Flames hope to appease Sutter in Dallas
Modano, Lehtinen return from injury for the Stars
Last Updated: Wednesday, November 4, 2009 | 2:19 PM MT
By Justin Piercy, CBC Sports
Head coach Brent Sutter will look for a better effort from his Calgary Flames when they face Dallas on Wednesday. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)Coach Brent Sutter sent his Calgary Flames a message during practice on Monday and he'll find out if they heard him loud and clear when the team heads to Dallas to face the Stars on Wednesday night.
A three-game winning streak for the Flames (7-4-1) was replaced by a two-game slide after a 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche last Wednesday and a 3-1 beating at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
Sutter was critical of his top-line of Jarome Iginla, Craig Conroy and Curtis Glencross following the weekend loss.
"I thought Connie [Conroy] had a decent game, but I thought both his wingers never played very well tonight," Sutter said. "The puck doesn't have legs on it, it isn't going to come to you. You've got to get after it and win battles. I just didn't think Jarome and Glennie had their better games tonight and that's the bottom line."
The coach may have voiced his displeasure with his top forwards, but it was the whole team that paid the price during a very physical practice on Monday.
"He wasn't happy after the game [on Saturday] and we knew it was going to be hard today and it was," Conroy said. "He was sending a message to say we're not doing enough in practice, so obviously a lot of hitting today, a lot of battles."
One of those battles left their captain with a black eye.
"I got it battling," Iginla said of his shiner, declining to say who gave it to him.
"There needs to be more aggression in our game," Sutter said. "I'm talking about just overall as far as battling and competing for things and competing for space on the ice and wanting to have the puck as a team, drawing more penalties.
"I'm not accustomed to coaching teams that don't compete at a high level."
One player that remains in the good graces of Sutter is Miikka Kiprusoff. The Flames goaltender (3.00 GAA, .901 save percentage) has played in every game save one this season, a 5-2 loss against the team they'll play on Wednesday.
Turco may return after illness
The Stars (6-3-5) also have designs on ending their own two-game winless skid following a 6-5 shootout loss to Florida and a 4-2 loss in Nashville on Friday and Saturday.
The team should get a boost with the return of forwards Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen, who were activated from the injured reserve list on Wednesday afternoon.
Backup goalie Alex Auld, who paced his team to the victory earlier this year against the Flames in Calgary, started in the place of an under-the-weather Marty Turco for the team's last two games.
Following the loss in Tennessee, a game that saw the Stars squander a 1-0 lead in the third period to have the Predators score three straight times, Auld said he came up a little short.
"They came out with a lot of sustained pressure, and they scored three hardworking goals," Auld said. "I would have liked to come up with some saves to hold the team in it, but I wasn't able to do that tonight."
A three-day break may be all the rest Turco needs to return and face Calgary, a team he has posted 14-8-1 with two ties record against over his career with a 1.79 lifetime GAA.
with files from The Associated Press
