"It's not often a Vezina Trophy-winning netminder finds himself subject to teasing.

Even more so when that mocking comes from his own city.

But some of the goals getting past Miikka Kiprusoff lately have been laughable.

A joke making its way around Calgary these days is the 34-year-old Flames goaltender should legally add a 't' to the end of his name.

Yes, the goals have been that soft.

Say what you want about unfortunate deflections, screens and a lack of strong defence in front of him, Kiprusoff isn't stealing points for his team the way he has in the past. He's costing them some.

Flames head coach Brent Sutter is holding his star goaltender accountable, and there's a good chance backup Henrik Karlsson gets the start Friday against the Ottawa Senators. If he plays well and wins, maybe Karlsson goes again the next night in Toronto against the Maple Leafs.

"Kipper is obviously a very good goaltender but right now he's fighting it," Sutter said after the 6-5 shootout loss to the Hurricanes Tuesday night in Carolina.

He left his five-hole wide open on a backhander from Eric Staal that gave the Canes a two-goal cushion early in the second period and was yanked in favour of Karlsson after allowing a fourth puck to get past him on eight shots.

Other suspect goals this week included a pair of wrist shots by Detroit Red Wings defenceman Brian Rafalski and another from Vancouver Canucks blueliner Kevin Bieksa. All three of those games ended with losses, despite stretches where the Flames clearly outplayed their opponents.

Maybe the rest will help him. The Flames had Wednesday off as they travelled from Carolina to the nation's capital.

"Too many easy goals," Sutter said Tuesday. "It's bothersome."

It doesn't bode well for the Flames' already slim chances of making the playoffs. "