Flames aim to up intensity in Game 3 against Ducks
Darryl Sutter never expected the Calgary Flames to sweep the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in four straight games.
After splitting the first two games of the Western Conference quarter-final series with the Ducks in Calgary, the Flames now have a battle on their hands heading to Anaheim for the next two contests tonight and Thursday.
"The teams, they’re so even — there’s not much difference," said the Flames coach and GM. "There’s always a certain contingent that wants to indict and criticize the team, but you better give the other team some credit too."
Sutter noted that come playoff time, every team needs its top players to step to the forefront.
"It’s about warriors," Sutter said. "There’s guys that we’re counting on and that they’re counting on to be really good in the trenches."
So far in the first two games, the Ducks have won the majority of the battles for loose pucks.
"Their players have been better than some of our players in the tough areas of the ice, bottom line," Sutter said. "We have a handful of guys that can do a lot better job of getting there."
Calgary captain Jarome Iginla agreed that the Ducks have outbattled the Flames so far, but he vowed that’s going to change.
"Nobody’s relaxing or lethargic," Iginla said. "I think we’re going to come out very strong. We know that we’ve been outworked more than we’ve outworked them in the first two games and we want that to change."
Forward Shean Donovan said there’s no need to panic after the Flames lost the second game of the series 4-3 on Sunday night.
"It’s a race to the end," he said. "We knew it was going to be a hard-fought series. I think we’ve got to key on ourselves and kind of worry about ourselves here and get back to basics. The guys are excited and we’re going to be ready (Tuesday)."
Hard work should determine which team advances through to the second round, Donovan added.
"You’ve just got to do anything you can," he said. "It’s two evenly matched teams. It’s going to be who wants it the most."
Chuck Kobasew, who had a chance to tie Sunday’s game in the dying seconds only to be foiled by Ducks netminder Jean-Sebastian Giguere, said he’s going to try harder to get more scoring chances earlier in upcoming games.
"It’s all about finding the openings and getting those opportunities," said Kobasew, who’s now gone 28 playoff games without scoring a goal. "Individually I have to get better and we all know we have to get better as a team."
Kobasew also commended the Ducks for their effort in the first two games and added that the Flames need to raise their level of play.
"We knew they’re a hard-working team, they’re a fast-skating team," he said. "Now, it’s just a matter of we’ve got to elevate our intensity."
After splitting the first two games of the Western Conference quarter-final series with the Ducks in Calgary, the Flames now have a battle on their hands heading to Anaheim for the next two contests tonight and Thursday.
"The teams, they’re so even — there’s not much difference," said the Flames coach and GM. "There’s always a certain contingent that wants to indict and criticize the team, but you better give the other team some credit too."
Sutter noted that come playoff time, every team needs its top players to step to the forefront.
"It’s about warriors," Sutter said. "There’s guys that we’re counting on and that they’re counting on to be really good in the trenches."
So far in the first two games, the Ducks have won the majority of the battles for loose pucks.
"Their players have been better than some of our players in the tough areas of the ice, bottom line," Sutter said. "We have a handful of guys that can do a lot better job of getting there."
Calgary captain Jarome Iginla agreed that the Ducks have outbattled the Flames so far, but he vowed that’s going to change.
"Nobody’s relaxing or lethargic," Iginla said. "I think we’re going to come out very strong. We know that we’ve been outworked more than we’ve outworked them in the first two games and we want that to change."
Forward Shean Donovan said there’s no need to panic after the Flames lost the second game of the series 4-3 on Sunday night.
"It’s a race to the end," he said. "We knew it was going to be a hard-fought series. I think we’ve got to key on ourselves and kind of worry about ourselves here and get back to basics. The guys are excited and we’re going to be ready (Tuesday)."
Hard work should determine which team advances through to the second round, Donovan added.
"You’ve just got to do anything you can," he said. "It’s two evenly matched teams. It’s going to be who wants it the most."
Chuck Kobasew, who had a chance to tie Sunday’s game in the dying seconds only to be foiled by Ducks netminder Jean-Sebastian Giguere, said he’s going to try harder to get more scoring chances earlier in upcoming games.
"It’s all about finding the openings and getting those opportunities," said Kobasew, who’s now gone 28 playoff games without scoring a goal. "Individually I have to get better and we all know we have to get better as a team."
Kobasew also commended the Ducks for their effort in the first two games and added that the Flames need to raise their level of play.
"We knew they’re a hard-working team, they’re a fast-skating team," he said. "Now, it’s just a matter of we’ve got to elevate our intensity."
posted by Calgary-Flames at 12:40 PM
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