By LAURA MEDINA STATS Writer
The Colorado Avalanche certainly want to extend their winning streak, but doing so at the expense of a division rival would be even sweeter.
Seeking their fourth straight victory, the Avalanche open a home-and-home set against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night at Pengrowth Saddledome.
After a five-game skid from Oct. 28-Nov. 6, Colorado (8-8-0) has won three straight one-goal games, but still remains at the bottom of the Northwest Division.
On Saturday, Darcy Tucker scored with 10.7 seconds left in regulation, and added the winner in the fifth round of the shootout to lift the Avalanche to a 3-2 victory at Edmonton.
"We didn't play our best game," said Tucker, who has three goals in four games. "(Edmonton) played a pretty good hockey game for the most part and we just found a way to win it and sometimes you just need to find ways to win games when you haven't played your best."
The Avalanche will need to play better versus the Flames (9-8-1). Colorado won five of eight from Calgary in 2007-08, but has lost the first two meetings on the road this season. The Avalanche dropped a 5-4 decision on Oct. 14, then fell 3-0 two weeks later to give the Flames their only shutout win of 2008-09.
The teams, which meet again on Thursday in Denver, are separated by three points in the tightly-packed Northwest.
Calgary plays three of its next four at home, where it is 6-2-1. The Flames have won three straight and are 10-2-2 against the Avs at the Saddledome since 2005-06.
But the Flames are coming off a 6-1 loss to league-leading San Jose on Thursday, and have dropped five of seven after a season-high six-game winning streak.
"We're very disappointed, but we have a huge opportunity with back-to-back Colorado and back-to-back Vancouver (Nov. 27-29)," Craig Conroy told the Flames' official Web site. "Those are huge games and opportunities for us."
Michael Cammalleri - second on the Flames with 15 points - scored against the Sharks. He has a goal and three assists versus the Avalanche this season, giving him five goals and 13 assists in 16 career meetings.
Paul Stastny leads Colorado with 12 assists and 15 points, and will be playing his first game after signing a five-year contract extension on Monday. In 17 career games against Calgary, he has 11 goals and 12 assists.
It's unclear if the Avalanche's Joe Sakic will return after missing the last two games because of a strained back. The longtime Colorado captain is third on the club with 12 points, but his 40 goals and 103 points against Calgary are the most he's had against any opponent.
Peter Budaj has compiled an outstanding 0.96 goals-against average during the Avalanche's winning streak, but is 4-6-1 with a 3.96 GAA in 13 career matchups versus the Flames, including both defeats this season.
Miikka Kiprusoff, meanwhile, is 2-4-0 with a 4.91 GAA in his last six starts for Calgary. He's beaten the Avs twice this season to improve to 5-1-1 with a 1.88 GAA in his last seven starts.
Adrian Aucoin netted the game winner with 7:32 left in the game while the Flames fired a season-high 51 shots on goal in a 4-1 victory over Colorado Tuesday in Calgary.
I find it kinnda funny how they were talking about how they were gonna start playing the trap this game, but they never were really put into asituation in which the could play the trap cause it was in the Avs end the whole game.
I may sound like a bit of a skeptic in saying this, but this game really didn't really prove anything new to me. It's always been apperant that they've been a solid team in the offencive end when they're playing well. As for the defencive end, they looked very shakey on the few occations they were held up there.
As for the Avs, you can really tell how they're missing Sakic. There were some points where they looked as though they were waiting for someone to step up and have a good shift. I'm looking forward to the game tomorrow night.
__________________
"I've got to go play some hockey. I'm a hockey player. I'm okay. No big deal."- Brendan Witt (after getting hit by a car)
It's been nine months since the Detroit Red Wings have been shut out. Now they are likely to face the last goaltender to do it.
Miikka Kiprusoff should be in net for the Calgary Flames on Saturday, seeking a second straight shutout and second in a row against the Red Wings.
The Flames netminder comes off consecutive victories over Colorado, including a 1-0 win Thursday in Denver as he faced a season-low 18 shots. Two days earlier, he made 22 saves in a 4-1 victory over the Avalanche.
Kiprusoff has gone 113 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal, and now he faces a Detroit team which leads the league with 3.67 goals per game and a 34.2-percent power-play conversion rate. Detroit (13-2-3) also boasts the league's best road record at 9-1-1 and has won six of seven overall, scoring at least three goals in each game.
It's been 59 straight games, including 22 in the playoffs during their run to the Stanley Cup, since the Red Wings were shut out. That streak goes back to Feb. 22, when Kiprusoff stopped 38 shots in Calgary's 1-0 win.
