Flames end season with a tie and on a high

 

The Flames are just off two consecutive road wins against the Sabres and Isles and are back in Buffalo tonight to conclude their season which is 26-50-3 so far and firmly sets them in 20th place no matter tonight's outcome.

 

Quite early in the game, Trevor Linden declared forfeit due to an issue with his ankle so Steve Larouche was catapulted from 4th line duties to 1st line.  The Flames opened up the scoring with 2 quick goals from Kjellberg and Tkachuk (his 39th). The Sabres McLelland would score 2 on his own however , tying the game up.  The young Steve Larouche however would get a chance on the PP scoring before the end of the period on a pass from Fedorov to close the period with a 3-2 lead for Calgary.  

 

Future superstar Niedermayer would add another powerplay marker, his 17th of the season and 5th with the man advantage to give the Flames a 4-2 lead.  The Sabres however did not say their last word and surely were not looking to lose another game to Calgary. Diduck and Housley both scored before the end of the 2nd to make it 4-4.

 

Sabres star forward Denis Savard scored his 39th of the season at the start of the 3rd and for the first time in the game, the Sabres would finally take the lead over Calgary, chasing Roloson out of the nets in the process.  That lead would not last more than 2 minutes though as young Larouche played hero again and scored his 2nd goal of the night, again assisted by Fedorov. His 2 goals in the game (and in 12 matches this season) matched his total output from last season where he played in 62 games. This time it was Froese's turn to exit the match.  Garth Snow and Mike Palmateer would shut the door the rest of the way as both teams had to satisfy themselves with a 5-5 tie, and depending on which roster you're on, that tie was either viewed positively or negatively.  

 

And with that, the Flames ended their season on a high and without suffering a loss in their last 3 games.  As the Sabres and other teams turn their focus to the playoffs, the Flames franchise looks towards the offseason and a very promising future as they have surpassed expectations this season and are likely to start making a push for the playoffs next year.  

                                 

- The Calgary Herald