SB Nation - Olli Jokinen

Flames Game Day: Blue Period

Robert Cleave — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:00:20 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Browse more photos »

Calgary Flames vs. St. Louis Blues

Scottrade Center

6 PM MT

Opposition: St. Louis Game Time

TV: PPV

Are they really tired? Sick? Effort a bit lacking? If you read the papers in the last few days, that's the impression one might get about the Flames after a couple of dodgy outings over the weekend. Those two games were certainly amongst the worst performances this year, and I do think that fatigue might have played a role.

I think that an honest appraisal of the Flames would submit that they aren't the most skilled team in the league. That doesn't mean they can't have a good season, but what it does mean is that they haven't got very much margin for error, so the team has to play with an effort level very close to the maximum. This current Flames' edition reminds me a bit of the 05/06 team in that regard. There was a solid core of defencemen, not much going on up front, and Kipper was out of his head. Darryl Sutter rode that team pretty hard to end up in third place, and when they were confronted by a team with more scoring depth in the playoffs, the Flames didn't have anything extra. That loss to the Ducks was just the beginning of Calgary's one-and-done springs.

That comparison might seem a bit unfair, and that 05/06 team's forwards didn't seem quite as good as the current group, but the numbers are unforgiving. The Flames have scored 51 goals in their last 22 games. 2.3 GPG over a full season would likely be right at the bottom of the league, so I don't think I'm reaching to say that level of scoring won't get a team very far.

The underlying issue, of course, is the lack of shots. Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen are both tracking towards some of their poorest shot totals since establishing themselves as bona fide NHLers. Iginla's little run of hot shooting last month aside, the two of them haven't really created much at EV or on the PP, and if anyone has a scenario where the Flames don't need those two playing at a high level to have a successful season, I'm all ears.

I just can't see anything changing unless the Flames go completely into the tank. Sutter appears to be as attached to leaving the big two together as Bart Simpson was to his Rock, Paper, Scissors strategy, and if that was at EV only, I could live with it, wrong-headed as I might find it, because the Flames aren't giving up much in the way of EV chances most games. Where this sort of stubbornness strikes me as unforgivable is when the Flames are up a man. Three shots in nine and a half PP minutes in Denver can't just be explained away by bad luck or fatigue. The PP has looked lost more nights than not since the unrepeatable shooting of October, so I don't see why the team is so doctrinaire. Keeping the lines intact for the PP sounds like a good idea in theory, but there's no actual evidence to back the strategy, and this team needs the PP to be good under the best of circumstances.

The other move that has left many of us baffled is the persistent use of Robyn Regehr on the second PP. He's very good at his role, but that role shouldn't include ice-time when the Flames are actually looking to create offence. It's just another part of a very conservative approach that the team has gotten away with because of Miikka Kiprusoff's stellar play this season.

More scoring from somewhere seems like a good plan tonight, since Curtis McElhinney is slated for an outing, and it's the first time he's had a look where the team wasn't playing in a B2B. If Kipper needs a night off due to overwork, you'd certainly understand it given what he faced on the weekend.

Calgary's scoring woes aside, it might not be a bad time for McE to get some run, since the Blues can't throw it in the ocean either. They can't score (2.37 GPG), and they've won 5 games at home all year. Their PP, the source of so many good things as they made a run to the post-season last spring, is DFL, operating at 12.8%. The only reason that the Blues haven't been left for dead is their goaltending and PK work. There seems to be a certain commonality at play, doesn't there?

So, in review, neither team can score, Calgary's using McE, and the game is on PPV, which has been a guaranteed loss for the Flames this season (0-2-2). Oh, and if you believe the lines from the Herald that were in that linked bit, Nystrom is playing with Joker and Iggy. Maybe the Flames can win 2-1? They haven't done anything of that manner in about a week, so they're due ;-)

Game time is 6 MT.

Flames Scoring Chance Differentials, Games 21-30

Kent Wilson — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:53:42 -0000

More photos » by Graham Hughes - AP

Browse more photos »

It's about that time again to sort through the scoring chance totals and see who's been driving the bus (and who should be thrown under it). Through the first couple of 10 game segments, the Flames were a fairly middling team by this measure - they gave about as good as they got, although many of the money guys were well under water (which is a sub-optimal way to spend a bulk of your payroll to be sure). High shooting percentages in October and out-of-this-world goaltending since are therefore probably the reasons Calgary is challenging for the division crown at the moment.

