay out of the box. We were taking way too many penalties. There's always improvements you can make. We're satisfied with the win but we can play better."
Cheers,
Aquaman