‘The Girl Out West” was looking for a “Spooktacular” performance on the eve of Halloween from the Flame.

   …And while the 3-2 win Thursday over the Boston may not have been spectacular, the man wearing the Flame mask, Miikka Kiprusoff was definitely “Spooktacular”.

    In helping his team to a 5th straight victory, Kiprusoff, spooked everybody early in the first period when he wandered behind the net to play the puck and it wound up in the net. That gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead.

   But when the game was on the line in the 3rd period, Kiprusoff came up with a number of key saves to preserve the win.

   A pair of 2nd period PPG, one by Dion Phaneuf and the other by Mike Cammalleri, put the Flames in the lead.  Then Dustin Boyd added an insurance goal before the Bruins would get a second goal beyond Kipper.

   The win got the Flamesa into a tie for first place in the Northwest Division. Now its off to California for a game in LA on Saturday and then Anaheim on Sunday.

   Two more wins and it would definitely be a “Spooktacular”  Halloween Weekend.

   On the eve of Halloween, the Flames have a date with the Boston Bruins clinging to a good omen from their last game.

   Miikka Kiprusoff’s first shutout of the season came in Tuesday 3-0 success over Colorado. It marked the third time in four years the Flames standout netminder has registered a shutout in the opening month of the season.

   The significance?

    Last season he didn’t have a shutout in Oct.  In fact it was late Feb. in which Kipper would get the first of his 2 shutouts.  His lowest season shutout total since he came to the Flames on Nov of 2003.

    In October of 2006, Kiprusoff notched an October shutout and would end up with 7 and be a finalist for the Vezina Trophy.  In Oct of 2005 he also registered a shutout in the season’s initial month and ended the season with a club record 10 winning the Vezina.

   So, if this is a good omen, Kipper should be in for another solid season.

   Speaking of shutouts, the Bruins have come to Western Canada and compiled back-to-back 1-0 wins at Edmonton and Vancouver behind the stellar work of 34-year-old goalie Tim Thomas, who figures to start again on Thursday, against Kiprusoff.

   The Flames are seeking a 5th straight victory and, if attained, they’ll establish a Calgary Flames record by chalking up 5-in-a-row in October.  The Atlanta Flames in 1978 set the franchise record with 8-consecutive wins in the season’s first month.

   Then it’ll be another weekend in the warm weather with 2 games in Southern California.

   Colorado came into Tuesday night with the third best offense in the NHL. By the third period the Flames had worn down the Avalanche to where they would score 3 quick goals.

   Three players that GM Darryl Sutter went out and got to give the team more speed and grit produced they goals.  All of them orchestrated with solid board work behind the Colorado net.

  Sutter must have allowed himself a brief smile watching Curtis Glencross (acquired as Free Agent), Rene Bourque (trade from Chicago) and Mike Cammalleri (trade from LA) scored  the 3 Flame goals in a span of just under 7 minutes in the third period.  All 3 coming off hard work and grit.

   Defensively the Flames were as solid as they’ve been all season on helping Miikka Kiprusoff notch his 150th win as a Flame and 27th career shutout.  On the night, Kipper faced 22 shots, including great back-to-back stops off Joe Sakic in the 2nd period.  Kipper faced just 2 shots in the last 31 minutes of the game.

   The penalty killing was sharp once again killing off all 3 Colorado power plays. They’ve permitted just a single goal in the last 25 times the Flames have been shorthanded.

   The 4-straight wins marks the first time in October since 2001 that the Flames have won that many in succession during the opening month of the season.  Thursday they try to make 5-straight hosting Boston, which is coming off back-to-back 1-0 wins at Edmonton and Vancouver. The Flames have never won 5-straight in October since coming to Calgary in 1980.  They did it Atlanta once.

   A rare Flame 3-game winning streak in October has brought the club from what some suggested was a “dire” situation into an “all’s well” thumbs up.

   All in the space of a week. 

   Back-to-back setbacks to the Edmonton Oilers last weekend brought out the naysayers, forgetting it was just 5 games into the season.

   Without getting too carried away now, when the Flames won 4-1 in Phoenix on Saturday they moved past the Oilers and to within 2 points for first place in the NW Division.

   How rare is it for the Flames to win 3-straight in October?  The last time it happened was 2001 part of a 4-game winning streak.  Prior to that it was 1993 when the club won 4-straight to begin the campaign.

   Saturday was the Flames best performance thus far.  All aspects of the team’s game were solid with a higher winning score prevented by Mikhal Tellqvist’s superb play in goal for the Coyotes.

