CALGARY – First-round draft pick Sven Baertschi had a goal and an assist for the Calgary Flames prospects, leading them to a 4-0 victory over the University of Calgary Dinos in front of 1,133 fans at Father David Bauer Arena Friday night.
The first period saw a clash of two styles of play as the Dinos came out hitting and were countered by a swift skating Flames squad. Both goaltenders stood tall in the opening 20 minutes as the period went by scoreless with the Flames holding a 9-6 advantage on the shot clock.
As the second stanza got underway, the Flames were able to take advantage of Dinos’ turnovers and opened the scoring at the 4:29 mark. Baertschi broke in through the right faceoff dot where he wristed a quick shot through the five hole of Dustin Butler to make it 1-0.
It didn’t take long for the Calgary prospects to strike again as Reid Jackson extended the lead while on the power play at 7:53. With Baertschi screening the goaltender, Jackson let a hard shot go from the blue line which beat Butler high to establish a 2-0 advantage.
“The thing that started to hurt us the most was when we started to turn the puck over,” stated head coach Mark Howell. “When we stopped skating and started watching the game, that’s when we got hurt.”
At the 8:30 mark of the middle frame, Butler was relieved by Kris Lazaruk for the remainder of the game. The second year goaltender brought a roar from the crowd with two dazzling saves in both the second and third period and had Flames skaters looking skyward.
With just under two minutes to go in the second period, Lance Bouma put the Flames up 3-0 as he knocked in a Gaelen Patterson rebound behind a sprawled out Lazaruk.
With fatigue setting in for both clubs, the Flames were able to score a put-away goal 2:25 into the final period. Blake Gal received a cross-crease pass from Michael Ferland and buried it top-shelf from the right side of the net.
Gal’s third period goal rounded out the scoring as the Flames went into a defensive scheme and helped Joni Ortio pick-up the shutout.
“I think overall we did a good job and that this was a great experience for our guys,” commented Howell. “I thought both goaltenders were great, I think we have some great depth and a lot of skill.”
The Flames outshot the Dinos 32-14. The Flames went 1-3 on the man advantage, while the Dinos went 0-3.
The Dinos now head out on an Atlantic road trip from Sept. 20-24, which will see them face-off against Acadia, St. Francis Xavier, and twice against the defending CIS champion University of New Brunswick.
NOTES: Before puck drop, Flames general manager Jay Feaster presented a cheque for $20,000 to the captains of the Dinos men's and women's hockey teams, Brock Nixon, Tanya Morgan, as part of their long-standing support of grassroots and amateur hockey in Calgary … this was the first time since 2004 that the Dinos have taken on the Flames rookies in an exhibition game …
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