Guns a Blazing: Calgary Flames Are Getting It Done In More Ways Than One

The Calgary Flames are on cloud nine.

And why wouldn't they be?

After last nights huge comeback win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, they are 9-2-2 in the month of November, and finding ways to win without relying on goals coming off Jarome Iginla's stick.

Simply put, the rest of the team is stepping up bigger than the cast of Saturday Night Live after Will Ferrell left.

Iggy hasn't scored in the Flames last three games, but the team is 3-0 in that span due to the recent play of free agent acquisition Nigel Dawes, call up Jamie Lundmark and Olli "where have you been all year" Jokinen.

Dawes has three goals in his last three games, on just four shots. His stick has been hotter than Elisha Cuthbert in a bikini, frying up chili peppers in a skillet in July.

Can someone tell him to shoot more?

Lundmark has scored the teams last two game-winners; in Detroit and against Columbus in the shootout, and has three points in five games since being called up. He has added a spark on the top line with Jokinen and Iginla, and more than filled the shoes of the injured Rene Bourque.

Jamie Lundmark has been to the Flames what Dave Grohl was to Nirvana you don't really notice how good he is until he is out on his own. The shootout winner he scored was a slick little snipe.

As far as Olli Jokinen is concerned, he has finally caught fire after putting up just three goals in his first 23 games he has a pair in his last two games to go with a couple helpers as well.

The Flames had no business winning in Detroit, but Miikka Kiprusoff's 40 save performance and the play of Jokinen, Lundmark and Dawes  was enough to pick up another two points.

That is what makes good teams great, finding ways to win, whether it is ugly or not.

Now it has to come against a team like the Chicago Blackhawks, who's 7-1 blowout victory over the club will loom over them like a dark cloud until they can redeem themselves.

I don't like getting too carried away as I have been burned before by my beloved Calgary Flames, but they have yet to lose three games in a row in regulation this year.

At 16-6-3, Calgary looks primed to have a record setting season, yet there are still some kinks in their armour that stand out like Pamela Anderson in a sea of Rosie O'Donnell's.

That being said, the Flames should address those problems sooner rather than later, as anything less than a Stanley Cup birth would be a failure for a team that has so much invested in this season.

They will take little solace on another first-round exit.

For now though, all is well in Cowtown, as they continue to climb to the top of the Western Conference standings.

Until April comes, that should be good enough for any Flames fan.