   Defenseman Dion Phanuef sparked this thriumph scoring his first goal of the season to go with 6 assists. He was also outstanding defensively.  Captain Jarome Iginla had his 2-straight 3-point game with a goal and 2 helpers.  Iginla’s ENG was his 6th marker of the season, tying Todd Bertuzzi for the team lead after Bertuzzi notched the first goal of the game.

   The story, though, was Brandon Prust scoring his first NHL goal in the first period, which turned out to be the GWG.

   Those wondering is Miikka Kiprusoff was worthy of his $8.5-million salary for this year, can back off.  Kipper came up with his 3rd straight solid puckstopping show making 23 saves.

   Ageless Tina Turner performed Friday night in the same building where the Flames and Phoenix Coyotes will clash tonight.

   Two things for sure.  The soon-to-be-69 year-old Turner drew a bigger crowd than the hockey game will and the building will be much colder tonight.  Whether the Flames and Coyotes can match the entertain excitement as “The Queen of Rock and Roll” remains to be seen as well as who will be “The Best” tonight.

   The rock show’s highlight was when Turner sang her big hit “The Best”, the capacity crowd sangalong and roared its approval in the heat of the Arena.

    The NHL contest this evening will be played in a cold building where the air conditioning will be turned up full tilt to maintain good ice for the players to skate on. The Jobing.com Arena won’t be filled will fans, either.

    When the Flames and Coyotes played in Phoenix twice late last season there were more Flame-jersey-wearing fans in attendance than their were fans of the desert team.  Calgarians haven’t hibernated south yet so that will greatly affect attendance.

   The Flames seek their 3rd straight win without centreman  Matthew Lombardi. He was injured in Thursday’s win in Naashville with an undisclosed “upper body” injury. He’s sidelined day-to-day. No one will be called up from Quad City since Eric Nystrom and Andre Roy, who did not play against the Predators, are both available.

    Wayne Primeau will be remaining in the line-up after logging his greatest amount of ice time with a solid effort in Nashville.  Curtis Glencross, who played just over 3 minutes, will need to pick up his play to impress coach Mike Keenan.

If it hadn’t been for stretch of 2:10 in the 2nd Period, Miikka Kiprusoff would had a shutout.

If it hadn’t been for his teammates scoring 5 unanswered goals, Kipruoff wouldn’t have gained the win he richly deserved.

Jarome Iginla had the 8th hat trick of his NHL career, but make no mistake, Kiprusoff was the reason the Flames won, 5-3 over Nashville on Thursday.

In front of the netminder his teammates had a sluggish first period. Kiprusoff bailed them out with 14 saves as the period ended 0-0. It could easily been 3-0 or 4-0 but for Kipper’s sensational saves.
The Flames 2nd period blahs returned when the Predators struck for their 3 quick goals nabbing a 3-0 lead by the 8:10 mark.

Then the captain took command. His late goal in the 2nd started the rally.

Iginla would also score the first goal in the 3rd period. Then David Moss tied the game before Mike Cammalleri tipped in a Dion Phaneuf blast to notch the winner.

Iginla added an empty net goal and the Flames flew to Phoenix for Saturday’s tilt vs the Coyotes looking for a 3rd straight win.

   The Flames know they can do nothing about the past but as they embark on this 2-game road trip they need to end a trend in one city and continue a trend in another.

   Thursday it’s Nashville where the Flames have won just once in their last 9 visits.  The Predators don’t appear to be as good on paper as they have been the past few seasons but they have won their 2 home games to start the season led by Shea Weber.

   When Weber was drafted their were comparisons to Dion Phaneuf.  The Flames blueliner scored 54 goals over his first three seasons and was runner-up Nicklas Liodstrom for top defensemen in the NHL.  Weber has been plagued by injuries that have slowed his development but he appears to be on his game now with 3 goals and 4 assists in 6 games.

   The Flames lone win in Music City over their past 9 visits was last year in October when they prevailed 7-4.  However, in January the Preds re-established their home domination of the Flames, winning 3-0.

    Look Miikka Kiprusoff to start tonight coming off his best performance of the season. Dan Ellis will be the Preds stopper.  The Preds will have captain Jason Arnott back on the ice after missing 3 games with a broken finger.

    On Saturday, Mike Keenan leads his team into Phoenix for a date with the improved Coyotes.  The Flames look to improve on their 3-straight wins in the dessert plus wins in 7 of their last 9.

   In the 2 wins last season, there appeared to be more Flame fans in attendance than those cheering for the home side.  Those games were in February and March. It won’t the same this weekend since the Snowbirds haven’t arrived yet.

   Entertainment and the unusual, if not unique, were on display in the Flames 2-1 triumph.

