Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Flames turn up the heat on the Ducks

Calgary finally broke free of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks Tuesday night; as they scored two goals in 34 seconds in the third period to break open a tight checking and low scoring affair at the Pond in Anaheim.

With Darren McCarty and Robyn Regehr book ending the goal spurt, the Flames were on their way to an eventual 5-2 victory over Anaheim, putting their stamp on this closely fought series and taking a 2-1 lead into game four Thursday night.

Power plays once again take on a larger than life affect on the outcome of these games; both teams combined scored only 2 goals while at even strength all five other goals came on the power play. It’s becoming a given that keeping out of the penalty box will go a long way to keeping goals out of your net.

Those guarding the nets had an interesting night of things, in the Anaheim end, Jean Sebastian Giguere faced only 24 shots but allowed five to get in behind him, while at the other end of the rink Miikka Kiprusoff stopped all but two of the 29 shots directed his way during the course of the game.

It was a key victory for the Flames, who played much tighter hockey and shut down the Ducks attack Tuesday. After a couple of worrisome nights in Calgary for the Flames, they seemed to get on the same page in game three, a change of direction that bodes well for their chances to take a controlling lead of the series in game four Thursday night.

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