Jarome Iginla Sparks the Flames

Once again Calgary Flames forward Jarome Iginla showed why his coach Brent Sutter often refers to him as the best captain in the National Hockey League. Approximately 48 hours after being spanked 7-1 at home by the Chicago Blackhawks Iginla who is a two time 50 goal scorer led by example on Saturday afternoon when he registered his ninth career hat trick in what was a convincing 5-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings. “We were assertive, we played an intelligent game, and we were smart,” Sutter said. “Iginla played a whale of a game, just not the fact that he scored. He was just rock solid in a lot of areas.” This big performance by the captain couldn’t have come at a better time as the Flames who are fourth in the Western Conference with 28 points had some tense moments between certain players and coaches after that ugly lose to the Blackhawks. What really impressed the captain was the penalty killing unit who after surrendering four short-handed goals to the Blackhawks rebounded in not allowing any against the Kings. “They worked hard all night and were so determined,” Iginla who scored a goal in each period said. Not only did Calgary shut down the Kings power play but they also did one better as Flames forward Daymond Langkow scored short- handed. Also replying for the Flames was David Moss. Another good sign for the Flames was that their number one goalie Mikka Kiprusoff who struggled against the Hawks rebounded in a big way with 23 saves.. Iginla who is on pace for 49 goals scored that first goal 13 seconds in which he believes set the tone. “Scoring that early we were all pretty excited,” he said. “Especially after a tough last game, to have an early start like that, in an afternoon game, was a big boost.” Los Angeles who are tied in the standings with Calgary did get some positive news as young forward Alexander Frolov ended a 10 game scoring drought as he scored along with defenceman Drew Doughty.