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Friday, December 24, 1999
Flames turn up heat
CALGARY - George Jones was warming up in the wings.
"The race is on and here comes Pride up the backstretch. Heartache is moving to the inside ... ''
But the race isn't on until the Oilers catch the Colorado Avalanche and you wake up one morning, pick up The Sun and see Edmonton listed third in the Western Conference standings.
It was at the six-minute mark of the second period in the Saddledome when the numbers went up on the out-of-town scoreboard:
Colorado 1, Buffalo 2.
Game on?
If the Oilers had been able to beat the Calgary Flames, they'd have been there and it would have been a Merry Christmas with prospects of a Happy New Year.
Instead, the team that has the same number of home losses as road wins (3) still sits ninth and out of a playoff position. And the Flames, 6-0-1 in their last seven at home, have moved within two points of the Oilers.
Maybe it was the black uniforms.
The Flames decided to wear their black third uniforms for the first meeting of the year between the two teams. And why not? Black Magic works for the Calgary Stampeders. The Stamps are 9-0 as Men in Black, 5-0 against the Eskimos.
Then again, why go to all the trouble about uniforms if you have Freddie Brathwaite, who is beating people in black, white or red all over?
RED-HOT IN THE NET
The ex-Oiler is red-hot in the Flames net. When Ryan Smyth finally managed a goal on a five-on-three situation, it ended 154 minutes and 20 seconds of shutout hockey by Brathwaite.
He said the streak meant nothing.
"We needed the win and we got it. It wasn't a fun game to play. They had a lot of pressure on us. But we won.''
It was a great game to watch. Almost worth the wait until Dec. 23 to see the first installment of the Battle of Alberta in arguably the stupidest schedule ever produced in the history of pro sport.
For the Flames this wasn't about rivalry. This was about separation in the standings. They'd worked hard to put themselves in a position to get themselves in the hunt and it would have been a waste if they'd lost and slipped six points back.
"Edmonton is the reason we didn't make the playoffs last year,'' said Phil Housley.
"We have to beat Edmonton and do well against the other teams in our division if we're going to make the playoffs this year. We wanted to stay in the playoff race. We gained ground on them. We keep coming.''
Oilers coach Kevin Lowe seemed less upset with the idea of losing than with the idea of losing because of a terrible turnover by Alex Selivanov in the second period.
Lowe didn't mention him by name. But the second-period turnover by the Russian was the turning point.
"We'll get another opportunity,'' he said of catching Colorado.
"That's another good lesson for our team. An unforced turnover on our second goal, the winning goal, cost us the game. The game came down to one mistake. That turned out to be the winning goal. That's what disappointed me. That second goal. You just can't afford to make mistakes like that one at that point of the game.''
Selivanov's linemate Smyth blames the power play.
"Freddie played fantastic. But when we get these opportunities, we've got to take advantage of them,'' said Smyth, who played another inspired, driven game this night and scored the Oilers only goal, after a video review.
"We should have been able to score on both of those five-on-three power plays,'' he said. "Against a team which plays the way Calgary plays, it's crucial.''
ANOTHER ROAD LOSS
It was a great game and Brathwaite and the Flames played great and yadda, yadda, yadda. But it was another loss on the road and the Oilers just can't seem to manage to make a move.
"We know where we are,'' said Janne Niinimaa.
"And now we know where the Flames are, too.''
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