Anyways, to the tables!

Games 21-30 encompassed one of the club's best stretches of the season - namely, the 6 game road trip. As a result, a majority of the team was in the black by this measure (or at least treaded water). Iginla and Jokinen didn't exactly set the world ablaze, but there was at least improvement over their previous 20 games. Of course, Curtis Glencross continues to pummel other third liners, while Langkow, Bourque and Conroy continue their stellar play as well.

Overall, the Flames garnered about 53% of the ES scoring chances recorded over this period - a very healthy ratio.

Other items of interest:

- If you visit some Flames messageboards, you'll notice a small contingent of fans want to recall Jamie Lundmark and put him on the first line because, well...Iginla was scoring when Lundmark was up the last time. Unfortunately, correlation does not always equal causation. Despite playing with Jokinen and Iginla during their strongest stretch of the season, Lundmark was still under water. In addition, he was the first guy to sit on the bench when the game was within a goal or two in the third period either way. I personally like Lundmark and think he could probably replace a guy like Sjostrom or Prust on the roster tomorrow, but the fact of the matter is he's no solution for the first line LW conundrum.

- Phaneuf with his worst relative 10 game stretch thus far. Some of that has to do with Sarich going down and Regehr and Dion getting a lot of the tough match-ups many nights, but it's still not the best sign for a guy of his pay-scale and established defensive issues. Keep in mind, this sample does not include the recent Minnesota debacle where Dion was something of a disaster (-3, including that final, terrible shift). I was somewhat encouraged by Dion's humble steps forward initially, but it looks like he's taken a few steps back recently.

- Olli Jokinen still one of the worst players on the team at ES by this metric. That's the bad news. If you're a silver lining type, he at least wasn't completely terrible which is something of an improvement.

- Nystrom's numbers improved somewhat. A lot of that has to do with playing mostly with Bourque and Conroy rather than Sjostrom and Prust/McGrattan no doubt.

- How does Bouwmeester do it?

Of course, this is all just a third of the season that has passed thus far. Here are the total as they stand today (minus the untelevised Blues game and the last two most recent contests, of course):

Looking at the Flames payroll, one could reasonably expect this list to be inverted. Through the first 30 games, though, the Flames have $26.37 million in capspace (Iginla, Jokinen, Sarich, Regehr, Phaneuf) six feet under ground by this measure (to the tune of a cumulative -115 rating). Many of the supporting players are getting the job done, but a good portion of the top end of the roster has spent the time getting out-chanced through a third of the year so far. To be fair, all of them have had to deal with pretty tough assignments in terms of own-zone draws and top-notch competition but that is, as the saying goes, why they get the big bucks. If the players you're paying elite salaries to can't at least hold other elite players to even in terms of getting the puck into scoring areas, then it stands to reason that you're using your cap space inefficiently (to be perfectly polite). Whether you want to put the blame on Jokinen himself, the lack of a legit winger for the top unit, a lack of "chemistry" between a couple of shooters in Jarome and Olli or too much money invested in the back-end (or a combination thereof) I think it's becoming pretty clear that the Flames will need to do something to get their top end guys out of the possession/scoring chance basement.

Kipper's heroics have covered a lot of these warts thus far and it's certainly helped having guys like Bourque and Glencross knocking it out of the park, but if the team wants to continue to challenge for the division and third in the conference, it simply can't have some $18M in "offense-first" players (Jokinen, Iginla, Phaneuf) bringing up the rear. Especially given the way the club's special teams have fallen on hard times recently.

Tuesday links: Brett Hull night part two edition

averagejoe — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 11:00:35 -0000

Game tonight. Will the Blues show up?

