New Team New Hero as Blair Jones OT winner helps take Calgary Flames to 1-0 win over Anaheim Ducks
The resurgent Anaheim Ducks saw their three-game winning streak end as the Calgary Flames won by just a single goal in overtime, on Thursday, January 12, 2012, at the ScotiaBank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The encounter pitted two of the Western Conference’s bottom sides against each other and for most the time, the game was equally matched.
Flames' late winner however, improved their record to 21-19-5, with 47 points, while Ducks' languish close to the bottom, with a 13-22-7 record.
The Ducks had built up some sort of good form over their previous game but this victory brought them back down, with the team needing some serious morale boosting to regain the initiative.
Ducks’ coach, Bruce Boudreau, was unhappy with the overtime defeat and the single point his team got was not enough for the coach.
"It's a game of inches and it could have gone either way, but we didn't win it. We got a point, but at this stage of the game, I think we need two", Boudreau said.
The Ducks were unlucky and had two opportunities sent up for video review.
Anaheim seemed to have broken the deadlock, late in the first period at 18:02, but the officials ruled that the puck shot by George Parros was intentionally kicked in and the goal was called off.
Saku Koivu’s shot also went up for review in the third period, but Miikka Kiprusoff just about managed to stop the puck from crossing the goal line and the match stood the same.
"We were able to keep them under 15 shots until the final 10 minutes of the third period, so defensively we did a lot of good things, but obviously we need to get more pucks in the net", Koivu said.
"We played well enough to get two points, but we got one. When you look at the situation where we are, in games like this, we can't afford to lose that one point."
With the game standing equal in regular time and both goaltenders looking comfortable in front of the net, the match went into overtime.
Blair Jones, who had just recently joined Calgary from Tampa Bay Lightning, became a hero in his first game in Flames' colours.
The forward made the tie-breaker at 1:51 in overtime to give the Flames a much needed win, and provided Miikka Kiprusoff with another shutout, his third of the current season.
Ducks' goaltender, Jonas Hiller, had to face just 19 shots on his goal from the Flames but he could not stop Jones’s match winner that won the suspense filled match for Flames.
The Calgary Flames will look to build on their winning streak as they welcome the Los Angeles Kings to the Saddledome on Saturday, while the Ducks will visit Edmonton Oilers.
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