Herald's Three Stars
1. Rick Tabaracci: No goals allowed, made key saves in close.
2. Ken Wregget: Flames' goalie was steady.
3. Jarome Iginla: Skated hard, got to the net.
Memorable
Tabaracci made a sprawling save as he stretched out his arm, robbing Cory Stillman on the crease.
Forgettable
A struggling Theo Fleury has a wide open net when he picks up a rebound to the right of Tabaracci. Ten out of ten times Fleury would score on that shot. But he is snakebitten and missed the net completely.
An eerily small crowd -- announced at 15,164, but looking more like 13,000 and change -- waited patiently for something, anything to happen on the ice as the Calgary Flames and the Washington Capitals, men dressed in National Hockey League costumes, played trick or treat.
Would there be a treat --Êas in a goal -- on the next rush?
Would there be a shot on the next rush, or would it be another numbing dump it in and dump it back out affair?
Would the Flames play a trick, take a penalty and get scored on?
What witch's spell made Theo Fleury, the Flames all-time leading goalscorer, miss an empty net in the first period from in close on a shot that usually would be a gimme?
Ditto Cory Stillman.
What spell was cast over this hockey game, which ended in a 0-0 tie?
It was the spell of two struggling teams, one of which, Washington, has been ravaged by injuries just months after playing in the Stanley Cup final.
The other, Calgary, a low-budget squad with few recognizable faces that has been prone to costly penalties.
Both went home happy, but with only a point.
"We are trying to take little steps before taking big steps," said Flames defenceman Phil Housley, who played 24 minutes against his former team. "This was a step in the right directioin. We had our chances. We had some open nets."
The Flames stayed away from the penalty box most of the game.
The Caps, after letting things get out of hand in an 8-2 loss in Edmonton on Wednesday, played one-up, four-back hockey, patiently waiting for chances.
The only spell it cast on the spectators was trance-like.
But the Flames will take it. It's the first point they have earned at the 'Dome this season.
"It wouldn't have mattered who was in here tonight, we needed to get points," said Housley.
Although it was anything but spectacular, it was effective.
For a downtrodden team, it was an early Halloween treat.
"We did a good job killing penalties and we didn't take the penalties that hurt us. There was nothing we disliked about our game five-on-five," said coach Brian Sutter.
Washington goalie Rick Tabaracci, a fan favourite in Calgary for two seasons, was giving no treats to his former mates. When he had to be sharp, he was, making stops in close on Stillman and a number of other Flames.
His best stop may have come in overtime when he got a blocker on an Ed Ward blast as Ward streaked in on the right side.
At the other end, Ken Wregget was also steady, although he wan't tested as much as Tabaracci.
The Flames netminder had to be solid in the late going when Washington pressed as overtime loomed. As usual, he was not acrobatic, just there to stop the puck, like that nice pad save on James Black with under 30 seconds remaining.
"The puck just seems to hit him," noted defenceman Tommy Albelin. "Nothing fancy."
Said Wregget: "Games are won and lost on mistakes. Some teams make more than others. Discipline factors into that. You want to work towards making no mistakes at all, but that is almost impossible to do."
He obviously made no mistakes. And he is casting his own spell here.
"He's been our most valuable player to this point," said Housley. "He has been making big saves at the right time. He has been standing on his head."
Wregget goes down as the third goalie in Flames history to play to a scoreless draw. Trevor Kidd (vs. Los Angeles' Stephane Fiset in 1996) and Phil Myre (vs. the Rangers' Ed Giacomin in 1974) were the others.
The Flames, who had allowed, five goals on nine power plays in a loss to Pittsburgh on Wednesday, went a remarkable 30 minutes and 30 seconds last night without a penalty.
A 75-minute, closed-door meeting held the previous day, about being one of the most penalized teams in the league, apparently had its desired effect.
Jeff Shantz, acquired this week in a trade with Chicago, took a boarding penalty at 10:30 of the second period, ending what must have been the Flames' longest stretch of the season without taking a penalty. Better yet, the Flames killed it off.
Shantz was also penalized at 15:20, again for boarding. The Flames killed that one off, too.
That was it for the night.
The Caps had a goal disallowed just before the midpoint of the second period when it was ruled that Mike Eagles used a high stick to re-direct a point shot past Wregget.