Flames back over .500
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By Craig DeVrieze | Sunday, November 25, 2007 |
ROCKFORD, Ill. — In an offensive slugout, a penalty kill was the biggest thrill.
The Quad-City Flames beat the Rockford IceHogs 5-3 — their fourth straight win and their seventh in eight games — at the newly renovated Rockford MetroCentre on Friday.
They did it by riding a two-goal, one-assist effort from captain Warren Peters; a one-goal, two-assist night from Peters’ linemate, David Van der Gulik; and more timely and opportunistic goal-tending from Brent Krahn (3-0-0).
Youngsters Adam Cracknell and Brett Sutter added critical goals as the Flames moved past .500 (9-8-1-2) for the first time since their 5-1 opening night win over the new/old rival Hogs at the i wireless Center.
But Friday’s most critical moment came when the Flames killed off a four-minute Rockford power play while nursing a 4-3 lead midway through the final period.
“It is such a momentum swing if you can kill a penalty like that,” Van der Gulik said after helping the Flames keep the Hogs without a shot while Brandon Prust sat in the penalty box after having an unsportsmanlike conduct minor tacked onto a hooking call.
“It was a tough call, but that’s when you have to step up.”
After surrendering power-play goals in each of the first two periods, the Flames penalty killers stepped up big in the third. In fact, they stepped up all around on defense, holding the potent Hogs’ offense to just four shots in the period.
“They had us running around a little bit,’’ coach Ryan McGill said of the first two periods, when Rockford managed to put 20 shots on Krahn.
“In the third period, we did a much better job limiting chances. And the chances they did have, Krahn was good.’’
The Flames’ penalty kill has been solid throughout their recent run of success. They have killed 37 of the past 40 penalties the team has been assessed and are up to fifth in the AHL in penalty killing.
“They are doing a good job of being in lanes,’’ said McGill. “And when there is a free puck, all four guys are getting in position to help out.’’
Peters said all the Flames killers knew what was at stake when Prust went to the box.
“It’s pretty obvious — it’s got to get killed,’’ he said. “It was a tough situation to be in, but we seem to be doing that to ourselves a lot lately. We found a way to get the kill.’’
The Flames also are finding their way to back of the net during their recent run. They have averaged 4.5 goals per game during their four-game streak and the goals have come from eight different scorers and three different lines.
“That’s the type of team we have,’’ Peters said. “We are not going to have one guy compete for the scoring race. It is good this way. It’s fun. Everybody is involved. We do it with 20 guys.’’
The Flames led 3-2 at the end of an action-packed opening period that Van der Gulik opened with a goal at 3:21 and Peters ended with a marker at 16:18. In between, Cracknell — in his second game with the Flames since a call-up from Las Vegas — scored from his knees after Krys Kolanos fed him the puck off the draw on a face-off to open a Flames power play at 8:22.
Rockford rallied to tie the game twice, scoring less than a minute after VanderGulik’s first goal and on a power play just a couple of minutes after Cracknell’s goal.
The Flames took a 4-2 lead at 5:10 of the second, with Peters chasing starting Rockford goalie Corey Crawford with a 4-on-4 goal at 5:10. The Hogs’ Troy Brouwer got his second of the night on a power- play breakaway at 13:18.
Brett Sutter, chipping in a shift at center, scored the back-breaker on a slap shot from the right circle at 13:58.
Craig DeVrieze can be contacted at (563) 333-2610 or cdevrieze@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com
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