Mighty Ducks 3, Flames 2
Wednesday February 05, 2003CALGARY, Alberta (AP) Sandis Ozolinsh is looking forward to getting comfortable with his new team.
Consider this a good start.
Making his Anaheim debut, Ozolinsh scored the go-ahead goal at 10:19 of the third period to lift the streaking Mighty Ducks over the Calgary Flames 3-2 Tuesday night.
``I still have to get used to this team, how the players play especially on the power play. I was guessing many times and was not sure on my positioning,'' Ozolinsh said before the Ducks headed up the highway to Edmonton for a game Wednesday night.
``After these couple games, I'll go back to Anaheim, grab some game tapes and analyze them, and talk to the players about what our game plan is,'' he said.
Ozolinsh, traded by Florida in a four-player deal last Thursday, joined the offensive rush midway through the third period and took a drop pass from Adam Oates.
The All-Star defenseman's shot from the slot trickled through goaltender Roman Turek's pads and just over the goal line.
``It was great to get a win in my first game,'' Ozolinsh said. ``This will give me and the whole group a lot of confidence for the final stage of the season.''
It initially appeared that Calgary's Chris Drury cleared the puck away before it crossed the line, and play continued. But at the next stoppage, a video replay confirmed the puck slid over the line for Ozolinsh's eighth goal.
Rob Niedermayer's second goal of the game tied it for Calgary just two minutes earlier.
Stanislav Chistov and Mike Leclerc also scored for Anaheim, which moved past Chicago into sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference. The Mighty Ducks have won three in a row and are 8-2-0-1 in their last 11 games.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 23 saves for Anaheim.
The Flames have lost four of their last five and remain last in the conference. The crowd of 14,110 was Calgary's smallest of the season.
Ozolinsh displayed his offensive skill early in the first period by setting up Paul Kariya, whose slapshot hit the post, then assisting on Leclerc's goal at 7:40 that put the Ducks ahead 2-0.
``We really needed someone back on the blue line that can move the puck the way he does,'' Leclerc said. ``He's really patient with it and he makes smart decisions.''
However, Ozolinsh also got beat badly on Niedermayer's sixth goal of the season at 13:05 of the first, drawing Calgary to 2-1.
Skating down the right wing, Niedermayer went around Ozolinsh and in on net to lift a shot over Giguere.
``That was a game that was right there for us to have, that's what makes it so frustrating,'' Niedermayer said.
Because of injuries, the Flames played with a defensive unit comprised of Bob Boughner, Toni Lydman and four youngsters with a combined 106 games of NHL experience.
``The winning goal was scored when two of our young players both made mistakes 200 feet from our goal, and in a 2-2 game you can't do that,'' Calgary coach Darryl Sutter said.< ^Notes:@ The game featured five Hobey Baker winners: Drury (1998), Mike Mottau (2000) and Jordan Leopold (2002) from Calgary, along with Kariya (1993) and LW Jason Krog (1999) from Anaheim. ... During the All-Star break, the seamless glass at the Pengrowth Saddledome was modified with a new spring-loaded system designed to allow more give. ... There was a moment of silence before the game in memory of the seven Calgary teenagers killed Saturday in an avalanche while skiing in British Columbia.
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