Calgary Flames get rare lift from Matt Stajan, shutout New York Islanders 2-0 -NHL Preseason Update
Calgary’s Matt Stajan might not be a big contributor for his team since he is rarely used being on the fourth line, but it was his time to shine on Wednesday as the Missisauga native added fuel to the Flames who shutout New York Islanders, 2-0, at the Scotiabank
Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
With a crowd of over 19,000 in attendance, Calgary was in a pressurised moment to win it big in front of their home crowd. The first period remained dry for both teams along with a single penalty served by New York’s, Justin DiBenedetto, for tripping.
It was Matt Stajan who gripped the opportunity to help lift his team during the second-round of game-play to skate halfway across the ice with the puck and find Curtis Glencross open for the shot as they were shorthanded with power forward, Alex Tanguay,
out for holding.
Stajan was fed up before the matchup with all the negative media he has seen about himself and hoped that he could turn that around.
"I’ve learned to block everything else out", Stajan told reporters after Tuesday’s morning skate. "There’s no point in dwelling. People are going to have their opinions no matter what. I can only control what I can control. If I’m getting a lot of slack
then so be it”.
Calgary showed a poor performance on taking advantage of three power plays during the second period, on which they could have easily capitalised on, but also managed to kill two of their own during the final 20 minutes.
Lee Stempniak extended their lead by a goal of his own in the opening five minutes, assisted by Alex Tanguay and Chris Butler, which became the final of the matchup.
Stajan, without a doubt, played a crucial role in Calgary keeping New York Islanders out of their defensive end as Flames limited the visitors to only 13 shots in total as compared to their 22 attempts.
Calgary Flames play their last preseason matchup against Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday, September 29, before a long weekend prior to the regular season.
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