Calgary Flames: 2 — Rene Bourque, Craig ‘FREAKING’ Conroy [GWG]

Los Angeles Kings: 1 — Scott Parse

After a disappointing day for three Canadian defenceman who regularly wear the flaming ‘C’, the Flames looked to make it two in a row. Dion Phaneuf took out his frustration early as he laid out Anze Kopitar as the two raced back for a loose puck. Kopitar’s helmet flew off as his head hit the dasher boards on his way down. He remained on the ice for a few minutes before leaving on his own power and returning the very next shift. Phaneuf on the other hand, was given a five minute major for boarding and a game misconduct. At one point, it looked like coaches Brent Sutter and Terry Murray may "throw down" as the two exchanged Christmas pleasantries, leading Murray to send out Kings meathead Raitis Ivanans to goon it up for a shift (where he promptly took an elbowing penalty and started a bit of a melee).

 

Miikka Kiprusoff recorded his 20th win of the season, as the Flames snapped a three game home winless streak.

The opening goal featured Jay Bouwmeester feathering a pass over to Rene Bourque for the tip in on a 2-on-1 against Olympian Drew Doughty. With four goals in his past two games, Bourque has 14 on the year.

After giving up an early goal just 15 seconds into the 2nd period, the Flames got a lucky bounce as Kings goalie Erik Ersberg ventured out to play the puck. He fumbled around with it until it landed on Craig Conroy‘s stick. For the love of God, anybody but… HE SCORED! HE SCORED, HE SCORED!! Craig Conroy freaking sniped that one on the empty net for his FIRST of the season. Gotta love him!

Kiprusoff stopped a Dustin Brown penalty shot… sort of. Brown lost the puck on his way in and didn’t register a shot. Not quite sure why the penalty shot was awarded. Perhaps the "Hockey Gods" felt the same and evened things out as Brown skated in.

Mark Giordano played 25:07 in Phaneuf’s absence. He has certainly looked good this season and had a strong game. Not bad for a $900,000 player.

Bourque continues to be the Flames’ best forward. With a goal and an assist, he had another solid game. Hey Daryl, how’s that contract extension coming?

The Edmonton Oilers will visit "The ‘Dome" Thursday night (12/31/09 @ 7:00, Sportsnet West, FAN960). The Oilers snapped a seven game losing streak Wednesday night, beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1.