Blues news

Blues vs. Flames tonight. Will the bed stay poo-free tonight? [Sporting News]
Brett Hull and his Dream Team will be honored tonight. [The Canadian Press]
Like the Blues, the Flames are talking about hitting each other, too. [Toronto Sun]
Reminder: No T.V. for tonight's game. It's 2009, why do the Blues keep fucking up with T.V. First Dish, then High School football and now Brett Hull night. Get your shit together, Blues. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
For those of you salivating over Andy Murray getting fired if the Blues lose on Brett Hull night, John Davidson says that's not likely. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
Alex Pietrangelo reported to a very cold Regina for the World Juniors. [The Globe and Mail]
Some of the Blues went to Cardinal Glennon to cheer up some sick kids. I hope they didn't show them Friday's game. [Blues]

Hockey news

Last night's results. [Yahoo! Sports]
Blues are just one many teams playing tonight. [Yahoo! Sports]
Brian Burke says U.S. Hockey roster is nearly done. [CTV Olympics]
Jason Spezza may be hurt. Well ... he is, but we don't know for how long. [TSN]
Is it a little early to look at the 2009 free agent signings? Yes. That doesn't mean we still won't [TSN]
Speaking of the Flames, Olli Jokinen is playing terribly. [ESPN]
The Wild(s) are having struggling with head injuries.[ESPN]

Other links

I have a feeling this is going to be a big story. [New York Times]
Here are 50 great headlines for 2009. [Buzzfeed]
Wanna see some ass tattoos? Not tats of asses, tats ON asses. [City Rag]
Holy shit this does not look good. [eating the road]

Video

It's Brett Hull night. Here are some videos.

I think it's pretty cool Hull got 500 with a hat trick goal.

Game 30 Preview: Jackets face Panthers in Columbus

Mike MacLean — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:56:59 -0000

More photos » by Jay LaPrete - AP

Browse more photos »

The Jackets have had some time-three full days in fact-to regoup and, as I've said here many times before, right the ship. The team is coming off of two bad losses to the Leafs and Avalanche, two teams the Jackets need to beat. Tonight the Panthers come to town, and this being an out-of-conference matchup it is important to pick up these points. The Jackets have historically played well against the East, and that needs to continue this evening.

Dorsett makes his return to the lineup tonight-the team has missed his energy and forechecking badly. He brings a spark to the team that was obviously missing while he was out with a concussion. This is Murray's second game of the season, and I look for him to have a strong game. The lines have been adjusted quite significantly outside of the top line, with Umby sliding back to center with Jake and Chimmer. Chimmer has been playing very well lately, and I'm hopeful he can build on that given the chance to play with some skilled linemates.

Mase returns to the net, he simply must focus on the game and avoid letting in bad goals. The defense as a whole needs to continue to impove, and if the team continues to avoid playing the style the coaching staff is preaching, the ugly losses will continue to mount. If a team tries to play a skill game, without having the necessary skill to back it up, that's when you can kiss the season good-bye.

The Panthers have some skilled forwards and a decent defense, not to mention Vokoun is a fantastic goaltender. This will be a tough matchup, but one the Jackets can defeat. As far as I'm concerned, this is a must-win. In fact, you can say that about all of the games remaining this month. If they can go on a decent winning streak, they are right back in it.

Fearless Prediction: Victory?

Game Time: 7:00pm ET

Opponent's Blog: Litter Box Cats

Game Page: Panthers vs Blue Jackets Coverage

TV: FSN Ohio

Radio: WBNS-AM (1460); WWCD-FM (101.1)

More after the jump...

From the Columbus Dispatch:

Rule of thumb: He who forechecks, wins. The Blue Jackets have struggled against speedy forechecks this season, and they haven't established much of one lately, either. All that's left for the Panthers from three blockbuster trades (Roberto Luongo, Olli Jokinen and Jay Bouwmeester) are defensemen Keith Ballard, Jordan Leopold and Bryan Allen.

Jackets Links:

Columbus Blue Jackets / Columbus Blue Jackets Schedule

Columbus Blue Jackets Roster / Columbus Blue Jackets Stats

Here are the lineups for tonight's tilt:

Columbus Blue Jackets

Kristian Huselius	Antoine Vermette	Rick Nash
Jason Chimera	R.J. Umberger	Jakub Voracek
Andrew Murray	Samuel Pahlsson	Jared Boll
Raffi Torres	Derick Brassard	Derek Dorsett

Fedor Tyutin	Marc Methot
Mike Commodore	Jan Hejda
Kris Russell	Anton Stralman

Steve Mason

Mathieu Garon

EXTRA: Mike Blunden, Mathieu Roy, Derek MacKenzie

INJURED: Fredrik Modin, Rostislav Klesla

Florida Panthers

Steven Reinprecht	Stephen Weiss	Nathan Horton
Rostislav Olesz	Dominc Moore	Michael Frolik
Shawn Matthias	Jeff Taffe	Radek Dvorak
Victor Oreskovich	Kamil Kreps	Mike Duco

Bryan McCabe	Keith Ballard
Jordan Leopold	Dennis Seidenberg
Bryan Allen	Dmitry Kulikov

Tomas Vokoun

Scott Clemmensen

What Have You Done in Your Life?

