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Wings Dominate in Motown
by David Carty

The Calgary Flames knew they’d have to defy the odds to come away with a win Saturday afternoon. Riding high after evening the series at home 2-2, a first class ticket back to Hockeytown was the last thing the Flames wanted. With an abysmal thirteen road victories staring them in the face, the Flames resorted to what they know best. Being physical.

However, the pure talent of the Red Wings was not to be denied. The somewhat maligned Henrik Zetterberg found his stride to the tune of two goals and one assist. Captain Niklas Lidstrom added four assists on his own en route to a 5-1 stomping of the Flames.

Dion Phaneuf mixed things up early with Todd Bertuzzi, amongst others, in what was Bertuzzi’s first home playoff performance in Detroit. Bertuzzi looked sluggish at times, allowing a dangerous giveaway to Alex Tanguay in the Detroit zone two minutes into play. But luckily for the Red Wings, some of those old bones found a little extra spring in their stride.

Dominik Hasek’s stop on Tanguay was a sign of things to come. The Dominator played a near perfect game, and matched Miika Kiprusoff save-for-save early in the game. Later in the period, Hasek stymied Jeff Friesen on a 2-on-1 caused by an ill-advised hit by Danny Markov in the attacking zone. Hasek stopped all eight efforts on what was, at best, a spotty power play effort for the Flames.

Nevertheless, the Flames came out of the gate with a chip on their shoulder. Calgary’s eleven shots nearly matched Detroit’s fourteen as the two squads fought to a scoreless stalemate after one. Daymond Langkow played strong on the forecheck and helped to create several Flames opportunities. Langkow and Tony Amonte each contributed two shots on net and made Dominik Hasek work throughout the duration of the period.

And that’s when the wheels fell off the Flames' wagon.

After Tomas Holmstrom pushed Brad Stuart into Miikka Kiprusoff earlier in the game, the officials opted to crack down on goaltender interference. The Wings' first goal was waved off after tagging Kirk Maltby with a goaltender interference penalty. Maltby appeared to be led into the net by Mark Giordano, but instead Detroit got the goal waved off and Calgary went on the power play.

After more brilliance in net by Hasek, the Wings began the damage.

Dan Cleary beat Kiprusoff with a backhand on his first career penalty shot to break the scoreless tie. The shot came after Cleary was tripped up by Roman Hamrlik on a short-handed breakaway, and it was one of many opportunities the Red Wings created for themselves while on the penalty kill. The Red Wings went back to peppering a dazzling Kiprusoff, and held the Flames without a shot on net for the first ten minutes of the second period.

Five minutes later, Zetterberg lit the lamp, burying a feed from Lidstrom to put the Wings' lead at two.

The second period was also one of rejuvenation for Chris Chelios. After stopping two shots on one Calgary power play opportunity, Chelios netted his first goal of the 2006-07 campaign, putting Detroit up 3-0. Detroit capped an outstanding defensive effort by blanking the Flames on a late 5-on-3 and kept the three goal lead heading into the third.

The third period capped the Flames’ downward spiral. While the Wings added to their lead, Calgary continued the physical play, often after the whistle. Not surprisingly, the Flames were responsible for eleven of the fourteen penalties called in the third period.

Phaneuf and Bertuzzi dropped the gloves, and Phaneuf was slapped with the instigator penalty. Later, Stephane Yelle was slapped with a slashing penalty and a five minute major for attempt to injure.

The most notable offender was backup goaltender Jamie McLennan, who received a grand total of eighteen seconds of ice time in relief of Miikka Kiprusoff. His shift consisted of poking a battling Johan Franzen in front of his net, then hitting him with his stick after play had stopped. McLennan received a game misconduct and will face suspension from the NHL.

The Flames brutishly concluded the game using every opportunity at their disposal to throw in a little extra pain, including a double minor to Jerome Iginla that sent the captain to the shower before time expired.

Calgary's self-destruction now sends them back home trailing 3-2. Detroit simply manhandled the Flames, leaving them looking foolish and thuggish by the game’s finish. Calgary’s offense clicked in the first period, before degrading and collapsing as the game progressed. And in order for Calgary to extend their playoff life, they’ll have to control their emotion and play to their strengths.

Of course, that’s not quite so easy when you’re up against dominance and The Dominator.