Sutter steams as Flames flicker

Calgary escapes Toronto with 5-2 victory

“I wasn’t pleased at all tonight. You get five out of six points, it is a successful trip — as far as the points and the win-loss column. But we need to play better.” – coach Brent Sutter

It was 80’s night in Toronto on Saturday evening. During that decade, the Flames were perennial Stanley Cup contenders, reaching the Championship finals twice, capturing the vaunted Mug in 1988-89 while recording five seasons with at least 90 points.

The Leafs? Well, the Leafs were dismal doormats for much of the 1980s – failing to register a single .500 season and never recording more than 32 wins or collecting more than 70 points in any single season.

Why the Leafs would want to celebrate a ten-year period when the club was the laughing stock of the league and compiled a 263-443-94 record is a matter of debate. The club featured players whose less-than-complimentary nicknames – Todd Nill, Al I’m-a-Fraidy, Eddie No-check, Gary Sleeman, Ken Wreck-it, Tom Fungus, Brad Harsh – were often more colorful than their performance.

So, in keeping with the 80’s theme of the evening, there were plenty of defensive gaffs, giveaways, own-zone breakdowns and mental mistakes. Surprisingly, it was the Flames who committed the majority of the miscues and played with Leaf-like lethargy for much of the night.

But thanks to a pair of goals from captain Jarome Iginla and another adjective-challenging performance between the pipes from Miikka Kiprusoff, the Flames somehow managed to escape the Mistake by the Lake with a 5-2 victory.

The team now heads home with a much-needed but hardly deserved two points in their pocket to face the prospect of a agonizing and arduous practice to right the wrongs that almost sunk the ship on Saturday evening.

Calgary was out shot (40-22), out hit (33-17) and out fought (Olli Jokinen and Brian McGrattan both needed facial repairs after their tussles). The Flames committed 17 turnovers, won only 10 of 29 face-offs in their own end of the rink and skated as if sand was the surface covering the floor of the Air Canada Center.

Coach Brent Sutter, steam slowly streaming from beneath his collar, called an early time-out in the second period and read what would politely be called the riot act to his charges. To their credit, the club reversed their fortune, tightened the reins and played a well-managed final frame.

Luckily for Calgary, they have the best goaltender in the game pulling on the flaming “C” jersey every night. Kipper the Keeper was composed, confident and calculated, playing his angles perfectly, challenging the shooter when warranted, patiently out waiting his opposition when necessary and making save after glorious save when needed.

At the outset, it was the Flames who were on fire, storming to a 2-0 lead before many of the Leaf Nation patrons had an opportunity to sit in their cushioned but over-priced seats. Iginla opened the scoring with a laser that caught the inside of the post only 81 seconds into the contest for his team leading 10th tally of the campaign.

Eric Nystrom made it 2-0 with a deft deflection of a Dustin Boyd shot 16 seconds later and it appeared the rout was ripe.

However, the Leafs rebounded and took control of the match from that point, but despite several scoring opportunities, they were unable to solve Kiprusoff, a puzzle numerous NHL opponents have had equal difficulty in deciphering.

Dustin Boyd and Jay Bouwmeester completed the scoring for the 12-4-2 Flames while Matt Stajan and Francois Beauchemin replied for the 3-10-5 Maple Leafs.

Calgary returns home from this three-game Eastern excursion after placing five out of a possible six points on the ledger. The club will be better able to judge its position in the NHL hierarchy during the coming week when they face Colorado and Chicago at home before jetting off to the left coast for tilts with Los Angeles and Anaheim.

Flame Flicks:

The Flames have not recorded a victory in Buffalo since March 15, 1996 when Rick Tabaracci backstopped Calgary to a 3-1 win over the Sabres.

With his 11th tally of the campaign safely tucked in the record book, Jarome Iginla climbed into a tie for 10th spot on the NHL’s goal-scoring ladder.

Olli Jokinen, who dropped the mitts with Toronto’s Francois Beauchemin, isn’t a stranger to fistic encounters. His Saturday evening tussle was the 22nd time he has gone toe-to-toe with an opponent.

The Flames were 398-288-114 during the 1980s, the third-best record in the NHL during that 10-year span. Kent Nilsson was the club’s top scorer during that period with 562 points (229-333) in 425 games.

Calgary went 15-5-7 against Toronto from 1980-81 to 1988-89. The Flames first game against the Leafs when the team was based in Calgary was on October 23, 1980 – Toronto escaped with a 5-4 victory. The Flames went 1-3 against Toronto in 1979-80, the last year the club was based in hot ‘lanta.