CALGARY -- Karri Ramo made 30 saves, and Mark Giordano had two assists to help the Calgary Flames to a 3-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday.
Matt Stajan, David Jones and Lance Bouma scored for the Flames (19-18-2), who have won two in a row. Calgary is in third place in the Pacific Division after it started the season with two wins in its first 11 games and five in its first 17.
"It means a lot," Giordano said. "You've got to get in there and you've got to rack up the points and solidify yourself and keep moving up. Obviously, with how close our division is, it's going to be a battle right to the end. You have some big games coming up. We have to rack up some points."
Ramo has started 10 consecutive games for the Flames, won nine of his past 13 starts, and allowed two or fewer goals in seven of his past 11 games. Ramo cleared waivers and was assigned to Stockton of the American Hockey League on Oct. 22. Since being recalled Oct. 29, he has started 22 of 26 games.
"There's no secret in the NHL: If you have a goalie playing the way [Ramo] is playing, you're going to have success," Stajan said. "On any team, the goaltender's the most important position … I will never deny that, and he's been great for us."
Steven Stamkos scored late in the third period to spoil Ramo's shutout bid, and Ben Bishop made 21 saves for the Lightning (19-17-4). Tampa Bay has lost three of its past four games and is sixth in the Atlantic Division.
"It's frustrating," Stamkos said. "No one's feeling sorry for us right now. We can't sit here and pout. We've got to do something about it. We can't just keep saying the right things; we've got to do it. It starts with me. I've got to be better."
Stajan scored on Calgary's fourth shot of the game. Entering the Tampa Bay zone on a 3-on-2, TJ Brodie pulled up and passed to Giordano, who sent a cross-crease pass to Stajan that he tapped by Bishop with a second effort to give the Flames a 1-0 lead at 3:56.
"He did a great job getting it across to me," Stajan said. "For me, I was just trying to make sure to get it through. It kind of jammed me a bit where I couldn't put it in on the fly. It was a great play by both those guys, [Brodie] jumping in and [Giordano] creating the 2-on-1 after a nice play. I'll take it. That's a nice gift from [Giordano]. I owe him a dinner or something for that one."
Jones doubled Calgary's lead with 4:30 remaining in the second period. Giordano pinched down from the left point to grab a loose puck and, from the corner, sent a pass into the slot that Jones redirected over Bishop's glove.
The goal, his first in 19 games, came after Jones missed a setup from Giordano in the first.
"I didn't know if I was going to get another one this year," Jones said. "It was a great play. When our D are jumping down like that, it just makes everything for us, and all the checks we're finishing on their D, when they cough up loose pucks and our D can come in and create something like that, it helps a lot."
Ramo made a blocker save against Valtteri Filppula 5:07 into the third, and Brodie swept the rebound out of the crease. After Ramo stopped Victor Hedman's point shot, Nikita Kucherov rolled a rebound attempt wide from seven feet out at 12:04. Ramo also stopped Kucherov's wraparound attempt at 16:04.
"I'm not taking anything away from [Ramo], but I don't think we tested him enough," Stamkos said. "I don't think we had enough quality chances. He did make some nice saves, but we're a group that should have some more quality chances than that and we didn't do that tonight."
Stamkos scored at 18:21 of the third. With Bishop on the bench for the extra attacker, he corralled a wide shot by Anton Stralman off the end boards before beating Ramo.
It ended Ramo's shutout streak at 152:55. His previous career-high for time between goals against was 142:59, set from Nov. 22-Dec. 2, 2014.
With the net still empty, Bouma scored with 57.1 seconds remaining.
"I'd rather take the win. I don't really worry too much about [the shutout]," said Ramo, who made 26 saves in a 4-0 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. "Giving up a goal late is never good, but we battled through it and got the empty-netter. It's a huge win."
Lightning forward Ryan Callahan left the game in the second period because of a lower-body injury and did not return. He played 5:31.
Calgary will host the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday in the second of its four-game homestand. Tampa Bay will play the second of its four-game Western Conference road trip against the Edmonton Oilers on Friday.
Entertainment Plaza - TV, Movies, Sports, Music, Soaps
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99
Babe Of The Month - Vote Now!
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99/babeofthemonth.html
Hunk Of The Month - Vote Now!
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99/babeofthemonthman.html
No comments:
Post a Comment