Miikka Kiprusoff makes history as Calgary Flames annihilate Montreal Canadiens 4-1 -NHL Match Update
Calgary’s main goalie, Miikka Kiprusoff made history by having made the most saves in franchise history as the Flames annihilated Montreal Canadiens, 4-1, Thursday night, for their first win of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season, at the sold-out Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
The 34-year-old veteran goalie surpassed his predecessor, Mike Vernon, by now having made a total of 14,496 saves, even though he has played nearly 50 games less than Vernon.
It was easy to see that Kiprusoff did not have the words to describe how he was feeling at that time but he termed it as the need of the moment.
"I've been here a long time and played a lot of games, and it's about winning, ,Kiprusoff said. "But also, we really needed this game, 0-2 wasn't the start we wanted. But tonight we played much better as a team".
Andrei Kostitsyn put Montreal ahead by one 1:47 into the first period, giving the crowd at the home opening would be winning their second straight but Calgary fired back as Rene Bourque and Niklas Hagman scored two straight on power play opportunities, followed by a period closer with David Moss scoring his first.
Rene Bourque scored again in the second period of regulation for his third of the season, while Calgary managed to kill off two Montreal power play opportunities and secured the matchup in their favour.
Hailing from Turku, Finland, it might seem Kiprusoff is a national hero back home like Teemu Selanne and many other players, but the people who know him do not think so because of his quiet and independent nature.
"Back home, they probably think of him as a myth because he doesn't give too many interviews, he just stays at his summer place", Hagman said. "He's a tremendous goalie, he's been playing really well at a really high level. For him I'm sure it's a great honor to get the record".
Calgary Flames play one more away game against Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, October 15, before returning home for five straight matchups.
Montreal Canadiens will face-off against Colorado Avalanche the same day at home.
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