RudyKelly — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:41:24 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

What's he getting for his birthday? Not alcohol. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Browse more photos »

Yesterday Drew Doughty played 24:46 minutes against the Calgary Flames, mostly against Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen.

Today he turned 20.

I feel like I need to watch Men of a Certain Age now.

Flames @ Kings Post-Game - Karma's a Bitch

Kent Wilson — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:02:08 -0000

More photos » by Lori Shepler - AP

As sometimes happens, the Flames were the better team last night in just about all facets of the game, but ended up on the losing end of the score. Tough to be mad about it though - Calgary has been the beneficiary of similar fortunes recently so we'll just write this one off as the universe trying to balance itself out.

Calgary won the possession battle, the scoring chance count and the shot count, but a couple of posts and some decent saves by Jonathan Quick kept the Kings out in front. That said, it was hardly a perfect contest from the guys in white and red: Adam Pardy moved up in the absence of Robyn Regehr and got his head beat in. In particular, he was frequently victimized off the rush, including Scott Parse's opening tally. Pardy typically ends up on the positive side of things in terms of chances and possession when he's restricted to the third pairing, but last night he was well under water by both metrics (-11, -5). He also took a penalty to boot. Sorry Adam...you're clearly not ready for that kind of gig.

In addition, the Flames newly formed top line of Iginla, Jokinen and Dawes struggled for the second straight game. Since being formed, the trio is a combined -26 in terms of scoring chance differential, which is a rate reminiscent of the bad ol' October days where Iginla and Jokinen were getting beat up by the opposition nightly. To be fair, they faced some pretty capable bad guys the last two games (Thornton et al, Kopitar et al), but the point of going PvP is to at least try to come out even at the end of the game most nights. If not, then you just have $12M+ worth of offensive forwards chasing the puck around their own zone for an evening.

Which brings me to the ever rotating cast of left wingers for that unit - I've resigned myself to the fact that the Flames organization has collectively decided that Iginla and Jokinen have to play together (apologies to Mike Keenan, whom I blamed this exclusively on last season), but the fact of the matter is, outside of periods where Iginla is shooting lights out, that combination is going to need some help to get the job done; especially if Brent is going to send them out against the Thorntons and Kopitars of the world. The natural choice is Rene Bourque, who is doubtlessly the best LW on the Flames roster. Bourque's audition on the first line was rather inauspicious (loss to PHX), although that unit did manage to outchance their counter-parts on the evening - something that hasn't occured since Bourque was moved to Langkow's line and Dawes was elevated. Granted, the level of competition between the PHX game and the following two contests isn't congruous, but I think it's been shown pretty conclusively that Bourque is a strong ES forward who can play against anyone and move the puck in the right direction.

As such, I find the decision making about this situation curious: in Bourque's absence, the Dawes-Langkow-Moss combination held their own. Bourque returns, makes a brief appearance on the first unit and then is "demoted" in favor of an obviously inferior option (no disrepect to Dawes, whom I like - he's just clearly in over his head). Any talk of "balancing the top 6" here is untenable: not only was the Langkow/Dawes/Moss trio operating at an acceptable clip previously, but the Flames first line sees the toughest match-ups. Iginla and Jokinen should therefore play with the best LW option available - otherwise you're just throwing them in the deep end of the pool and tossing them an anchor. And it's not like Olli Jokinen is the best swimmer anyways.

