Flames get in Ottawa’s way
Written by on March 12th, 2010 in Latest News.
Ottawa defenceman Chris Phillips, left, collides with Calgary captain Jarome Iginla during Thursday’s game. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)
Miikka Kiprusoff may be the only one who officially gets the shutout on Thursday, but you can be sure he would unofficially share the honour with his Calgary Flames teammates.
The Flames stifled the sputtering Ottawa offence as they got into shooting lanes all night long and were rewarded with their fourth straight win, taking down the Senators 2-0 at the Saddledome.
Jamal Mayers scored his first goal in a Calgary uniform in the first period, and Chris Higgins added another in the third.
Tight defence and shot blocking was the story of the game. The Flames blocked 30 shots to Ottawa’s 10, a season-best, and it helped hold the Sens scoreless on the power play in five attempts.
Kiprusoff stopped all 33 shots for his fourth shutout of the season. Brian Elliott made 23 saves in the Ottawa crease.
With the win, Calgary jumped back over Detroit for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Red Wings temporarily took it over when they beat Minnesota earlier Thursday.
The Senators, who have lost four of five since play resumed after the Olympics, missed a chance to tie Buffalo for the Northeast Division lead and remain two points back as the Sabres hold two games in hand. Ottawa is averaging fewer than two goals per game in that span.
Mayers scored his first goal as a Flame on the first shot of the game, which came five minutes into the contest.
Linemate Curtis Glencross nipped in behind the Ottawa net and stole a puck that goalie Elliott had left for a Senators defenceman. Glencross sent it out in front and Mayers put it in the top corner for his third of the season at 5:29.
The former Leaf was included in the seven-player deal that sent Dion Phaneuf to Toronto at the end of January.
That shot remained the only one of the game until the 11-minute mark of the first frame, when Ottawa’s Shean Donovan was stopped on a good chance by Kiprusoff. There were only eight shots total in the period, as both teams had four apiece.
Blocked shots
But the game wasn’t as lethargic as the shot total. In the first frame 11 shots were blocked, the Senators had a goal disallowed on a high stick, and Mike Fisher lost the handle on the puck during a half-breakaway on Kiprusoff.
Ottawa had the first five shots on net in the second and managed 12 for the frame but couldn’t put one in the net. Calgary continued to block shots left and right, and when they weren’t getting blocked, Kiprusoff was there to make the save.
His best stop of the frame came off a blistering wrist shot from Fisher with six minutes to go. Kiprusoff got a piece of it with his glove to send the puck wide of the goal. Both teams had 12 shots apiece, but Ottawa threw more rubber at the net.
Peter Regin had a glorious chance to tie the game eight minutes into the third. He had Kiprusoff down and the net gaping, but his shot deflected off the sprawling netminder and hit the crossbar.
That miss would be costly. Higgins made it 2-0 Calgary at 9:05 when he one-timed an Ian White pass into the cage for his eighth of the season. Ottawa pulled the goalie with two minutes left, but any comeback attempt was nixed when captain Daniel Alfredsson took a penalty.
The puck drop was delayed by nearly 40 minutes as arena staff replaced a pane of glass along the boards.
