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Wednesday, December 15, 1999
Freddie zings Blues
Flames goal stands tall in draw
ST. LOUIS -- Revenge is thine, Calgary Flames.
So is theft.
Grand larceny was committed here last night and the perpetrator's identity is no surprise to Flames fans. Fred Brathwaite.
The Flames goaltender stopped an amazing 49 shots in leading Calgary to a 1-1 overtime tie with the St. Louis Blues.
Although the Flames only managed 17 shots on net, including one in the first and two in the third, they came within 38.1 seconds of winning in regulation time, and missed an overtime winner by a heartbeat.
"It's just disappointing and frustrating to get to the last 30 seconds and then they score," said Brathwaite.
But the other perspective is that the last time they came in here, they were humiliated 7-1 in a game that may represent the turnaround for this Flames team.
"We were embarrassed the last time and I think we got revenge tonight -- even though it would have been better if we'd got that 1-0 win," said Cory Stillman.
The Blues' Chris Pronger prevented that from happening when he scored with 38.1 seconds left and the St. Louis net empty.
But the Flames almost got their two points when Martin St. Louis and Marc Savard broke in on a two-on-none rush with the final seconds ticking off in overtime.
Savard scored as the buzzer sounded and although the referee signaled a goal, a replay showed it was too late.
Still, the Flames have just one loss in their last seven games, and that one came in overtime.
It's a much-improved Flames team than the one that left here last time.
Last night, the Flames began the game like they left off the last one here at the Kiel Centre -- in shell shock.
All except for Brathwaite.
The Flames goaltender, left to his own defences much of the period, kept a furious Blues onslaught from scoring.
At the other end of the ice, counterpart Roman Turek took the period off.
The only shot he faced was a weak centering attempt by Andrei Nazarov. And although it was a feeble shot, Turek mishandled it, probably through sheer shock, and it almost slid through his pads across the goal line.
But it was a completely different Flames team that came out for the second period.
The offence kicked into gear and Turek had to be sharp to keep Calgary off the scoresheet.
But Hnat Domenichelli finally solved Turek and the Flames amazingly had a lead in a game they had no rights of even being close.
The Blues turned their offence up a notch but Brathwaite responded with the best Flames goaltending performance of the season.
The Blues got a gift powerplay late in the third period when Stephen Walkom, suffering momentary brain lock, whistled Domenichelli for a phantom trip on Pierre Turgeon. The call came during a delayed icing, a clue Walkom should have picked up in determining Turgeon was indeed taking a dive.
But the Flames held off the Blues powerplay only to have Pronger tie it up.
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