Flames end five-game slide with 2-1 OT win over Kings
Canadian Press
Sunday, January 19, 2003
CREDIT: (CP/Adrian Wyld)
Calgary Flames Robyn Regehr (left) and Toni Lydman (right) congratulate teammate Rob Niedermayer on his overtime goal to beat the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. (CP/Adrian Wyld)
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CALGARY (CP) - Breakaways in overtime are rare but Calgary Flames left-winger Rob Niedermayer got one Saturday night and made the most of it.
Niedermayer's fourth goal of the season at 2:42 of the extra period gave Calgary a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings as the Flames snapped a five-game winless skid. "A win like this really boosts our confidence and hopefully it's something we can build on and move forward with," Niedermayer said.
Niedermayer outskated Ziggy Palffy and Jason Allison for a loose puck at centre and with them both in pursuit, he raced in on Kings goalie Felix Potvin and fired a shot past him on the blocker side from 20 feet out.
"I was getting chased from behind and I just wanted to get a good shot away quick," Niedermayer said.
The sequence had begun deep in the Flames' zone but as Allison circled the net and tried to centre the puck, it glanced off Flames defenceman Toni Lydman and past the Kings defence pairing of Mattias Norstrom and Dmitri Yushkevish.
"It's the honesty of the game," said Flames coach Darryl Sutter. "He (Niedermayer) has played really well for us since he came back from his injury. He's being rewarded on the scoresheet for the jobs he's doing in the tough areas of the game."
Craig Conroy also scored for Calgary (15-22-7-3). Tied with Nashville for last place in the Western Conference, the Flames have a tie and a win in their first two games of a five-game homestand.
"Darryl said right from the start that we had a big homestand here and he wanted us to do well and get some points which is what we need to do if we're going to jump back into the playoff picture," said Niedermayer.
Palffy had the lone goal for Los Angeles (18-21-4-3).
"It was a tough way to lose," said Kings coach Andy Murray. "We certainly had the early chance on a three-on-two rush and just missed. We were pressing and they got the winning goal."
The Kings have lost nine of their past 11.
"We played a better hockey game but still, we're not going to win if we only score one goal," said Palffy. "It's a tough loss for us, we're battling for that eighth spot in the conference and we know Calgary's behind us."
Calgary took the lead 1:04 into the game.
Dave Lowry's shot from the slot was stopped by Potvin but the rebound came straight out to Conroy who made a neat move in tight and tucked in his 12th of the season.
The lead lasted just over five minutes before Palffy tied it with a short-handed goal at 6:27.
Chris Drury's dangerous pass at his own blue-line deflected in air off Steven Heinze and was gloved down by Palffy who burst in on goaltender Roman Turek and scored his team-leading 14th goal.
Palffy's first short-handed goal of the year marked the league-leading ninth time Calgary has given up a goal while on a man advantage.
The goal turned out to be a sign of things to come for the Flames struggling 26th ranked power-play as they ended up squandering six power-play's on the game.
Potvin was busiest in the third period as he was forced to make 14 saves after facing just 12 shots through the first 40 minutes.
Turek finished the night with 18 stops.
Alexander Frolov nearly put Los Angeles into the lead seven minutes into the third period when he neatly spun around Gauthier on his way to the net but his close-in shot hit the goalpost.
Los Angeles entered the game with seven players hurt and it didn't take long for that number to increase to eight.
Defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky was helped off the ice six minutes into the first period after suffering a sprained left knee. The injury occurred when Heinze fell awkwardly onto Visnovsky's leg on a harmless looking incident in the Kings' end.
The Flames also suffered a self-inflicted casualty with Oleg Saprykin leaving in the second period after banging knees with teammate Jarome Iginla. Saprykin's injury was also diagnosed as a sprained knee.
Notes: Calgary C Steve Begin has been cleared to play after recovering from a concussion. His return leaves the Flames completely healthy. . . . Conroy's goal was the 100th of his NHL career. . . . The Flames announced that rookie defenceman Jordan Leopold will play in the NHL Young Stars Game that is played during the all-star break.
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