Who would have thought the flames could go on the road collect 5 of a possible 6 points and not have an overly jovial trip home?

   That was the case Saturday night into Sunday am following a 7-5 triumph in Phoenix.  The Flames are 2 games above .500 on the road but they aren’t satisfied with their play on the road.

   A 4-goal 2nd period made it look like it would be a romp over the Coyotes taking a 5-2 edge into the 3rd period.  Giving up 3 goals in the final period didn’t cost the team the game, but it did cost them percentage points on the goals against average.

   After Miikka Kiprusoff stole 3 of a possible 4 points in Southern California with outstanding play in the 2-0 victory over LA and a 3-2ot loss in Anaheim, the Flames turned on the offense in the desert.

  Matthew Lombardi had his most productive game of the season with 2 goals and one assist while linemate Todd Bertuzzi assisted on 4 of the 7 goals.  Def. Cory Sarich, who has been on a bit of a scoring tear of late, had a goal and 2 helpers.

   Seven goals without a point from Jarome Iginla tells you how much more scoring balance this squad has compared to teams over the last 15 years. 

   Out of 56 games, Iginla has failed to register a point in 22 of them. In those 22 games the Flames have compiled a 11-7-4 record, however in the last 11 games where he hasn’t collected a point the record is 9-1-1.  If would seem the Flames have gotten used to not having the captain contribute offensive.

   However, Mike Keenan’s club isn’t used to giving up 3 goals in the 3rd period as they did Saturday. Thus the discontent. In the other 2 road game most players felt they left Kipper out to dry far too often.

   The club overall riding a 4-game point streak continue to have a good lead at the top of the NW Div standing as they set for 3-straight games against division rivals. Tuesday home to Vancouver. Then Thursday at Minnesota and Saturday at Edmonton.

    Collecting 5 out of 6 points in the 3 games would give the club a commanding division lead. 

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 15th, 2009 at 3:37 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.