Flames win game but their mascot loses his tongue
Craig MacTavish and the Edmonton Oilers couldn't stop the Calgary Flames. The best they could do was silence the opposing mascot.
Harvey the Hound, the Calgary Flames' 6-foot-6, 200-pound mascot, got too close to the Oilers' bench and under the skin of Coach MacTavish.
Already dealing with an impending 4-3 loss to the Flames on Monday night, MacTavish answered Harvey's repeated taunts with a yank that ripped out the white dog's foot-long red tongue.
The Flames let a four-goal lead turn into a nail-biter as Edmonton's Brian Swanson, Marty Reasoner and Mike York scored in a span of less than four minutes late in the game, but the Oilers couldn't get the tying goal and lost their second straight.
Calgary escaped with a win, but Harvey didn't get away so lucky.
"(Harvey) was in a place he shouldn't have been," Flames spokesman Peter Hanlon said.
In other NHL games, it was Washington 3, Boston 3; Minnesota 2, Anaheim 1 in overtime; Montreal 3, Florida 2; St. Louis 5, Carolina 3; Columbus 5, Chicago 1; Tampa Bay 6, Ottawa 2; Dallas 1, Colorado 1; and Phoenix 3, San Jose 1.
With 37-year-old Dave Lowry added to Calgary's top line, Craig Conroy had two goals and an assist, and Jarome Iginla set up three goals. Lowry had his first goal of the season and two assists.
Chris Drury also scored for the Flames.
It was the first three-point game of the season for both Iginla and Conroy, who have spent all season trying to find their form from last season.
"He's gritty, he plays with an edge and that made a difference on our line," Conroy said of Lowry. "He's an experienced guy whose played 1,000 games in the league and he knows what he's got to do out there."
