Thursday, Feb. 1 9:00pm ET
Flames, Blackhawks fight for ground in West
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BOX SCORE
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) -- While Bill Lindsay is happy to see
Jarome Iginla and Cory Stillman scoring, he knows the Calgary
Flames need more.
Including some offense from him.
"If you're going to be successful in this league, you're going
to need contributions from your third and fourth lines," Lindsay
said after Calgary beat Chicago 5-3. "As good as that line
(Iginla, Stillman and Marc Savard) is playing, they can't shoulder
the load all the time, it's impossible.
"There has to be more production from the other guys; that's
the way teams like New Jersey and St. Louis have success."
Iginla scored his 17th and 18th goals of the season. Iginla
scored once in the first period, then iced the victory by
one-timing a perfect pass from Stillman past Jocelyn Thibault with
just one minute left in the third.
The win moved Calgary past the Blackhawks in the Western
Conference standings and within 10 points of the Edmonton Oilers
for the eighth and final playoff spot.
"In the month of February, we play 11 games and most of them
within our own conference, so we have a chance to move up," said
Stillman, who scored his team-leading 20th goal.
Lindsay and Valeri Bure also scored for Calgary.
Steve Sullivan and Michael Nylander each had a goal and an
assist to pace Chicago. Rookie left-winger Chris Herperger also
scored.
The Blackhawks have dropped five of their last six.
"We're very disappointed," Sullivan said. "We came into this
road trip in not that bad of a situation, but we seem to be digging
ourselves another hole and we can't afford to do that with only 30
games left."
Trailing 3-1 after 20 minutes, Chicago was a better team in the
second period, but was stymied repeatedly by goalie Mike Vernon.
During one sequence, Vernon alertly jabbed out a pad to stop a
deflection by Dean McAmmond, then recovered to stack the pads and
rob John-Yves Leroux on the rebound.
Later in the period, Tony Amonte was stopped on a 1-on-1, and
then stopped a second time from close-in as he tried to bang his
rebound behind Vernon.
Vernon finished with 24 saves.
Chicago solved Vernon with 4:16 left in the second when Sullivan
neatly steered Nylander's pass behind Vernon to make it 3-2.
Stillman's goal 31 seconds later restored the Flames' two-goal
cushion, but the Blackhawks answered back before the second period
was over.
With 25 seconds left and Chicago on a power play, Sullivan and
Nylander combined again, this time with Nylander firing in his
16th.
Calgary led 3-1 after the first period thanks to three straight
goals in a span of 4:32 seconds.
"We had a bad 10 minutes and it cost us the hockey game,"
Sullivan said. "We know we can't afford to take lapses like
that."
Iginla tied the game 1-1 on a power play, then the Flames took
the lead 52 seconds later on a rare goal by Lindsay. Calgary added
its second power-play goal in as many opportunities when Bure
scored on a wrist shot from 20 feet.
Game notes
Vernon accidentally directed Herperger's centering pass
into his net on Chicago's first shot. It marked the 12th time this
season Calgary goaltenders have yielded a goal on the first shot,
with it happening to Vernon nine times. ... Lindsay went 48 games
without a goal, dating to April 1 of last season. ... Chicago has
have lost three of the first four games of an eight-game road
trip.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Chicago Clubhouse
Calgary Clubhouse
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Montreal 3
Boston 0
Philadelphia 2
NY Islanders 0
Washington 5
Toronto 4
Carolina 3
Atlanta 1
Tampa Bay 4
Buffalo 2
Columbus 2
St. Louis 2
Calgary 5
Chicago 3
Anaheim 4
Phoenix 2
Dallas 4
San Jose 2
Vancouver 5
Colorado 3
Nashville 6
Los Angeles 4
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Valeri Bure Official Site
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