| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) -- Kirk Maltby capped a terrible night for
the Calgary Flames' power-play unit.
Not only did the Flames fail to score in nine chances with the
man advantage, they allowed Maltby to score the game-winning goal
while short-handed as the Detroit Red Wings defeated Calgary 4-3
Thursday night.
|  | | Before scoring the game-winner, Detroit's Kirk Maltby, left, was beating players to the puck. |
Maltby's goal with 8:01 left in the third period broke a 3-3 tie
and gave the Red Wings a come-from-behind victory in each team's
first game of the season.
"When a team is on the power play and you're able to frustrate
them and not give them anything offensively at all, that can
definitely carry the momentum onto your side," Maltby said.
With Brendan Shanahan in the penalty box for roughing, Maltby
and Kris Draper broke out on a 2-on-1 with Maltby firing a shot
from 20 feet out that trickled through the pads of Fred Brathwaite.
"I just tried to get a good shot on the net so if it didn't go
in, I'd get a rebound for myself or Kris but I was fortunate that
it found a hole and went through," Maltby said. "Freddie
absolutely robbed me once last year so I guess he owed me that
one."
Brathwaite recalled thwarting Maltby, but contended it wasn't an
even trade.
"They had already won that game," recalled Brathwaite. "Malts
and I are pretty good friends and obviously I didn't give him that
goal and I'd like to have it back, but it is a long season and
he'll have to repay me again."
Sergei Fedorov, Steve Duchesne, and Vyzcheslav Kozlov also
scored for Detroit, which was without injured captain Steve
Yzerman. Yzerman is expected to be out for about a week with a
strained knee ligament.
Jason Wiemer, Jarome Iginla, and Phil Housley scored Calgary's goals.
"It's certainly frustrating when you get that many chances on
the power play and you don't score a goal," Housley said. "That
could have been the difference right there."
After falling behind 3-1 in the opening 20 minutes, a period in
which they were outhit and outhustled by the Flames, Detroit turned
things around in the second.
"They picked up the tempo and we didn't keep up, it was that
simple," said Flames coach Don Hay, making his Calgary debut as
the head man behind the bench.
The Red Wings were dominant, firing 15 shots at Brathwaite
and scoring twice to tie it.
Detroit pulled within a goal 4:37 into the second when Duchesne
lofted a backhand from the blue line that glanced in off the
shoulder of Brathwaite, who was without a stick and screened by
Shanahan.
After Brathwaite turned aside several potential tying goals, the
Red Wings finally pulled even at 13:58 when Kozlov jammed
Shanahan's centering pass behind Brathwaite.
Calgary was fortunate to be tied after the second as it took
some spectacular stops from Brathwaite. During one penalty kill, an
energetic shift from Fedorov led to three successive scoring
chances, each turned aside by Brathwaite.
Brathwaite also made acrobatic stops off Martin Lapointe and
then Fedorov just before Maltby's goal.
Wiemer started the scoring at 1:34 tipping Jeff Shantz's shot
past Chris Osgood on the first shot of the game.
After Fedorov scored on a similar deflection two minutes later,
Iginla put Calgary back in front at 6:50 firing a knuckler off a
rolling puck that slipped between Osgood's pads.
Osgood also looked shaky on Housley's goal that made it 3-1. A
long wrist shot from the blue line crossed up Osgood on his blocker
side.
Game notes
Boyd Devereaux replaced Yzerman on the Red Wings top line
between wingers Shanahan and Kozlov. ... Calgary has lost four
straight season openers. ... Calgary's 5-2-1 preseason record was
its first winning record in the exhibition since 1996. ... Two
Flames defensemen are sporting new numbers this season. Brad
Werenka is now 2 after wearing 33 last year and Wade Belak,
formerly 29, is now wearing 4.
| |
ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Detroit Clubhouse
Calgary Clubhouse
RECAPS
Ottawa 4
Boston 4
Buffalo 4
Chicago 2
Philadelphia 6
Vancouver 3
Detroit 4
Calgary 3
Phoenix 4
St. Louis 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Sergei Fedorov deflects the Nicklas Lidstrom shot into the net.
avi: 754 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Pat Verbeek and Bill Lindsay square off for the first fight of the season.
avi: 1162 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
|