Sharks Gameday: Hide Your Honeycombs

Mr. Plank — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 11:30:13 -0000

	@ 7:30 PST
17-7-3, 37 points		19-6-5, 43 points
3rd in Western Conference		1st in Western Conference

Television	CSN-CA (HD)
Radio	98.5 KFOX, Sjsharks.com
Antagonists	Matchsticks & GasolineBattle of Alberta

I would be remiss not to touch upon the travesty that was St. Louis-- the fact that a shorthanded goal was given up with six seconds remaining has probably been beaten to death in the game thread, but the truth is I didn't even bother to browse being in a pretty foul mood and all. My biggest issue during the last two minutes wasn't even the shorty, but the fact that the Sharks gave up a two on one roughly forty seconds beforehand. It was a great outlet pass sure, and you have to give credit to the Blues for busting their ass all game, but San Jose has to be aware the forwards are going to be creeping into the neutral zone well before they would usually. After that gets defused with an excellent save by Nabokov, the play heads the other way. And who gets off for a line change as the puck gets dumped into the offensive zone? Two players, Dan Boyle and Rob Blake. Joe Thornton gets a pass here as he was the requisite forechecker on the play (along with beating out the icing call), but Heatley and Marleau need to make a quick change so they don't get caught with tired legs in the defensive zone. Whether it was an honest mistake, competitive instinct, or a case of seeing that empty net opportunity to pad the stats a bit doesn't matter. That shift change needs to get done.

And now we move on.

Games against Calgary might be my favorite on the docket to watch. There's a good playoff rivalry, both teams have ties with the Sutter's, the personnel (in Calgary primarily) usually has it's fair share of common blood, and they've both been consistent regular season performers since the lockout with nothing to show for it when all the cards are on the table. San Jose hasn't made it out of the second round since these two teams squared up in 03-04-- the Flames haven't managed to break past the first.

That being said, the teams are built a little differently. Staying true to the family name, Darryl Sutter has built a tough squad with an exceptional blueline, while San Jose has a more skilled squad that's not going to throw around their weight as much. What's been surprising thus far is that Brent Sutter has managed to get his team to put the puck in the net (6th in the NHL), an element of their game that was supposed to be a concern; concurrently, San Jose has managed to keep the puck out of the net (8th in the NHL), an element of their game that was also supposed to be a concern going into the year. Standing by my original thoughts, I'm still not completely sold on the long term success of the defensive core, but it's still an interesting dichatomy between the two clubs.

The backend on Calgary is stacked (baby baybay)-- you have the well known Jay Bouwmeester and Robyn Regehr, premier shutdown defensemen who will likely see the lion's share of defensive zone draws against the HTML line*. Beyond that you get into the skilled yet overrated Dion Phaneuf, as well as the lesser known Cory Sarich (who probably won't fly under the radar tonight considering his brutally clean hit on Patrick Marleau two years ago). There's a lot of talent on that backend, and if San Jose is to bounce back from Thursday, it's going to be through a tireless cycle and a willingness to retrieve pucks off dump ins. That far-side winger is going to need to hit the blueline with speed in order for this to work.

*H/T to my buddy Kit Perkins for the nickname idea-- it's infinitely superior to the brutally uninteresting "Hamburger Line." No idea how that's catching on.

Vesce and Joslin were sent down yesterday. Hopefully Demers is getting the call up or Joslin is victim of another salary cap related move. Both know the system and have played and practiced with the team. Starting Jay Leach against the Flames a whole four days after claiming him off waivers would be a big time head scratcher.

In other news, Randy Hahn will be calling his 1,000th NHL game tonight so give him a warm welcome from the comfort of your couch. Also, be sure not to bring any Honeycomb cereal into The Tank if you're going to the game tonight. Little known fact: Olli Jokinen has a hat trick every time that stuff is in the building.

Prediction: Sharks win 3-2. Goals by Vlasic, McGinn, and Ortmeyer. Honeycomb crisis averted.

Go Sharks.

Sign Rene Bourque. Now.

Kent Wilson — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:16:17 -0000

More photos » by Jeff McIntosh - AP

Browse more photos »

Darryl Sutter isn't going to have a lot of decisions to make next summer. Almost all of his blueline is locked up long term and most of the forward free agents are guys like McGrattan Lundmark, Nystrom and Conroy - depth players that could be re-signed or replaced without too much fuss. Oh...and Olli Jokinen. Recent improvement notwithstanding, I think that particular decision won't be a difficult one.

The lone exception, however, may be Rene Bourque. I opined during the summer that Bourque may be in line for a step backwards this season, if only because the the hockey gods were kind to him last year and he led the team in terms of on-ice SH% and SV%. Well, he regressed to the mean in that regard (at least in terms of SV%) but it hasn't mattered: despite a tough assignment, most of Bourques counting and advanced stats are good-to-excellent. He was the best forward on the team in October when Jokinen and Iginla were playing like someone had slept with their wives and kept calling them before every game to remind them of it.

