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Flames win third straight

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By Michael Zuidema | Wednesday, November 14, 2007 12:14 AM CST | () comments

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Goaltender Curtis McElhinney admits that he needed to make a few adjustments after his first game in net with Quad-Cities.

Two nights after making his NHL debut for the parent Calgary Flames, McElhinney gave up five goals and was pulled in an 8-1 loss to the Milwaukee Admirals on Oct. 24.

It was the first of seven consecutive losses for Quad-Cities, five of which had McElhinney in goal.

He’s feeling a lot better now, though. McElhinney made a season-high 37 saves to lift the Flames over the Grand Rapids Griffins 3-1 on Tuesday afternoon at Van Andel Arena.

It’s the Flames’ (5-7-1-2) third win a row and keeps the Griffins (5-7-0-1) winless at home in six games this season.

“I had to make some adjustments after the first couple games, but I don’t necessarily think it’s even me that’s making all the adjustments,” McElhinney said. “The guys are playing unbelievable, they’re playing tremendous in front of me. They’re making me look good.”

Trailing 1-0, the Flames’ Tomi Maki stole the puck from Griffins defenseman Garrett Stafford and beat goalie Jimmy Howard for his first goal since opening night at 14:23 in the second period.

“Right up until the time he did take the puck away, Tomi Maki had an excellent shift,” Flames coach Ryan McGill said. “He was moving his feet, he was hard to contain and he got rewarded with a goal. I think that was a big momentum shift for our team.”

Less than two minutes later, Quad-Cities’ Adam Pardy scored his first goal of the year with a long slap shot that gave the Flames a 2-1 lead.

David Van der Gulik followed that with his first goal just 10 seconds into the third period, which sapped any momentum the Griffins were trying to mount.

The Flames were whistled for only four penalties and killed all three Griffins’ power-play chances.

“We made some real smart plays with the puck the whole game and never seemed to put ourselves in a lot of trouble,” McGill said. “When we did, our goalie was there for us.”

Darren Helm’s first professional goal, scored 8:10 into the second period, was the lone blemish in the game for McElhinney. After making four quick saves, Helm was able to slide the puck underneath a sprawling McElhinney.

“I had no idea where that puck went. I thought it was under me, but apparently it was still spinning around somewhere in the crease,” McElhinney said. “I guess the ref still had an eye on it because I had no idea where it was.”

The Flames next head to Cleveland on Thursday night to face the Lake Erie Monsters, who they beat Saturday.

Contact the sports desk at (563) 383-2285 or sports@qctimes.com.