Iginla Wears a Nice "Hat"

On a Saturday afternoon in mid November, Jarome Iginla showed why he is considered one of the most dangerous players in the NHL. Netting his 9th career hat trick in the Flames 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings, Iginla dominated from start to finish.

A mere 13 seconds into the contest, as Kings and Flames fans alike were still getting comfortable in their seats, Iginla snapped home his 13th of the season. Playing on a line with Olli “Joke”inen and recently called-up Jamie Lundmark, Iginla continued his hot streak and helped Calgary stop their recent 2 game slide.

The second period offered some suspense as flashes of Thursday nights collapse came into view when the Kings scored 2 goals in 38 seconds to take the lead by 1. Fortunately, Sutter called a timeout and calmed his troops down, enabling them to force the Kings into making some mistakes. The Flames responded, coming back and scoring a powerplay goal on a highlight reel pass from Bouwmester to Iggy to tie the game up at 2. The turning point in the game came in the early portion of the 3rd period when the very same Iginla took an untimely tripping penalty, opening the door for L.A. to take the lead. However, the Flames “flipped the script” on the Kings with some aggressive fore-checking forcing a turnover in the Kings zone. A well timed pass from Glencross turned into Daymond Langkows 7th goal of the season, and a 3-2 Flames lead. Iginla finished off his afternoon with a rebound goal that let the hats rain down from the rafters from loyal Flames Fans following the team down to Southern California.

Rebounding from Thursday game was vital. A disappointing game today could have been disastrous. Jarome Iginla knew this, and carried his team on his very broad shoulders.

Jay Bouwmeester and Cory Sarich were two defensemen that stood out in this game. The pass from Bouw was “all-star esque” and Jay seems to be finding his way with his new team after a very quiet first 20 games. Cory Sarich’s hit on Wayne Simmonds behind the net in the first period helped to set the tone for the whole game; something Sarich has to do much more of if he wants to justify not being traded.

The Flames powerplay scored two goals on seven chances, and one goal was scored on a 2 man advantage. It did look better today but is still not producing at the level it should be.

And a new “Joke” segment that I have added until my favourite whipping boy turns it around (who knows if he ever will?):
Lombardi- 4 Goals, 8 Assists, 19 GP
Jokinen-3 Goals, 10 Assists, 21 GP

Bottom line- Jokinen continues to pave his road out of Calgary.

This has been,

Newman on the Flames

source of photo: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-elliott-kings22-2009nov22,0,1323445.column