FLAMES RIP OSGOOD EN ROUTE TO WIN OVER RED WINGS

The Calgary Flames opened with three straight goals to send Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood to the showers early, and then held on for a 5-3 victory over the Red Wings at the Pengrowth Saddledome.  The victory allowed the Flames to solidify their grasp on the third place position in the NHL’s Western Conference while the Wings continued to lose ground in their battle with the San Jose Sharks for the top seed.

The loss broke a four game winning streak for the Red Wings—all of the victories backstopped by Osgood.  It was the first time this season the veteran goalie has started five straight games, and he was eventually pulled early in the second period after allowing 3 goals on 14 shots.  Ty Conklin came on in relief and played fairly well the rest of the way.  After the game, Osgood was nonplussed by his substandard performance:

"By far that was my worst game in this building. It wasn't that I didn't feel good, I love playing in Calgary, I always feel good here, but it just didn't happen for me tonight. I don't think about it when I play great, you just move on and play the next game. You guys make too big deal out of these games. If this happens the day before the playoffs, it doesn't matter. What matters is what happens in the first playoff game."

Wings coach Mike Babcock echoed Osgood’s sentiments:

"If you didn't have such good history and if you didn't believe in him, you might think like that but that's not how I look at it at all. He had a tough night, but in saying that he won us the Cup last year. He was great for us. We don't need him to be first star, we just need him to be regular and he's very capable of doing that."

The Flames’ Craig Conroy, who sealed the victory with an empty net goal in the final minute, said that his team considered the contest a ‘must win’:

"Now it's crunch time. We want to just keep winning our games and let these games dwindle down and try to win the division. Nobody's been hotter than Vancouver and we know that but we felt this was a must game, we didn't want to give them another opportunity like we did against St. Louis."

Detroit will remain in Western Canada for a Tuesday night game against Edmonton before returning home to face the New York Islanders on Friday and the Nashville Predators on Sunday.  Calgary has a pair of tough road games against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday and the Washington Capitals on Thursday, and will be back on Saddledome ice Saturday night against the Minnesota Wild.