   The game lived up to its billing as the teams battled hard and good plays were plentiful from the stars on both sides

   But a 9-minute power play and one team having four 5-on-3′s in the same game were happenings that in the over 3,000 hockey games I’ve seen I can’t recall ever occuring previously.

   The Capitals got the 9-minute power play in the first period after the Flames Rene Bourque went after Washington defenseman Tyler Sloan following his open ice hit on Daymond Langkow. Bourque got a major penalty as well as minors for instigation and wearing a visor plus a 10-minute misconduct. Sloan wasn’t penaltized.

   The Caps took a penalty while Bourque sat out his penalty thus they didn’t get the advantage for the full 9 minutes.  But did for over 7 minutes without scoring. In fact the Flames got the 2 best scoring chances during that time.

   Late in the 1st period and early in the 2nd period, the Flames got their four two-man power play advantages and capitalized once when Jarome Iginla tallied.  Matthew Lombardi’s even strength marker 1:42 later was the game winner.

   Miikka Kiprusoff was outstanding in the Flame nets playing by far his best game stopping 30 of the 31 shots coming his way. Including three stellar stops of Caps top scorer Alexander Semin.

   The Flames, who in earlier games had blown 4 leads, changed the script this time. They permitted a goal in first period. Then in the previously problem 2nd period scored the goals they required for the win. 

   The stars in the sky won’t come out until after 9 o’clock but at the Saddledome tonight there will be a galaxy of stars starting at 7:30 when the Flames and Washington Capitals meet.

   Five finalists from last season’s NHL awards will be displaying theior considerable talents. Plus there are stars from this young campaign.

   The league’s big award winner last year was the Caps’ Alexander Ovechkin. He captured four awards — MVP, top scorer, top goal getter and the Lester Pearson Award.  The Caps also sport last year’s top rookie runnerup, Nicklas Backstrom, who hasn’t picked up where he left off having just one assist in 5 games.  Top goal scoring defenseman  Mike Green, who had 18 tallies last campaign, has 4 in 5 games now. Plus former MVP goalie Jose Theodore.  As well Washington coach Bruce Boudreau, was coach-of-the-year in 2007-08.

   The Flames have all-star stature in first team all-star rightwinger and MVP runner-up Jarome Iginla as well as all-star defenseman and Norris Trophy runner-up Dion Phaneuf, who should have some intriging battles with Ovechkin through the course of the night.  The Flames also sport former Vezina Trophy winner Miikka Kiprusoff, who is still looking to get in top form and former coach-of-the-year Mike Keenan.

   Despite all the star power in the ‘Dome tonight, the big stars this season for both teams have never won NHL awards.

   While Ovechkin struggles somewhat with 3 points in 5 games, Alexander Semin for the Caps has stepped up with 6 goals and 10 points, the #2 scorer in the league presently.

   While Iginla hasn’t gotten into his grove yet with 3 points in 5 games, Todd Bertuzzi has scored 5 goals in 5 games to spark the Flames offense.

   At the end of the evening, there will be 3 Stars. It’s anyone’s guess who they’ll be.

   It’s said that bad habits are difficult to shake, but the Flames must quickly find a way shake the second period blahs.

   In Saturday’s 3-2 setback in Edmonton it was the same-old-same-old — good first period, ugly second and stable third.  The result a 1-3-1 record through the first 5 games of the season, all against NW Division rivals.

   Saturday’s first period was complete domination by the Flames.  They outscored the Oilers 2-0 while outshooting them, 17-3. Both goals were on the PP as Mike Keenan’s crew forced Edmonton into taking penalties.

   The 2nd period saw the Flames as flat as the prairies. They permitted 3 goals — all even strength and all in a span of less than 4 minutes.  The Flames came back with a sound third period but couldn’t solve Oiler goalie Mathieu Garon. 

   In five 2nd periods the Flames have been outscored, 11-2.  Substracting the opening night 6-0 hammered in Vancouver, the Flames have outscored the opponent, 12-7 in the other periods. For whatever reason the club gets away from game plan in the middle session.  In three of the club’s 4 losses they’ve had the leader — twice by 2 goals.

   From Coach Keenan to goal-a-game Todd Bertuzzi all have vowed to find a may to remedy the the horrible 2nd period play.

    They’ll need to find the solution quickly.  The Flames are last in the NW Division including a 5-point deficit on the Oilers and Minnesota, who share first place. Both the Oilers and Wild have played one less game.

   Tuesday the league’s highest scoring team, Washington Capitals, play in the Saddledome.

   While Bertuzzi has 5 goals in 5 games, the other Flame standout Saturday was centre Daymond Langkow, who scored a goal and assisted on another.