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CALGARY, Alberta (Ticker) -- Maybe the Calgary Flames were awestruck. With the Stanley Cup in the building as part of a charity event, the Flames surrendered three goals in the first nine minutes and suffered a 7-1 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes, who posted their seventh straight victory at the Pengrowth Saddledome. It was the most one-sided loss of the season for Calgary, surpassing four five-goal setbacks. The seven goals were a season high for Phoenix. Rookie Ramzi Abid scored a pair of power-play goals and defenseman Deron Quint collected three assists for the Coyotes, who have won two in a row following a four-game losing streak. They have not lost in Calgary since October 30, 1997. After defenseman Ossi Vaananen opened the scoring 2:04 into the contest, Abid tallied twice in just under five minutes to make it 3-0. "We expected those guys to come out flying," Abid said. "We knew they had a good first period against Edmonton the other night. We had a big goal by Vaananen there and two tips by myself, and that started us off." Chris Drury's power-play goal got the Flames on the board with 3:47 left in the first period, but Daymond Langkow answered 99 seconds later to make it 4-1 after 20 minutes. The Coyotes broke it open in the second, taking a 6-1 lead on goals by Daniel Briere and Shane Doan. Defenseman Paul Mara capped the scoring with 7:10 left in the third. The loss snapped a three-game unbeaten streak for the Flames, one shy of a season high. "It probably starts with our special teams, our power play and our penalty-kill," Calgary center Scott Nichol said. "When you get beat, 7-1, everything goes wrong. We got our noses rubbed in it. Everyone's pride is hurt." It was rough all around for the Flames as coach Darryl Sutter was struck in the face by a puck in the first period. He left for stitches before returning for the second and third periods. After the game, he was taken to a hospital for observation. "He took a good one there," Nichol said. "I didn't even see the puck coming, I don't think anyone did. It deflected pretty quick. But he bounced back, although I'm guessing he wishes he stayed away, stayed in the dressing room." Roman Turek was pulled just 4:17 into the game after alllowing a pair of goals on five shots. Jamie McLennan took over and stopped 14 of 18 shots before Turek returned for the third period. The Flames dropped to 6-5-2 since Sutter took the coaching reigns. "Certainly disappointed with our effort to start off such a major divisional game for us," said Calgary assistant Jim Playfair, who stepped in for Sutter after the game. "There are no excuses to come out and play the way we did." With Sean Burke sidelined with a sprained knee, Zac Bierk made his sixth start in seven games for the Coyotes and stopped 39 shots. He made 14 saves in the third period, when Phoenix registered just three shots. "He hasn't given up a soft goal yet," Phoenix coach Bobby Francis said. "He's making a statement. You have to be pretty talented to play in this league, first and foremost. He's playing with confidence and what's impressive is the team is playing with confidence in front of him." "The last five or six games, he's been our best player," Abid added. "He's been standing on his head, but we haven't been scoring any goals." |
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