No, in direct defiance of my prognostications, Bourque has taken a very real step forward this season and is now, in my never humble estimation, a driver of results and one of the key members of the Flames forward group. He's also just 28 years old and thus right in the meaty part of the typical NHLers development curve. The only potential complaint one might have of Bourque is his injury-prone-ness, but that's a fairly minor quibble. A guy who can skate, hit, win board battles, move the puck north, play against the big boys and do some damage on both special teams probably deserves a 10 games off a season even if his leg/arm/back/face isn't hurting, right?

The reasons to re-sign Bourque are glaring and not really subject to argument at this point. The reason to sign him as soon as possible is probably equally as obvious: he gets incrementally more expensive with every successive good game he plays. If Bourque finishes anywhere near the 79 point pace he's currently on, he'll hold the hammer in negotiations come July.

You scooped a keeper from Chicago, Darryl. Well done. Now let's get his name on a decent value contract as soon as possible.

Game 25 Preview: Jackets Return Home to Take on the Flames

Mike MacLean — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:49:07 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

Browse more photos »

Finally, back home. The Jackets return to Nationwide Arena to face the Flames tonight, after concluding a disastrous five-game road trip. The Jackets won the first game, but then promptly lost four in a row. The team played horrible defensively, and the goaltenders were anything but sharp. Mason however did look good in the last game against Ottawa, making big saves when needed, however he lost focus on the game winning goal for Ottawa, a wraparound by Nick Foligno late in the third. Mase was again haunted by a play that developed from behind the net.

The Flames are a fairly high scoring team, and they play physical. They play a lot like Columbus does when the Jackets are "on", so this on paper is a pretty fair matchup. What remains to be seen is whether or not the Jackets can get their act together in the defensive zone. Something is broken, the effort level isn't there and the goalies haven't been good. These factors need to be remedied immediatly, as the Jackets are losing ground fast. The Preds and Blackhawks are the hottest team in the NHL right now, and the Jackets need to keep pace.

There have been some shakeups to the forward lines. Raffi Torres should be lining up with Vermette and Nash on the first line, and Umby is moving to the second line right-wing position with Jake moving to the third line. Look for recently called-up Alex Picard to see some action on the fourth line. I love his game- tons of jam and he still actually has offensive talent, although he has yet to show it at the NHL level. I fully expect him to take advantage of this chance and have a strong game.

Fearless Prediction: Picard scores his first NHL goal!

Game Time: 7:00pm ET

Opponent's Blog: Matchsticks and Gasoline

Game Page: Flames vs Blue Jackets Coverage

TSN Preview: Flames vs Blue Jackets Preview

TV: FSN Ohio

Radio: WBNS-AM (1460); WWCD-FM (101.1)

More after the jump...

From the Columbus Dispatch:

The Blue Jackets aim to snap a season-high, four-game losing streak. Since Oct. 7, 2005, the Blue Jackets are 7-1-0 against the Flames in Nationwide Arena, including a 2-1 win Oct. 13.

Jackets Links:

Columbus Blue Jackets / Columbus Blue Jackets Schedule

Columbus Blue Jackets Roster / Columbus Blue Jackets Stats

Here are the lineups for tonight's tilt:

Columbus Blue Jackets

Raffi Torres	Antoine Vermette	Rick Nash
Kristian Huselius	Derick Brassard	R.J. Umberger
Jason Chimera	Samuel Pahlsson	Jakub Voracek
Alexandre Picard	Derek MacKenzie	Jared Boll

Fedor Tyutin	Anton Stralman
Rostislav Klesla	Jan Hejda
Marc Methot	Mike Commodore

Steve Mason

Mathieu Garon

EXTRA: Kris Russell, Michael Blunden

INJURED: Fredrik Modin, Andrew Murray, Derek Dorsett

Calgary Flames

Jamie Lundmark	Olli Jokinen	Jarome Iginla
Nigel Dawes	Daymond Langkow	David Moss
Curtis Glencross	Craig Conroy	Dustin Boyd
Fredrik Sjostrom	Eric Nystrom	Brandon Prust

Jay Bouwmeester	Mark Giordano
Dion Phaneuf	Robyn Regehr
Adam Pardy	Aaron Johnson

Curtis McElhinney

Miikka Kiprusoff

Flames and Kiprusoff continue Detroit's scoring woes

MrNorrisTrophy — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:18:41 -0000