His 3.17 goals-against average this season is among the league's worst, but he's played well in two games since being pulled after the first period of a 6-1 loss at San Jose on Nov. 13. That was part of a six-game stretch during which he allowed 23 goals.
"We played a pretty bad game against San Jose, and we knew we had to do something different," Kiprusoff said. "It's been a good couple of games."
The Flames (11-8-1), though, have scored only one goal in four of the past six games.
The Red Wings have scored 27 times during their current 6-0-1 run, going 13-of-39 on the power play. They were 3-for-5 on Thursday in a 4-3 win at Edmonton.
Jiri Hudler scored twice in that victory, giving Detroit six players with at least six goals. Johan Franzen failed to score for a sixth straight game, remaining third on the team with nine goals. Henrik Zetterberg and Marian Hossa each have 10 goals, and they are among 10 Red Wings with 12 or more points.
That balance has helped goalie Chris Osgood overcome some shaky play of late.
Osgood, who sat while backup Ty Conklin played the previous two games, allowed two goals in a 21-second span midway through the third period Thursday after his team gave him a 4-1 lead.
"I thought we played well, but it happened again where they scored a couple in the third," Hudler said. "We were kind of worried, but we won. That was the important thing."
In his previous two starts, Osgood nearly blew a pair of two-goal leads against Tampa Bay on Nov. 13 and he lost a three-goal lead in the third period in a Nov. 11 overtime loss to Pittsburgh, allowing a season-high seven goals.
Despite an 8-1-3 record, Osgood has a 3.29 goals-against average. Conklin (5-1-0) has a 2.47 GAA and earned a shutout in his last start, 4-0 against Edmonton on Monday.
Osgood, however, has allowed only one goal in each of his last six starts in Calgary, winning five. His team, though, has lost three of its last four games there.
Last December, the Calgary Flames used a road trip to turn around their season.
While the Flames might not need as much help this season, they have a good chance of bouncing back Friday in St. Louis, where they open a four-game road trip against a team they've dominated in the Blues.
The Flames (14-10-1) were 11-13-5 last season before winning six straight games in the Midwest and the Eastern time zones. That helped propel them to a 42-30-10 record and a fourth straight playoff berth.
Among those six victories was a 5-3 win in St. Louis, one of three the Flames had over the Blues last season as they improved to 12-1-1 against them since a 2-1 loss on Feb. 5, 2004.
This road trip again takes them through the Midwest and into the Eastern time zone with stops in Detroit, Montreal and New York in addition to St. Louis.
Lost in the furor over Sean Avery's pre-game comments Tuesday about Calgary defenseman Dion Phaneuf and his girlfriend, actress Elisha Cuthbert, was a 3-1 loss to Dallas that ended the Flames' three-game win streak.
Calgary failed to score at least three goals for the first time in four games, with only David Moss finding the back of the net in the second period. During their three-game winning streak, the Flames scored 13 times.
"We weren't quite as sharp as we have been lately," said Flames captain Jarome Iginla, whose six-game point streak ended. "Maybe that's part of not capitalizing on our scoring chances. I thought we could have had a few more."
It was just Calgary's third loss in its last nine games.
Moss has six goals, but three have come in the past four games, and he has a two-game goal streak heading into Friday's game. Moss has a goal and an assist in three lifetime games against St. Louis.
Iginla, who leads the team with 12 goals and 29 points, has three goals and seven points in the last two games with Blues, and 17 goals and 50 points in 44 career meetings.
Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff played well in the loss, allowing two goals or fewer for the fifth time in his last seven starts, and enters this game 10-0-1 with a 1.97 goals-against average in his last 11 starts against the Blues.
St. Louis (10-11-2) also comes into Friday's game with a punchless offense that's missing forwards Paul Kariya (hip injury) and Andy McDonald (fractured left leg). The Blues have scored two goals or fewer in five of their last six, including a 4-0 loss Wednesday at Minnesota, and they have also gone 2-for-18 on the power play in the last five games.
"We had a few chances where we don't bury the puck," David Backes said.
Backup goalie Chris Mason got a second straight start but had his worst performance in last five appearances, giving up three goals - two in a 2:20 span in the third period. He had allowed four goals over his previous five games, going 3-1-0, and is 2-2-1 with a 3.21 GAA versus Calgary.
Usual starter Manny Legace is 2-5-1 in his last nine starts since opening the season with four straight wins and is 4-5-0 with a 2.79 GAA lifetime against the Flames.
The New York Rangers are atop the Atlantic Division, but lately they've needed extra time to pull off any sort of victory. The Calgary Flames, on the other hand, have been taking care of business in regulation.
