Football
ESPN 20y

Flames hope to keep emotions in check at home

CALGARY, Alberta -- After seven quiet springs, the Calgary
Flames are expecting a roaring welcome from their playoff-starved
fans.

The Flames, back in the playoffs for the first time since 1996,
split the first two games of their first-round series in Vancouver.
Games 3 and 4 of the best-of-seven series will be played in Calgary
on Sunday and Tuesday.

Fresh from a 2-1 win over the Canucks on Friday, the Flames also
hope that they're done with the playoff jitters.

"We're going to talk before the game ... we've got to go out
there, the fans are going to be very excited, it's going to be loud
in here," said forward Craig Conroy, who joined the Flames three
years ago. "We've got to play with some composure -- with emotion,
but under-control emotion."

They will be playing their first home postseason game since
April 26, 1996, when the Flames lost to Chicago in triple overtime
-- knocking them out of that first-round series.

Calgary is abuzz with talk that the Flames, who finished sixth
in the Western Conference, could be this year's surprise team.

"Basically, all we're doing is continuing to play the odds,"
Flames coach Darryl Sutter said Saturday. "We weren't supposed to
be in this position, so we'll just continue to roll with it."

The Flames know that excitement can get out of hand. Before the
first game of the series was five minutes old, the Canucks were up
by two goals and on their way to a 5-3 victory -- paced by four
power-play goals.

In Friday's second game, Calgary managed to stay out of the
penalty box and played a more defensive game against Vancouver. The
Flames reversed the outcome by scoring two quick goals and holding
on for a 2-1 victory.

Calgary captain Jarome Iginla says whether his team is on the
road or at home, the same effort is required.

"We expect it to be loud, it's been getting great here over the
last while, and we're very excited to play in front of them, but at
the same time we still have to prepare the same way and win Game
3."

To do that, the Flames will have to break the Canucks' recent
success in Calgary. Vancouver is 7-0-2 in its last nine trips.

"We feel good about going on the road," said captain Markus
Naslund, the Canucks' leading scorer with a goal and three assists.
"We have a feeling we can win on the road. We're confident. We
know it's going to be a tough building to play in. They haven't had
playoffs for a while.

"The building is going to be loud and they are going to be
excited about playing at home. It's definitely going to be a tough
couple of games, but I think we have a good chance to win there."

If the first two games in Vancouver are any indication, the
matchup will continue to be a hard hitting.

Calgary defenseman Denis Gauthier believes the intensity more
than doubled between the first and second games, and he hopes that
trend continues.

"Both teams are very desperate, they want to move on and have
things improve," he said.

"We feel good playing that way -- that's the way we like to play
is five-on-five hockey and a lot of skating and physical play. And
they feel comfortable playing that way, too."

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