Photo: Richard Wolowicz - Getty Images
Miikka Kiprusoff moved into sole possession of the franchise lead for wins tonight with his 263rd win with the Calgary Flames. Kipper stopped 35 of 36 shots to lead the flames to a 4-1 win in Montreal on their home opener. With the win, Miikka surpass Flames great, Mike Vernon, who previously held the franchise record with 262 wins.
The win was a big one for Kiprusoff and it couldn’t have come at a better time. After floundering for their first two games, the Flames looked a bit lost and couldn’t find their offense. That changed tonight with a 3-goal first period that put them ahead for good.
After giving up the first goal to the Habs’ Andre Kostitsyn less than 2 minutes into the game, Rene Bourque and Niklas Hagman answered with 2 powerplay goals. Davis Moss added another before the period was up and sent the Flames to the dressing room with a 2-goal lead.
The second period has been the Flames weakness for the first 2 games of the season and they turned it around tonight. Instead of letting in multiple goals, the Flames scored another goal – Rene Bourque’s 3rd of the season – to take a commanding 4-1 lead into the final 20 minutes.
The Habs had many chances to narrow the gap but Kipper kept the Flames in it and came up with several big saves throughout the second and third periods. Check out the highlights below.
The Flames have one day off before heading to Toronto for a Hockey Night in Canada Showdown with the undefeated (no, really!!) Toronto Maple Leafs.
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.
