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Friday, October 15, 1999
Feelin' groovy
Flames enjoy big win over Canucks
"You can sense it in here today," agreed defenceman Tommy Albelin yesterday. "Things are a little more relaxed. It's always important to win the first one, get that monkey off your back, but particularly so with a young team.
"An older group, they'd just shrug it off, knowing things would turn around eventually. Younger guys have a tendency to get a little more anxious."
At an optional skate, the Flames were enjoying -- but not reading too much into -- Wednesday's 4-3 OT win at GM Place, breaking their '99-2000 maiden.
Grant Fuhr had been solid, often spectacular, for the second game in a row. Cory Stillman, maligned and unhappy as the season got underway, is starting to light it up. The injured bodies are starting to trickle back. The powerplay has been effective.
Hey, while it ain't time to start busting buttons off the front of those Hugo Boss jackets just yet, what happened in Vancouver sure beats the alternative.
Besides, there just isn't much time for self-satisfaction. Upcoming tonight, the L.A. Kings, with Luc Robitaille, Ziggy Palffy and Jozef Stumpel bucking to become a turn-of-the-century Triple Crown Line.
The ageless Robitaille leads the league with seven goals, is tied atop the scoring derby with Owen Nolan at 10 points. Stumpel has chipped in with seven points, Palffy, the major off-season acquisition, five.
Together, they've accounted for nearly all the Kings' offence in a 3-1-1 start, all away from home as the finishing touches are being put on the brand spanking new Staples Center.
"Robitaille has always done the same thing," marvelled Calgary coach Brian Sutter. "He just finds open spots. He's always hanging around the net.
"They've got five guys who've scored 30 goals, a couple who've scored 50 or 60. That's more than any of our guys. But it's a problem we face every night. Because we're so young. Our guys haven't had the experience to accomplish those types of things.
"Us? We don't have a first line, per se. That's why we need really good second and third lines. So we can't be thinking we'll go out and outscore L.A. 9-8."
That No. 1 line certainly will present its share of problems this evening.
"We have to pay attention to them the way we did the Mogilny and Messier lines in Vancouver," said Sutter. "Against dangerous play-ers, you need to be even more responsible away from the puck. We've still got to be better defensively. We've given up three goals four games in a row.
"Two or less, that's where we want to get it down to."
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