DETROIT -- The only hesitation Miikka Kiprusoff made all day came when asked about the barrage he had just faced.
"Well," started the Flames goaltender, unsure quite how to sum up a second straight shellacking.
"They're shooting a lot."
It's clarity like that which has made him the star in a series the rest of his team has watched largely from the penalty box.
Armed with a glove hand suddenly better than Ozzie Smith's, Kiprusoff kept his team's faint hopes alive by turning aside 21 of a franchise playoff record 23 shots in an abysmal opening period.
He was so good, somehow he allowed his boneheaded brethren to claw to within one goal early in the second, making it appear Detroit was about to pay witness to the biggest turnaround since Lee Iacocca developed the K-Car.
"After Dion (Phaneuf) scored to make it 2-1, we thought, 'Here we come,' " admitted Craig Conroy, whose club built momentum by staying out of the penalty box.
"We got ourselves back in it today and, 5-on-5, we're all right against these guys," added Flames captain Jarome Iginla, refusing to be enthused by any of the day's developments.
"We do have a great goalie and he's played great both games.
"But if you're going to give a team five powerplays in the first period -- and (three) 5-on-3s -- you're not going to keep shots out."
Truth is, despite closing the gap to 2-1, the Flames were never in this one.
Just like Game 1.
They couldn't mount any sustainable pressure on a squad that is the league's best at keeping teams to the outside and limiting dangerous offensive forays like the ones that added up to 51 shots on Kiprusoff.
The fact Henrik Zetterberg and Mathieu Schneider alone combined for two more shots than the entire Flames team sums up just how anemic Calgary's offence has been rendered.
"I had to make only three or four saves today," shrugged Hasek, who faced a Flames record-low 15 shots in the 3-1 win.
"I could see every shot. My teammates blocked shots.
"Yes, I could feel the momentum shift a little after they scored.
"However, I think we were the better team that period, too, and had more chances."
In that period -- in which Matthew Lombardi agreed the Flames "had some momentum" -- they were outshot 12-3.
If that's momentum, the four shots they got in the third must constitute being on a roll.
All told, Kiprusoff has stopped 90 of 97 shots in the two-game series -- many of them in spectacular fashion.
Hasek has only faced 35.
Asked if he can remember seeing so much rubber in consecutive games, Kiprusoff was frank.
"No, I don't," said the Vezina Trophy winner, who showed rare emotion on the ice by speaking rather animatedly to Rhett Warrener following a late flurry of shots.
While Kiprusoff is flopping around pulling off miracles, lazy gaffes by forwards Alex Tanguay and Kristian Huselius resulted directly in Detroit's first and third markers, respectively.
Sacrificing everything -- including his melon -- to give his teammates a chance, they respond with nothing.
What a waste.
What a shame he's backstopping a team devoid of the work ethic and smarts that used to be its trademark.
He deserves better.
So does Calgary.
