The Calgary Flames celebrated their home opener and first game in their newly renamed home with a big win. The Flames downed the L.A. Kings 3-1 to christen the Scotiabank Saddledome tonight.
Craig Conroy sniped a shot past Kings goalie Jonathan Bernier on a rush in the second period. His goal was the Flames second of the game and ended up being the game winner after the Kings could only get one shot past Miikka Kiprusoff.
Curtis Glencross opened the scoring (both tonight and for the Flames 2010-2011 season) with a beautiful shorthanded goal. He took a feed from Brett Sutter and streaked into the Kings end before cutting in front of Bernier and burying the puck into the net. His goal brought the Saddledome crowd to their feet (finally!) and gave the Flames a much needed boost.
Dustin Brown made it a close game with less than 8 minutes left but it was all the offense the Kings could muster. Brendan Morrison got his first point as a Calgary Flame by assisting on Niklas Hagman’s empty net goal, which sealed the win for the home team.
After a frustrating loss in Edmonton to open the season, this win was big for the Flames. After going 7-0 in the preseason Flames fans had high hopes. The type of game they adapted in the preseason didn’t transfer into the regular season until the 2nd period tonight. Until that point the Flames kept playing that old, boring style of hockey. The last half of tonight’s game gave us another glimpse of what the Flames are capable of. They controlled the pace and kept control of the puck instead of constantly dumping it down the ice and giving it to their opponents.
Most fans won’t be totally convinced of the Flames’ potential after tonight’s win, but we are a hard bunch to please. At the very least, it’s a start.
Greg is the founder of Red Mile Blog has been following the Flames through good times and bad since they arrived in Calgary in the early 80s. He has written hundreds of articles on the Flames since 2005 and considers himself an expert on hockey inconsistency and frustration. He shoots right and usually plays defence, but has been known to jump up in the rush. He is a 2-time CAHL men's league champion and knows the sweet taste of beer from a Cup.
