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Sunday, November 7, 1999
Rough night
The lost two points may have been the least of Calgary's worries last night.
Captain Steve Smith was helped off the ice with a suspected serious shoulder injury in the third period of the Flames 6-3 loss to Florida.
Goalie Grant Fuhr was pulled after gassing three of the first six shots he faced.
Slumping Jarome Iginla and Marc Savard both produced three-point nights. And the Flames still lost. Badly.
Former Flames goalie Trevor Kidd did what Flames fans saw rarely during his stay in Calgary -- outduelling Fuhr.
It was Kidd's first game back in Calgary since his trade in 1996 and he was sharp in turning back a determined Flames offence that didn't have enough pop to win their second game in a row.
But it was the injury to Smith, and the suspected concussion of defenceman Wade Belak that could seriously hurt this struggling team.
For just the second time in 15 games, the Flames scored first, but that by no means solved their first-period woes.
The one constant for the Flames this season has been goalie Grant Fuhr. Since his opening-game loss, he's been solid as a rock.
Until last night.
After Savard gave the Flames an early lead on a deflection of a Phil Housley point shot, Fuhr uncharacteristically blew a couple of easy ones.
Actually, three in the first six shots.
Mike Wilson got the Panthers going with a long slapshot that seemed to handcuff Fuhr and the game was tied.
Less than a minute later, Fuhr turned aside Ray Whitney's long shot but the generous rebound landed on the stick of Florida forward Radek Dvorak who slammed home the go-ahead goal.
That goal came on the Panthers' fifth shot and when the sixth one went in as well, this one another harmless-looking point shot by Jaroslav Spacek, Fuhr was pulled.
Fred Brathwaite made just his fifth appearance and was greeted with a round of "Freddy, Freddy," chants from the frustrated Flames crowd. They weren't nearly as upset as Fuhr, who showed obvious frustration as he sat on the bench, his team now trailing 3-1 in an opening period they dominated, outshooting the Panthers 12-6.
Calgary got back into it, though, in the second period from an unlikely source, the slumping Iginla.
And he did it in style.
Iginla picked up a loose puck at the Florida blueline, neatly deked Florida's Ryan Johnson and rifled a wrist shot high over Kidd's outstretched glove.
But less than a minute later, Florida's Whitney intercepted a Jeff Shantz pass at centre ice and broke in on Flamesdefenceman Smith, who had lost his stick.
Whitney darted around Smith like he wasn't there, tucking the puck past Brathwaite on a sharp deke.
Savard, with his second nifty deflection of the night, again drew the Flames to within one goal but the Flames shot themselves in the foot when Belak took a minor penalty 30 second after Savard's goal.
The Panthers Mark Parrish fought off a check from Tommy Albelin to bat home a rebound of teammate Wilson's point shot.
But two-goal deficits in the third period haven't stopped the Flames from winning -- they've been the comeback kids all season.
And it looked like they had a great chance to mount that third-period comeback when Panthers' Paul Laus drew a five-minute major for hitting Belak from behind dangerously into the end boards.
Belak left the game and did not return.
But the Flames mounted little offence with the extra attacker for five minutes, firing only three shots at Kidd.
Florida iced the win when Rob Niedermayer deflected a Filip Kuba point shot halfway through the period.
There was no official word on Smith's injury at press time.
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