Lots of Kiprusoff, Dawes; little of Avery

[rinkrat]

Sean Avery’s return to the scene of the crime turned out to be nothing.

The Rangers pest had very little to offer.

He played like someone trying to kill time before a flight. Which, in essence, he was.

Sure, Flames D Dion Phaneuf pasted him once — to the glee of the sell-out crowd — but besides the booing, you wouldn’t have known Avery was present.

One of the grittiest skaters in the visitors’ lineup, Avery couldn't even be bothered to track down Curtis Glencross after the Flames forward’s ugly knockout of Rangers captain Chris Drury. ("I didn’t even see the hit," said Calgary coach Brent Sutter. "I still haven’t seen it. And I’m being truthful. I didn’t watch it after the period. I didn’t even know what happened. I was kind of surprised there was a guy lying on the ice. I didn’t even see it, so I can’t comment on it.")

Without any Avery furore, the story ended up being LW Nigel Dawes’ showy three-point performance against his former team — and that goalie.

"I thought it was one of our best games of the year," said Rangers skipper John Tortorella. "The difference was (Miikka) Kiprusoff."

Sutter agreed.

"Well, Kiprusoff played extremely well, again," said Sutter. "We gave up more scoring chances than we would’ve liked to. At times, we had a hard time . . . they’re a team that pressures all over the ice. And we knew that coming in. We didn’t do a good enough job, at times, of protecting the puck. They’re a quick team . . . and Kipper, he made some big saves. He was outstanding tonight.

"I didn’t think we played that great of a game defensively."

Meaning there was one jump-out stat (besides New York C Brian Boyle’s 0-for-10 at the dot) — Calgary giveaways.

The hosts took the first seven giveaways of the game, then, by 40 minutes, 12 of the first 13. By the buzzer, the Flames had been tagged with 15-of-20 cough-ups.

C Olli Jokinen, pinking out pucks like a Pez dispenser, was personally responsible for five of the giveaways — yes, the equivalent of the Rangers.

http://communities.canada.com/calgaryherald/blogs/insideflames/archive/2009/11/08/lots-of-kiprusoff-dawes-little-of-avery.aspx