Flames hang on to tie series with Canucks
TSN.ca Staff
4/10/2004
VANCOUVER (CP) - The Calgary Flames returned to their hardworking, tight defensive style of game and earned a 2-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks Friday night to tie their first-round NHL playoff series.
The Flames return to Calgary feeling good about themselves and with the best-of-seven Western Conference quarter-final deadlocked 1-1.
Jarome Iginla and rookie Matthew Lombardi scored goals 50 seconds apart in the first period while goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff looked sharp stopping 25 shots.
It was Calgary's first playoff victory since 1995.
``Tonight I felt a little more comfortable, our team felt more comfortable,'' said Iginla. ``It showed in the way we played. We played more our style. In the first game we got away from a lot of things we did all year. I think part of it was over excitement. It was a learning experience.''
Markus Naslund scored Vancouver's lone goal on the power play.
``We created quite a few chances but we still can't let them get the two-goal lead,'' said Naslund. ``They are good defensively and we have to learn from that. It's one game and we can bounce back.''
Included among the cheering, towel-waving sellout crowd of 18,630 at GM Place was B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell.
The Flames, making their first playoff appearance in eight years, lost Wednesday's opening game of the series 5-3.
Afterwards Darryl Sutter, Calgary's coach and general manager, criticized both Iginla and Kiprusoff. He said both would have to play better.
Both did.
Iginla played big, making hits and scoring the game's opening goal. He bounced a shot off the cross bar during a third-period power play.
``After the last game I didn't feel very good after the game, the way it went for the team and myself personally,'' said Iginla, named the game's third star. ``Tonight from the start I was trying to move my feet more. It was great to get an early goal.''
Kiprusoff set the tone with a toe save off Naslund in the first period. With six minutes left in the third he stopped a Brent Sopel drive, then slid across the crease to block Martin Rucinsky's shot on the rebound.
``I didn't do a great job last game,'' Kiprusoff said after being named the game's first star. ``This was as more like us. We played a great defensive game. It was a great win for us.''
Calgary now has a record of 20-8-4 this season in the game following a loss.
Canucks goaltender Dan Cloutier said the Flames wanted the win more than Vancouver.
``They just simply outworked us,'' said Cloutier, who made 22 saves. ``You never want to see a team come in your building and outwork you, especially in the playoffs.''
There were 14 penalties called in the game but both goalies were fuming over the calls that weren't made.
On Calgary's first goal, Cloutier argued he was nudged by Chris Simon, allowing Iginla to rifle a shot past him.
``The guy just kept going, pushing my stick around, so he kind of twisted me,'' Cloutier said afterward. ``That goal is over with. I don't think it's going to change anything by complaining.''
On Vancouver's goal, instant replays showed defenceman Ed Jovanovski knock Kiprusoff down, giving Naslund an open net.
``He pushed me,'' said Kiprusoff. ``I was surprised they didn't call it. Right now it doesn't matter. We have the win and that's the bottom line.''
The two plays left Sutter scratching his head.
``I'm not sure what obstruction and goaltender interference is,'' he said. ``I thought I knew this morning but now I'm not sure.''
Lombardi's goal came on a weird play.
Defenceman Rhett Warrener shot the puck into the Vancouver zone and it got caught up in Sami Salo's equipment. As the Canucks defenceman frantically looked around for the puck, it dropped to the ice, where the Lombardi pounced on it and fired a shot past a startled Cloutier.
The series now moves to Calgary for games Sunday and Tuesday at the Saddledome.
Notes: Vancouver made one lineup change from Wednesday, taking Jarkko Ruutu out of the lineup and replacing him with Jason King ... The Canucks four power-play goals in Game 1 tied a team playoff record set April 9, 1989, against Calgary ... In the 10 playoff series that Vancouver has won Game 1 they've gone on to win the series six times ... Canuck defenceman Marc Bergevin, picked up at the trading deadline, has played in three conference finals during his 20-year career but has never appeared in a Stanley Cup final.
Cheers,
Aquaman