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Flames engulf Bolts in Game 1
By GREG HARRIS, MOP Squad Staff Writer
May 27, 2004 - 5:08:00 PM |
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Three minutes. That's all it took for the Flames to take the lead in game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning; a lead that they would never relinquish in their 4-1 victory.
Mind you, that first goal was less than spectacular, in contrast to the rest of the Flames' goals, which were hilight reel material. The first goal, however, was the result of an Andrew Ference shot that sailed towards the goal at shoulder hight. Normally, the puck would've gone over the net, but it happened to hit Lightning captain Dave Andreychuk in the shoulder. It then bounced off of Martin Gelinas' shinpad, and came to rest on the goal line - until Tampa goalie Nikolai Khabibulin pushed the puck past the line as came across the crease.
It may have been an ugly goal, but it did give the Flames a 1-0 lead after the first period, and the Flames haven't lost in the playoffs when leading after one. And, for a long time, it looked that that first goal would be the game winner. That wasn't to be, however, as Tampa eventually got a goal, but by that time, the score was already 3-0!
In the second period, the Flames took control of the game, despite being caught in a few shorthanded situations against the top ranked Lightning powerplay. However, Tampa weren't able to muster anything offensively on their first three powerplay chances, and they even gave up a shorthanded goal to Jarome Iginla.
Iginla took the puck just inside of his own blue line, and cleared it out to centre ice. There was no one between him and the puck, however, so Iggy Stardust chased after the puck and broke in on Khabibulin. While the Lightning netminder made the initial stop with his glove, the shot was much to hot for him to handle, and he flopped like a dying fish as the puck flew up in the air. Tampa forward Frederik Modin was able to get back in the play, but instead of going after the puck, he circled the net, allowing Iginla to get his own rebound, and put it past the sprawled goalie.
Just three minutes after Iginla's goal, Stephane Yelle went hard for the puck, and disengaged Dan Boyle from the disc as he knocked him into the boards. The puck went through the legs of Oleg Saprykin, and Yelle recovered it. He then came out to the front of the net, and fired a shot over Khabibulin's shoulder, giving the Flames an insurmountable lead after two periods.
The Lightning were finally able to get their powerplay going in the third, as Martin St. Louis squeaked a shot past Miikka Kiprusoff on a broken play. They weren't able to score again, however, and Chris Simon added the final nail to the Tampa coffin in the dying seconds with a powerplay goal of his own.
With the victory, the Flames have shown that the Lightning are no better than any of the divisional champions in the Western Conference, all of whom have fallen to the Flames in this year's postseason. The Flames will take the series in six games, if not four!
Copyright 2007 - MOP Squad Sports
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