St.Louis' trick dispatches Vancouver
29.11.03 21:58MST
Calgary beats Vancouver and stays atop Division
For an early season contest, tonight's game was billed as a heavy weight bout for two teams battling for the lead in the Northwest Division. In the end it was more of a one-sided beat down as the host Flames beat the Canucks 4-1, with the game winner going to 1st rounder Mike Cammalleri (pictured) and Martin St.Louis providing the knock-out hat-trick.
St.Louis opened the scoring at 8:21 of the first from Brad Richards and Jarome Iginla for his 9th of the season. Cammalleri followed up with his 8th from McAmmond and Johnson at 11:27 of the opening frame to double the lead. St.Louis struck again to finish off the first period abuse with his 10th from Michalek at 12:33.
Vancouver answered back early in the second with an unassisted tally from Mattias Ohlund at 00:28. The score stayed at 3-1 until St.Louis finished his hat-trick at 4:39 of the third period on the powerplay from Boyle and Richards.
Coach Maurice was pleased with the effort. "Some nights before Christmas it is key to get motivated. Vancouver is a good team and these matches are important when it's all said and done in April. You need to win these. And we did."
Calgary pelted Vancouver starter Ilya Bryzgalov with 52 shots. Giguere faced only 19 in comparison. The Flames went 1 for 5 on the powerplay where as the Canucks went 0 for 1.
For the season, the Flames lead the Northwest Division with 32 points in 21 games. Vancouver failed to gain any ground and remain in second with 29 points in 25 games.
Brad Richards continues to lead the team in points by gaining a couple of assists. He now has 8 goals and 29 points in 21 games. St.Louis leads all Flames with 11 goals. Jarome Iginla and rookie defenseman Tom Preissing are tied for second in points with 16 each.
The Flames next play the Sharks, who are playing well with a 15-6-2 record, in Calgary December 2nd. Vancouver gets a few days off to recover only to play the Flames again December 4th in Calgary.