Five in a row....

Tuesday, November 19th, 2002 
By:  John Veitch

Cujo who sat against his former club the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night, stopped all of the 29 shots he faced, shutting out the Flames for the second time in as many starts this season. 

''We knew they were going to be desperate and they came out hard, but we played good defense and boxed out real well and were able to get some goals,'' said Joseph, who earned his 38th career shutout. ''We've been playing good defense lately, and getting timely goals. That's been our key.''

Igor Larionov finally scored the Wings' first opening period goal in six games at the 17:36 mark on a beautiful breakaway feed from Brett Hull. Larionov beat Flames' netminder Jamie McLennan by sliping the puck under his glove after putting a few fancy moves on the confused goaltender.

The powerplay goal was Larionov's first of the season.

Early in the second period the Red Wings exploded for two quick goals coming just forty-one seconds apart.

Darren McCarty registered his fifth of the season just 2:11 into the second stanza at even strength, beating McLennan on a quick wrist shot through the legs.

Sergei Fedorov then followed with his league-leading twelfth marker of the season a quick bang-bang play with country mate Dmitri Bykov. 

Newly acquired Defenseman Jason Woolley who wore jersey number fifteen in his Red Wings debut, was on the ice for both goals. "There's so much speed and talent up front, you just have to get those guys the puck," said the Formrer Michigan State Spartan.

Kirk Maltby added to the lead midway through the period. His fifth goal of the season was his first non-shorthanded tally of the season.

Joseph made thirteen saves in the second period, including two miraculous saves on Jerome Iginla. With Curtis caught 30 feet out of his net and scrambling without his stick, the goaltender still managed to play the angle on Iginla and stop the dangerous Flames forward as he shot at a nearly empty net.

"The puck was coming around the boards, but then it popped out front of the net and at that point you have to improvise,'' Joseph said with a shrug.

Kris Draper completed the Grind line's hat trick by scoring his second goal of the season late in the third period. Maltby registered his 150th career assist on the play. "Tonight was a pretty solid game for us," said Draper, who ended a 15-game score-less drought with the goal. "Coach Lewis has confidence in our line. Sometimes we get rewarded and sometimes we don't. Tonight was one of those nights where we got some goals. The hard work paid off for us."

"Our line has been a stalwart of this club for the past six or seven years,'' McCarty said of the grind Line's success. ``With Drapes, Malts, and myself, we've played together on and off for as many as nine or ten years now and we all really enjoy playing together.''

NEWS & NOTES:

  -- Brendan Shanahan (flew back to Detroit to be with his wife who is expecting twins) Sean Avery, and Maxim Kuznetsov were all healthy scratches for Detroit.

  -- In his debut Woolley logged 16:54 in ice time and posted a plus-three rating. He saw action on the power play but not on the penalty-killing units.

 -- In two meetings this season Detroit has outscored Calgary 9-0.

 -- The Red Wings have now only allowed four goals against in the last five games