Last night the Flames allowed another weak goal... The good news is that it had nothing to do with Mikka Kiprusoff. The even better news is that even in a tight road game the Flames found a way to fight back and even get their elusive first shoot-out win.

Let's face facts. Since Mike Keenan called out his all-star goaltender, Mikka has responded in spades. Once again last night he was back to his old form shutting down opponents and leaving them shaking their heads. In fact, if not for a fanned clearing attempt, it's unlikely the Panthers would have scored at all. Bottom line for this team is still the same as it's been since November of 2003: This team will only go as far as Mikka can take them, and right now he looks very good.

Despite the effort's of their net-minder, however, it is still somewhat troubling that most nights, if Jarome Iginla doesn't score the Flames don't score. Yes there are others creating chances (Kristian Huselius last night for example had one of his better games of the season) and you'd have to think that sooner or later more players will start cashing in. The problem is: it's too much pressure to lay all at one player's feet; the Calgary Flames currently have 83 goals, Jarome Iginla has 39 points which means he's directly responsible for 47% of his team's scoring. It's an impressive stat from an impressive player, but with the roster the Flames boast, there should be more balanced scoring than there currently is.

Two wins to start their longest road trip of the season is an impressive start, and much of the talk will be about how the Flames are back, and how they even won in a shoot-out which is well deserved, but don't forget that before the euphoria of the victory this team was only 10 seconds from a tough loss that would have had the fans questioning what this team is doing.

That being said, it's a victory, and maybe more importantly a type of victory that the team needed for its confidence. A late goal that the team never seems to get, a shoot-out win (we all know the Flames shoot-out issues), and a win on the road are all elements that this team can use to boost their momentum and in the midst of this trip it couldn't have come at a better time.

Next up is a rematch of the 04 finals. Let's hope they don't botch a call this time.

Have a great day!
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