The Flames will look for their fifth win in six games Sunday at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers, who are trying to rebound after their second lopsided loss in less than a week.
Calgary (15-10-1) looked to be headed in the right direction in late October, when it won six in a row after a 1-3-1 start. The Flames responded with five losses in their next seven games, but have played like a different team since then.
Using a stifling penalty kill and some timely goal scoring, Calgary is 6-2-0 in its last eight contests. After a 3-1 loss to Dallas on Tuesday, the Flames came out flat Friday in St. Louis, falling behind 3-1 after two periods.
Power-play goals from Jarome Iginla and David Moss tied the score in the third, though, and Michael Cammalleri's 10th of the season won it in overtime.
"It's definitely a positive and you want to be able to contribute," said defenseman Dion Phaneuf, who assisted on all four goals. "It was a huge win for our team. We didn't get off to the start we wanted. We were down 3-1 and to come back, it's a huge win."
Iginla scored for the first time in four games, and a meeting with the Rangers (18-9-2) might be another big offensive opportunity for the only player in the Western Conference to score 50 goals last season. Iginla scored twice in a 4-3 win over New York on Jan. 2, and has seven goals and three assists in his last six games versus the Rangers.
Despite allowing two power-play goals in St. Louis, the Flames' penalty killing has been the key to their strong play of late. Those were the only two goals Calgary has allowed in its last 24 times short-handed, a 91.7 percent kill rate that's second in the league since Nov. 18.
The Rangers also know how to kill penalties, considering they have an NHL-best 90.1 percent success rate. Lately, though, they're having trouble stopping teams at even strength.
New York rebounded from a 4-0 loss to Florida with a 3-2 shootout win over Pittsburgh on Wednesday, but the next night in Montreal was another tough one for goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.
Lundqvist was pulled for the second time in five starts in the loss to the Panthers, then stayed in Thursday despite allowing six goals in a 6-2 defeat to the Canadiens.
"If you compared the two teams, one looked like an NHL team and the other like a non-NHL team," Lundqvist told the Rangers' official Web site Thursday. "I don't know what was missing. A lot of things, I think. They were all over us."
Despite Lundqvist's recent struggles, he remains one of the league's elite goaltenders, and his 2.33 goals-against average isn't far off from his 2.23 GAA last season.
He's tied with Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff with an NHL-high 25 starts, and Lundqvist has continually helped the Rangers pick up an extra point. New York is 6-4-0 since Nov. 15, and five of those wins have come courtesy of a Lundqvist-led shootout victory.
Calgary, visiting MSG for the first time since January 2006, hasn't been involved in a shootout since Feb. 5.
Calgary goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff's impressive play on his team's road trip isn't all that surprising. The play of right wing David Moss has been, however.
Kiprusoff looks to continue his stellar play on Wednesday night as the Flames seek their first road win against the Montreal Canadiens in nearly eight years.
The Flames (16-10-1), tied with Vancouver for first place in the Northwest Division, have won five of their last six and seven of nine, including a 3-0 victory over the New York Rangers on Sunday. Jarome Iginla, Moss and Rene Bourque all scored, while Kiprusoff made 31 saves for his 29th career shutout. Kiprusoff has started 12 consecutive games and 26 of Calgary's 27 contests this season. He 5-1-0 with a 1.83 goals-against average in his last six games overall, and 0-2-0 with a 4.06 GAA in two career starts at Montreal.
"I like to play," he said. "I'm kind of used to it now and I know what I have to do to get ready night after night."
Kiprusoff isn't the only Flame on a hot streak. Moss has scored in four straight games and five of his last six, giving him eight goals for the season - doubling his total from 2007-08. He has 22 goals in his three-year career.
"He has certainly become a lot more confident the last four or five games," coach Mike Keenan said. "It's always that fine line of, 'Play me more and I'll play better, and play better and I'll play you more.' He's earned it."
With Sunday's win, the Flames improved to 2-0 on this four-game road trip, which closes Wednesday against defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit. Calgary has won four straight on the road, posting two shutouts during that stretch. That success comes after it started the season 3-6-0 in away games, allowing an average of 3.7 goals.
This is the Flames' first visit to Montreal since the Canadiens (15-6-5) won 5-4 on Oct. 17, 2006. Montreal has won three straight over Calgary at home since a 3-1 loss on Dec. 13, 2000.
The Canadiens are looking to bounce back after their three-game winning streak was snapped Saturday in a 2-1 overtime loss to visiting New Jersey. Rookie Matt D'Agostini scored for the third straight game, but the Devils scored a power-play goal 31 seconds into overtime.
Montreal went 0-for-5 on the power play, and is 1-for-19 in the last five games. Its opponents, meanwhile, are 4-for-17 during that stretch.