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

Calgary Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff (34), of Finland, deflects a shot in front of Detroit Red Wings right wing Todd Bertuzzi (44) during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Detroit, Friday, Nov. 27, 2009. Kiprusoff made 40 saves for his 32nd career shutout in the Flames' 3-0 victory. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Browse more photos »

Twenty eight seconds into the first period is all that it took for Calgary to get on the scoreboard. Jamie Lundmark scored his first of the season on a pass across the crease from Olli Jokinen. That goal was all that Calgary needed as Miikka Kiprusoff blanked the Red Wings on 40 shots. It was the second consecutive shut out of the Red Wings and the second consecutive game with 40 shots and nothing to show for it.

Lundmark scored on a pass from Jokinen along the boards as Chris Osgood tried to stand back up, leaving the net wide open. Detroit seemingly tied it with power play goal from Brad Stuart at 5:27 of the first period but the goal was waved off for goaltender interference. Dan Cleary, positioned barely in the crease, "prevented the goaltender from doing his job" as he slightly brushed Kiprusoff's blocker as the puck went glove side--clearly preventing him from doing his job, right? Nevertheless, the officials called it as they saw it and Calgary maintained the 1-0 lead as "boos" greeted the ears of the officiating crew.

That lead would grow to 2-0 as Nigel Dawes scored at 18:29 of the first period on an odd turnover frenzy in front of Osgood. The chance started on a weak shot from Brett Lebda in the offensive zone that lead to a Calgary rush with David Moss and Dawes up against Jonathan Ericsson, Pavel Datsyuk, and a trailing Lebda. Ericsson stopped a cross from Moss, only to have Datsyuk whiff on a clear leading to a poke from Dawes past Osgood for a 2-0 lead heading into the first break.

Detroit fired 17 shots on goal in the second period--as many as Calgary had in the whole game--but could not register a goal. Another controversial moment happened with an early whistle while the puck was loose in Kiprusoff's crease before Ericsson scored. Once again, the goal was waved off at the discretion of the officiating crew and jeers yet again rained down on Brad Meier and his fellow crew members. Numerous chances in the second period by the Red Wings were unrewarded and a 2-0 deficit with the way Kiprusoff was playing made the outcome more or less decided at the end of two.

Olli Jokinen scored just 25 seconds into the third period--deja vu anyone?--to put the game at an unreachable 3-0 for the sputtering Detroit offense. This time, it was Jokinen who received the pass from Lundmark (reverse of goal number one) and he wasted little time firing a beautiful shot above Osgood's glove side and into the net. Lundmark's pass was a wobbler that Jokinen caught perfectly on the tape and ripped into the top shelf to solidify the 3-0 win for Calgary.

Calgary filled the shooting lanes and blocked 17 shots, taking any quality chances away and leaving Kiprusoff with mainly routine saves. The powerplay sputtered again, going 0 for 6 on the night. Detroit's offensive struggles can be summed up in one stat: 1 goal on the last 119 shots.

Detroit faces fellow Central Division opponents St. Louis tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. ET and Calgary faces Columbus.

Casey's Wing of the Game: Once again, I'd rather not choose. Darren Helm is who I've got though: 9 hits, 4 shots, 9/14 (64%) in the dot. He also showed his incredible speed with a burst past a Calgary defender.

Darren Helm

#43 / Center / Detroit Red Wings

Height: 5-11

Weight: 195

Born: Jan 21, 1987

Flames vs Red Wings coverage, Matchsticks and Gasoline

SB Nation - Olli Jokinen

Flames Game Day: Blue Period

Flames Scoring Chance Differentials, Games 21-30

Tuesday links: Brett Hull night part two edition

Game 30 Preview: Jackets face Panthers in Columbus

What Have You Done in Your Life?

Flames @ Kings Post-Game - Karma's a Bitch

Sharks Gameday: Hide Your Honeycombs

@

Television

CSN-CA (HD)

Radio

98.5 KFOX, Sjsharks.com

Antagonists

Matchsticks & GasolineBattle of Alberta

Sign Rene Bourque. Now.

Game 25 Preview: Jackets Return Home to Take on the Flames

Flames and Kiprusoff continue Detroit's scoring woes

Darren Helm

#43 / Center / Detroit Red Wings