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Thursday, December 30, 1999
Jean just ducky
There is life after Freddie.
And Cory.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere picked up where Fred Brathwaite left off in leading the Calgary Flames to a 3-1 win last night over Anaheim.
But he wasn't the only Flame to pick up the slack.
Jarome Iginla, mired in a slump, broke out to score the game winner and assist on the opening goal to help make up for the loss of sniper Cory Stillman to injury.
Giguere, called up from Saint John, didn't have to make many tough saves in the 33 shots he faced, but was solid on a late Ducks powerplay to preserve the win, which keeps the Flames within three points of division-leading Colorado.
Calgary only fired 20 shots on the Anaheim net, but capitalized twice on the powerplay, which had produced just one goal in the previous seven games.
But the story was the performance by Giguere in establishing that this Flames team can win without the heroics of Brathwaite.
Giguere got the start after Brathwaite gave up four goals in the third period of a 5-1 loss to Philadelphia in the team's previous game. But before that 20-minute stretch, he'd been almost invincible for the better part of a month.
"Yeah, I was a little surprised when (the coach) told me I was starting," said Giguere.
"Freddie has been playing so well but he needs to rest too. I was a little nervous. I have to admit that, but not as nervous as the last two times I've been here playing my first game of the season.
"All I wanted to was come in and play a solid game. I want the coaching staff to know that they can count on me when Freddie needs a rest, or when they want to give me a chance."
Giguere has been dubbed the goalie of the future since he was acquired in a trade with Hartford in 1996.
While he has starred in the AHL, including a player-of-the-month selection earlier this season, he has yet to demonstrate he is capable of winning consistently in the NHL, where he had a 6-7-1 record and 3.21 GAA with the Flames.
Both Giguere and Tyler Moss left training camp this season unhappy with their opportunity to unseat Brathwaite as the backup to veteran Grant Fuhr.
Fuhr's knee injury, however, has given Giguere another chance to prove himself and, last nigh,t he acquitted himself well against a dangerous Ducks offence led by the dynamic duo of Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne.
While Kariya and Selanne were held off the scoresheet and shot clock in the first period, they asserted themselves in the second.
"The guys did an unbelievable job in front of me," said Giguere. "All I had to do was make the first save. I saw almost all the shots. That makes your job so much easier.
"Obviously those two guys are two of the best in the world but we did a pretty good job keeping them under wraps."
After Calgary had taken a first period lead on a Jeff Shantz powerplay goal, the Ducks tied it on a vintage Kariya effort.
The winger outraced the Flames to a loose puck in the Calgary corner, made Phil Housley look foolish in beating him out of the corner with the puck, then slid a perfect backhand pass to Ted Donato perched on the edge of the crease.
Giguere had no chance on the goal.
But it was the powerplay which got the Flames their lead back heading into the third period. Iginla added just his second goal of the season with the man advantage when Ducks goalie Guy Hebert kicked out a long rebound of a Marc Savard shot that ended up on the Flame forward's stick in the slot.
"I had two or three chances exactly like that in this stretch and pounded the puck with a slapshot and none went in," said Iginla. "So today I decided I would take my time and wrist it. It would have really hurt not to put that one in because you can't have a better set up."
Clarke Wilm added an empty-netter.
It ends a productive month for the Flames, whose eight wins in December are the most since the team won 10 back in 1992-93.
"Well, out of a possible 28 points this month we have 24 ... that's 8-2-4 and that is a hell of an achievement," said head coach Sutter.
The resurgence has vaulted the team back into playoff contention.
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