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November 27, 2005
Morrison continues stellar play as Oilers beat Flames 2-1 in a shootout
CALGARY (CP) - Fernando Pisani scored the deciding goal in a shootout Friday night and Mike Morrison continued his red-hot goaltending with 27 saves as the Edmonton Oilers won 2-1 over the Calgary Flames.
After each team's first three shooters failed to score, Pisani stepped up and beat goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff through the legs on a deke. Calgary's Chuck Kobasew was the final Flames shooter but he was turned aside by Morrison, giving the Oilers their fifth win in their last six games (5-1-0).
Radek Dvorak scored for Edmonton (14-10-1), which with the extra point, moves within two points of Calgary in the Northwest Division.
Marcus Nilson replied for Calgary (14-8-3). The Flames lost for only the second time in their last 12 (10-1-1).
Both teams had great chances to score in a back-forth overtime but both goalies continued the same excellent play each displayed through the first 60 minutes.
Edmonton had a great chance to win it late in the game when Ethan Moreau burst past the Flames defence forcing Calgary defenceman Roman Hamrlik to take a hooking penalty with 12 seconds left in the third period.
However, despite applying steady pressure through the subsequent 4-on-3 man advantage, the Oilers could not get the puck past Kiprusoff.
At the other end, Mike Morrison stymied the Flames for over 51 minutes before Nilson scored at 11:34 to tie the game 1-1. Steven Reinprecht slid a pass through the slot that slipped between the skates of Oilers defenceman Steve Staios and was jammed in the open side by Nilson.
Until that point, Morrison had been the story of the game continuing his sensational run he's been on the past two weeks.
Making his third start in a row, the red-hot Morrison improved his record to a perfect 4-0-0.
Morrison's run took a while to get started. After being recalled from the Greenville Grrrowl back on Oct. 24th when Ty Conklin was sent to Hamilton (AHL) on a conditioning stint, Morrison sat on the bench and backed up Jussi Markkanen for the first 10 games in an Oilers sweater.
However, after winning his first NHL start in Colorado 5-2 against the Avalanche Nov. 14th, Morrison has started four of Edmonton's last six games and in that span has a 1.48 goals against average and an impressive .939 save percentage.
Meanwhile, Conklin has been on the sidelines since returning from his conditioning stint, having missed the last eight games with a groin injury.
Edmonton took the lead at 14:42 of the first period.
Jarret Stoll spotted Dvorak open on the far side of the net and zipped a pass across that Dvorak one-timed in the open side past Kiprusoff.
Kiprusoff would not be beaten the rest of the way until the shootout. He made several great saves, including a diving stop with the paddle of his stick denying Stoll of what looked to be a sure goal in the final seconds of the first period.
Kiprusoff also started the second period with a similar stop only this time sliding across to jab out a pad and thwart Marty Reasoner at the side of the net.
Notes: Edmonton D Chris Pronger (bruised knee) missed his first game of the season... The Oilers improved to 11-2 when scoring the first goal of the game... The Pengrowth Saddledome crowd of 19,289 was Calgary's 24th consecutive regular season sell-out, a streak which includes the final 10 home games of the 2003-04 season... Slumping Edmonton C Mike Peca played on the fourth line between LW Todd Harvey and RW Georges Laraque. Harvey had been a healthy scratch four of the previous five games and Laraque has gone 32 games since scoring dating back to Mar. 16, 2004... Calgary LW Tony Amonte is two goals away from 400 for his NHL career.
Posted by admin at November 27, 2005 02:44 PM