So it came as no comfort to the Edmonton Oilers, as they did everything right on Saturday night to smother the red-hot Calgary Flames offence, but could barely find the net themselves in a 4-1 loss at the Saddledome.
Dwayne Roloson was sharp in net for the Oilers (3-5), who kept the majority of Calgary's 34 shots on the outside and put in a good physical effort as well.
Not enough.
Leading 2-1 with under five minutes left, captain Jarome Iginla had the puck in the corner of the Edmonton zone on a power play.
He took his time finding Kristian Huselius at the far circle and then watched as the winger patiently waited until defenceman Dion Phaneuf hustled down from the point to tip the return pass home.
Adrian Aucoin, with his first goal as a Flame, finished off the scoring and the defender was full of praise for his new teammates.
"We've got some great passers on this team, amazing forwards," he said. "It's great when you're a defenceman, you just try to find some space [to shoot]."
Iginla and Phaneuf both finished with a goal and two assists on the night as Calgary improved to 4-2-2, including 4-0-1 in their last five under new coach Mike Keenan.
They've scored 18 goals in their last four games.
Bad bounce off boards
Calgary was on the board shortly after the anthem singer left thanks to Huselius, who caught a fortunate bounce off the end boards and buried the puck behind Roloson at 1:01.
"The boards caught me off guard a few times tonight," Aucoin said. "I think it's one of those things that could be advantageous once you get used to it."
The Flames dominated the early going to the point their own goaltender, Miikka Kiprusoff, must have been wondering who cancelled the game and called a light practice.
Until, that is, rookie Sam Gagner found himself in the slot all alone with the puck on his stick and the Calgary goalie barely awake.
The son of former NHLer Dave Gagner had obviously been taught not to look a gift horse in the mouth (especially in Alberta) and he put Edmonton's second shot of the night, at 13:34, into the twine to tie it.
Defensive breakdowns
There the game stayed, with the Oilers beginning to put some sustained pressure on the Calgary defence, until almost midway through the middle frame when an Edmonton defensive brain cramp put them behind again.
Daymond Langkow had the puck on the right half-boards as the Flames were cycling around on offence. He took off around the Oilers net, completely untouched, and found Iginla out front, alone on the lone prairie, and it was 2-1.
Flames outshot the Oilers 21-11 through two frames.
Calgary had set an NHL record the last time out by having a player score at least two in a game seven-straight times, busting a mark held by the 1917 and 1920 Ottawa Senators.
That run was broken off on Saturday.
Copyright © 2007 CBC
Dwayne Roloson was sharp in net for the Oilers (3-5), who kept the majority of Calgary's 34 shots on the outside and put in a good physical effort as well.
Not enough.
Leading 2-1 with under five minutes left, captain Jarome Iginla had the puck in the corner of the Edmonton zone on a power play.
He took his time finding Kristian Huselius at the far circle and then watched as the winger patiently waited until defenceman Dion Phaneuf hustled down from the point to tip the return pass home.
Adrian Aucoin, with his first goal as a Flame, finished off the scoring and the defender was full of praise for his new teammates.
"We've got some great passers on this team, amazing forwards," he said. "It's great when you're a defenceman, you just try to find some space [to shoot]."
Iginla and Phaneuf both finished with a goal and two assists on the night as Calgary improved to 4-2-2, including 4-0-1 in their last five under new coach Mike Keenan.
They've scored 18 goals in their last four games.
Bad bounce off boards
Calgary was on the board shortly after the anthem singer left thanks to Huselius, who caught a fortunate bounce off the end boards and buried the puck behind Roloson at 1:01.
"The boards caught me off guard a few times tonight," Aucoin said. "I think it's one of those things that could be advantageous once you get used to it."
The Flames dominated the early going to the point their own goaltender, Miikka Kiprusoff, must have been wondering who cancelled the game and called a light practice.
Until, that is, rookie Sam Gagner found himself in the slot all alone with the puck on his stick and the Calgary goalie barely awake.
The son of former NHLer Dave Gagner had obviously been taught not to look a gift horse in the mouth (especially in Alberta) and he put Edmonton's second shot of the night, at 13:34, into the twine to tie it.
Defensive breakdowns
There the game stayed, with the Oilers beginning to put some sustained pressure on the Calgary defence, until almost midway through the middle frame when an Edmonton defensive brain cramp put them behind again.
Daymond Langkow had the puck on the right half-boards as the Flames were cycling around on offence. He took off around the Oilers net, completely untouched, and found Iginla out front, alone on the lone prairie, and it was 2-1.
Flames outshot the Oilers 21-11 through two frames.
Calgary had set an NHL record the last time out by having a player score at least two in a game seven-straight times, busting a mark held by the 1917 and 1920 Ottawa Senators.
That run was broken off on Saturday.
Copyright © 2007 CBC