Jarome who?

How does a hockey team which ranks 27th league's penalty-killing standings stand up to another team whose power play ranks 6th overall? You do your best to almost match them goal-for-goal and then use your dominating five-on-five presence to walk away with a 7-3 road victory. That's how.

While all of Colorado's 3 goals were scored on the man-advantage, two of the Flames' markers were also put away during the same situation. The Stampede City Firey, Flarin' Horse Nostrils, tired of opponents taking advantage of their woeful PK, have come up with a much more fun solution -- score while short-handed. They've now scored 11 goals while 4-on-5, the most in the NHL, which is probably the most demoralizing turn of events which could ever occur in the game. Leading the charge in the short-handed stats is the swift-footed Matthew Lambardi, who ranks second in the league with 4 goals and first with 5 points, and Kristian Huselius, who has 2 goals and 4 points of his own.

Last night's victory was more important, yet almost without mention, due to Jarome Iginla's absence. Including the game against Florida against whom Iginla was injured, the Flames have now won 4 games in a row, and have outscored their opponents 19-9, and nabbed one shutout. Granted, these games weren't against Anaheim or San Jose, but neither were they against Philly or St Louis. The tough Dallas Stars and two divisional rivals were all taken to the cleaners by the Iggy-less Flames.

How could the injury of a potential Hart Trophy candidate work out for the better? I put it down to good coaching on the Flames' part, difficulty in putting together an adjusted game plan due to Iginla's absence on the opponents' part, and the Flames players finally stepping up and contributing something on their own behalf. Most obvious have been the timely scoring by Byron Ritchie and omaha call-up David Moss. It has been fortunate that both Lombardi and Huselius are finally playing up to their potential, and that Daymond Langkow has shown that he wasn't riding any man's coattails this season so far. Also, as was noted in last night's telecast, Dion Phaneuf has been given more responsibility in shutting down the top lines of the opposition and has done an admirable job in that department (to note, Milan Hedjuk was a -5 last night and registered but a single assist).

But mostly, I believe, the Flames are starting to get sick of being stuck in the Northwest quagmire and understand the need to gain a few points on their divisional rivals. They are the most talented and best-coached team of their peers and should be making a push ahead of the pack before the All Star Game. If they can come away with a +.600 record by the time Iginla returns to the lineup, the division is their's.

Obviously, that's speculation. What isn't speculation is that the Flames are a more confident team and they know they can dominate when they stick to the game plan. It's easy to say, but then again, I'm not an NHLer.

Go Flames.