Iggy now on pace for 27 goals on and 82 game season. I'm sure he'll get it up to 30 by the end of the year. Like clockwork, he shows up late and tears things up.
Welcome to the Miikka Kiprusoff show, ladies and gentlemen! If it wasn't for Mr Bean's dumb bonehead pass to the Sharks player, he would've gotten a shutout! God, how I missed Kipper in net. He's so solid and provides so much more confidence for the team in front of him. With Joey MacDonald as the backup, I think the goaltender situation is actually pretty good since 2003!
And Iggy scores again! It's like one for the money and two for the show! Awesome night!
Thought the Flames played really well all night. Had a couple rough patches but they were under control the whole way through and I was particularly impressed with how tight they were in the D zone. The forwards did a much better job with backside pressure but of the course the biggest difference was the goaltending. Nothing against the three guys who combined to keep the team afloat, but a huge huge difference with a guy who was very calm and giving up no rebounds at all the whole way through. He looked really excellent.
It appears hell has frozen over as the Flames are actually over .500 and Blake Comeau actually scored a goal.
Comeau was very good all night I thought. He did screw up some scoring chances in the second period, largely a function of having no confidence, but we saw a brand new player in the third period. I give the guy credit because he has done pretty well at center on a team that desperately needs some help at that position.
Giordano will get dumped on a lot in this thread and he definitely was at fault for the first goal but I thought he recovered well in the third period.
Thought Chris Butler was very strong tonight. Still makes some really idiotic plays but he is playing with a lot of confidence and better than he has since joining the team.
Can't say enough about Matt Stajan. The only center on this team and has been consistently the team's best two-way player, he works hard and has done a really good job. Lots of credit to Hartley for helping him get his confidence back.
The Hudler-Cervenka-Iginla line was very good and generated a lot of good chances. Hudler and Cervenka rotated playing center in the D zone - not sure how long that will work but it helped that they were not going up against Thornton much. Hudler and Iginla together seems to work.
Stempniak with a particularly strong game. Guy is really consistent and does a good job.
I expect to see some complaining about Baertschi not playing much after the first period but he was thrown around too easily while Comeau played well from the start. I like that Hartley shortens the bench a bit earlier than a lot of other coaches. I am beginning to think Baertschi goes down to the A once Backlund comes back. He isn't going to get stronger in the next couple of months. If the team had some more size/skill players, I think Baertschi sticks around but it's just too tough right now with the personnel they have.
Bouwmeester playing incredible and the team's MVP. I understand the thought process on moving him when his value is highest but I also think he is young enough that he could be a major part of the team for a while going forward so may be worth keeping him around.
Still can't get a read on the team. If nothing else, they have a lot of offensive depth. Now two straight games giving up 2 or fewer goals against pretty good teams so definitely some good things happening. Would love to see a couple wins in California.
__________________ CORNELL
National Champions: 1967, 1970
CALGARY
Stanley Cup Champions: 1989
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