1ST PERIOD NOTES;
Jarome Iginla and OlliJokinen exert pressure and Jamie Lundmark converts a pass in front of the Wings net into a goal in just 28 seconds of the period. The Wings come back with pressure into the Calgary end of the rink. Mark Giordano and David Moss get a good chance around the Wings net, but fail to convert. Detroit pressures the front of the Calgary net and draw a penalty as Darren Helm is pulled down by Curtis Glencross, who gets penalized for tripping at 4;27. Henrik Zetterberg shoots wide of an empty corner of the net, as Detroit apply pressure with Pavel Datsyuk and Zetterberg buzzing the Flames net, after the shot by Zetterberg.Tomas Holmstrom gets penalized for crosschecking at 5;53. Calgary gets good puck control but not many scoring chances on their power play. The Flames have been outshot by a wide margin in the first 10 minutes by 8-1. Miikka Kiprusoff makes a good save on Daniel Cleary and Ville Leino. Glencross gets a good rush on Chris Osgood, who is well positioned to make the save.Jonathan Ericsson gets a dangerous shot towards Kiprusoff. The Flames get penalized at 12;52, as Fredrik Sjostrom gets called for holding. Datsyuk and Zetterberg along with Brian Rafalski maintain good puck control but cant get a good scoring chance. On the line change, Cleary gets a goal but it’s called off by the referee who says that Cleary was in the crease.It looks like a borderline call. Detroit continues to apply tremendous pressure around the Flames net. Daymond Langkow gets penalized for roughing at 15;02. Niklas Lidtsrom gets a tough shot on Kiprusoff but he makes a good save during the power play. The Flames get a 2 on 1 and after the shot on net , Nigel Dawes puts a rebound into the net, to make it 2-0 at 18;29 of the period. Langkow and Moss almost get another 2 on 1 before the period ends.
2ND PERIOD NOTES;
Langkow and Moss with a dangerous opportunity in front of the Detroit net in the first 90 seconds of the period, and Craig Conroy also buzzes the Wings net. Cleary gets a dangerous shot on Kiprusoff on the next shift. Darren Helm gets a close up chance on the Flames net but can’t get a goal.Tomas Holmtsrom gets a dangerous chance around the Flames net.Justin Abdelkader makes a very good rush and gets a good shot on Kiprusoff. Brian Rafalski sends a puck into a jam in front of the Calgary goal creating a scoring chance but with no success. Lots of back and forth line rushes for both teams, featuring much more flow and playmaking in this period . Jarome Iginla is penalized for high sticking,at 11;54 of the period. Brad Stuart gets a very dangerous shot on the net as does Willy Leino. Detroit maintains the pressure even after the power play, with Dan Cleary buzzing the net, but Miikka Kiprusoff has met every challenge so far in this game. Calgary’s Curtis Glencross gets called for slashing at 15;55 of the period. Kiprusoff makes several great saves during the power play, especially with a save on Darren Helm right in front of the Flames net. Osgood makes a very good save on a Calgary 2-1 rush, as Jokinen gets a good look at the Wings net. Detroit almost scores on a loose puck but the whistle goes before the puck goes in the net.
THIRD PERIOD NOTES;
Olli Jokinen puts a laser wrist shot past Osgood at 00;25 seconds of the period, to give the Flames a 3-0 lead. Osgood was down on his knees and Jokinen picked the top corner. Bertuzzi gets called for interference at 3;40 of the period. The Flames Olli Jokinen gets called for hooking 21 seconds after the interference call on Todd Bertuzzi at 4;01. Lots of Calgary traffic in front of Chris Osgood , who is also letting out some big rebounds, creating more scoring chances for the Flames. Kiprusoff makes another great save with Bertuzzi passing to Holmstrom on a very dangerous scoring chance to the side of the net on a quick play. Kiprusoff makes yet another save on Tomas Holmstrom at the front of the net. Osgood makes a good save on Conroy at the front of the Detroit net. This period was a lot less intense, and the early goal by Jokinen negated almost any chance of a Detroit comeback, with the Flames playing a very effective road game. The shot count was reflective of the reduced action and chances, as Detroit had 8 shots, with Calgary getting 6.
GAME SUMMARY;
Miikka Kiprusoff should get all three stars in this game, much like the game in Toronto a few weeks ago, Kiprusoff completely shut down an aggressive Detroit team that has been rocked by major injuries, but is still very dangerous with superb talent on the roster.The Red Wings outshot the Flames 40-17, and were especially dominant in the first two periods having outshot Calgary 15-6 in the first and by a 17-5 margin in the second. The Wings haven’t scored in 153 minutes and 22 seconds. Detroit has been shut out in consecutive games for the first time since December 2001, and the first time at home since 1977. The Thrashers shut out the Wings 2-0 on Wednesday night. Among the injured for Detroit, are Jason Williams Valtteri Filppula,and Johan Franzen.