| CALGARY - Craig Conroy gave Calgary Flames | | | | 21 second of ice time, just 11 seconds off |
| supporters plenty to cheer about on Fan | | | | his season high. "In L.A., I wasn't killing |
| Appreciation Night. | | | | any penalties, I wasn't really on the power |
| | | | play." |
| Conroy made a dramatic return to the Flames | | | | |
| lineup Tuesday night, scoring twice against | | | | He appeared in all situations Tuesday night, |
| his former team to lead Calgary to a 4-1 win | | | | including playing over a minute of a 1:29 |
| over the Los Angeles Kings. Calgary | | | | Kings two- man advantage the Flames were able |
| re-acquired Conroy from Los Angeles on Monday | | | | to kill off in the third while protecting a |
| in a trade for Jamie Lundmark and two draft | | | | 2-1 lead. |
| picks. | | | | |
| | | | "Confidence comes after hard work and for |
| Conroy, who was with the Flames from 2001 to | | | | Connie, the change was refreshing for him and |
| 2004 before signing with the Kings as a free | | | | he was ready to work hard," said Calgary |
| agent, was warmly greeted with applause from | | | | coach Jim Playfair. "Confidence is a funny |
| the Pengrowth Saddledome sellout of 19,289 as | | | | thing, you can see it all over his face right |
| he took to the ice for the pre-game warmups. | | | | now." |
| He received a loud cheer when he was shown on | | | | |
| the Jumbotron during the Canadian national | | | | Moss put Calgary ahead 2-0 at 3:50 of the |
| anthem. | | | | season, scoring his sixth goal in 18 games |
| | | | after deflecting Dion Phaneuf's wrist shot |
| Conroy then brought the capacity gathering to | | | | from the blue-line past Burke. |
| its feet when he knocked a rebound past Kings | | | | |
| goalie Sean Burke just 1:30 into the second | | | | Cammalleri deflected Anze Kopitar's slapshot |
| period to open the scoring. | | | | from the point on the power play to pull Los |
| | | | Angeles to within 2-1 just 1:35 into the |
| "It surpassed all expectations," said Conroy, | | | | third. |
| an instrumental part of Calgary's run to the | | | | |
| Stanley Cup final in 2004. "It gave me goose | | | | Los Angeles outshot the Flames 16-7 in the |
| bumps being out there on the ice. | | | | third but couldn't beat Miikka Kiprusoff, who |
| | | | made numerous great saves. Five of |
| "It was a lot of emotion for me." | | | | Kiprusoff's stops came during the two-man |
| | | | advantage. |
| Stephane Yelle and David Moss had the other | | | | |
| goals for Calgary (27-17-6), which began a | | | | "The one goal we scored was a screened shot, |
| four- game homestand with its sixth | | | | it's pretty tough to beat him otherwise," |
| consecutive victory on home ice. | | | | said Cammalleri. "To say he's good is an |
| | | | understatement, we all know that from |
| Mike Cammalleri scored his 20th goal of the | | | | watching him all year. |
| season for Los Angeles (17-30-6), which has | | | | |
| just one win in its last 10 games (1-8-1). | | | | "He definitely did his job." |
| | | | |
| "Obviously, we didn't want that to happen," | | | | Yelle restored Calgary's two-goal lead, |
| said Cammalleri. "The guys that know him and | | | | connecting at 14:04 of the third. |
| we have a pretty personal relationship with | | | | |
| Connie, we'd be happy for him if he did it | | | | Notes: Conroy came into the contest having |
| against somebody else, but we don't want him | | | | gone 12 games without a goal, a streak dating |
| doing that against us." | | | | back to a Dec. 29 game against Calgary . . . |
| | | | If he stays healthy, Conroy could appear in |
| Centring Calgary's second line with veteran | | | | 85 regular- season games, which would be the |
| wingers Alex Tanguay and Tony Amonte, Conroy | | | | most in franchise history. Conroy already is |
| showed immediate chemistry with Tanguay, who | | | | one of only two Flames to have played in more |
| set up both of Conroy's goals. The second | | | | than 82 games, appearing in 83 in 2000-'01, |
| came at 15:16 of the third and prompted | | | | the season he was acquired from St. Louis. |
| another standing ovation from the Flames | | | | Marcus Nilson appeared in 83 games in |
| faithful. | | | | 2003-'04 . . . Los Angeles outshot the Flames |
| | | | 36-33 . . . Calgary has gone 15 games without |
| "Just for my own confidence, I needed this," | | | | outshooting the opposition . . . Calgary RW |
| said Conroy, who entered the night with just | | | | Jarome Iginla is aiming for Friday night for |
| six goals in 52 games after notching 22 goals | | | | his return to the lineup. The Flames captain |
| the previous year. | | | | has missed 11 games with a sprained knee . . |
| | | | . Forward Chuck Kobasew will be sidelined |
| "Tonight was the most I've played in three | | | | four weeks with a broken elbow. |
| months," added Conroy, who logged 19 minutes | | | | |