Posted by Miikka Kiprusoff was nearly perfect as he backstopped the Calgary Flames to a 4-1 victory on Friday night over the visiting Minnesota Wild. The Fantastic Finn held the Wild off the scoreboard until deep in the third period, but by the time Marc-Andre Bergeron was able to put one past Kipper for his team, it was too little too late with the Flames already sitting on a 4 goal lead.
Both teams served up a lacklustre performance in the opening period, with Calgary notching a measly 6 shots, and Minnesota even less at 5. As a result of the scanty play making, the game went scoreless into the second period. Flames coach Mike Keenan must have had some harsh words for his men during the first intermission, because from the start of the middle frame, it was like a whole new Calgary team on the ice.
Mike Cammalleri wasted no time opening the scoring after the puck drop, potting his 31st goal of the year at just the :17 mark. If the early goal had Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom rattled, it might have been a good idea for him to duck and cover for the remaining 19 minutes of the period, as the Flames were far from done. Less than 30 seconds after the Cammalleri goal, Dion Phaneuf increased the Calgary lead to 2-0 at :37 on a hard slapper that left Backstrom visably shaken and Dion celebrating. The goal parade wasn’t quite over, though the final goal took slightly longer to arrive. Thanks to Cory Sarich and a nice attempt at a backhand shot, Jamie Lundmark was able to tip in his first goal of the year, leaving the Flames up by a 3-0 tally after 40 minutes of play. To ice the win for the hosts, Mike Cammalleri scored his second of the night on a PPG halfway into the final frame, leaving Niklas to thwack his sitck to the ice in what I’m sure reflected the mood of the entire visiting team. Just as is was looking like a shutout night for Kipper, Bergeron was able to put a feed from Dan Fritsche into the back of the net, but 1 gorl to 4 isn’t enough to win, and the fans on their feet, the Flames stormed their way to their 37th win.
Next up for the Calgary crew, the Tampa Bay Lightning pay a visit to the Dome this evening at 6pm. The game can be seen on Sportsnet West and you can listen in live on The Fan 960.
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