"Every penalty is tough," Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau said. "The only good one is when you save a goal, in my book. All the other ones - you know, especially at this time of the game, when they just called one on them, you know that they're going to try and even out."
This will be the first game for Montreal's Alex Tanguay against his former team. Tanguay, acquired from Calgary on June 20 for two draft picks, has nine goals and nine assists this season after spending the past two years with the Flames.
The Canadiens have completed four games of their franchise-long seven-game homestand. They are 8-2-3 at home and haven't lost in regulation at the Bell Centre since a 2-1 defeat to Philadelphia on Nov. 14, going 3-0-3 since.
After concluding last month with disappointing results, the Detroit Red Wings have turned things around at the start of December behind strong play at home.
The Red Wings aim to keep things going Wednesday night as they seek to complete a perfect four-game homestand with a matchup against the Calgary Flames.
Detroit (18-4-4) rolled to a 7-0-1 mark in the first three weeks of November before falling in three of last month's final four games (1-2-1). The Red Wings have bounced back since the calendar turned to December, though, winning three consecutive one-goal decisions at Joe Louis Arena.On Saturday night, they rallied back from a two-goal, second-period deficit for a 5-4 shootout victory - their fourth straight at home overall - over Chicago.
"It was nice, especially after that third goal, to be able to battle through," said backup Ty Conklin, who made 28 saves through overtime then turned aside all three attempts he faced in the shootout.
Valtteri Filppula and Jiri Hudler each had a goal and an assist in regulation, while Pavel Datsyuk scored the lone tally in the shootout for the Red Wings, who will now try to continue their recent success against Calgary (16-11-1).
The Red Wings have won four of their last five matchups with the Flames overall, including a 5-2 road victory on Nov. 22. They've dominated Calgary even more at Joe Louis Arena, where they've beaten the Flames four straight times and in nine of the teams' last 11 meetings.
The Flames' Miikka Kiprusoff made 32 saves versus the Red Wings in November, but fell to 6-8-1 with a tie lifetime against them.
Kiprusoff has started each of the Flames' last 13 games, and helped Calgary win the first two of its current four-game trip and five of six overall entering Tuesday night.
He made 27 saves Tuesday, but they weren't enough in a 4-1 loss to Montreal. Only Dustin Boyd - in his first contest back following a five-game absence due to a shoulder injury - was able to get the puck past Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak.
"He was very, very solid in net for them and probably was a difference maker," Flames coach Mike Keenan said.
Calgary killed off all three penalties it faced Tuesday, making it 26-for-28 on the penalty kill in the last 10 games. Detroit, though, has converted a league-best 30.3 percent of its power-play opportunities.
Captain Jarome Iginla, leading Calgary with 14 goals and 32 points, has four goals and eight assists in his last 10 contests. He has 13 goals and 40 points in 45 career games versus the Red Wings.
Detroit center Henrik Zetterberg, who has at least one point in 18 of the 24 games he's played in 2008-09, has nine goals and eight assists in 19 career games against the Flames.
Associated Press
As much as I would like the team to win this one I can't see it.
Mired in a five-game losing streak, the Minnesota Wild hope their struggling offense will get a boost from franchise scoring leader Marian Gaborik.
Gaborik is expected to be back on the ice for the first time in more than two months on Tuesday night as the Wild (15-13-1) play host to Jarome Iginla and the Calgary Flames.
Gaborik has been out since Oct. 14 with a lower-body injury. He missed 27 seven games, during which the Wild went 13-13-1, and he's set to rejoin them as they've scored five goals during their slide.Gaborik, who led Minnesota with 42 goals and 83 points last season, had one goal in two games before being sidelined.
"More than likely I'll go," Gaborik said, adding: "I think I'm at the point where I can go out there and play a game. I don't think it will get any better. Obviously sometimes I feel discomfort, but I think by playing games it's going to get there. To get out there and get into game shape, I'm looking forward to it."
Gaborik - who's 13 games short of 500 - has spent his entire eight-year career the Wild, leading them with 207 goals and 208 assists.
With Gaborik's expected return, the Wild now will try to make a move in the Northwest Division standings. They're tied with Colorado for third place, both just one point in front of last-place Edmonton.
However, Wild coach Jacques Lemaire cautioned against high expectations for a team that has scored the fewest goals in the Western Conference (76).
"A lot of people, they figure (Gaborik's) going to come back, he's going to settle every problem we have on this team. We're going to start to score five goals five-on-five and six on the power play," Lemaire said. "It won't happen.
Minnesota has never lost six straight. It last went winless over six games during the 2003-04 season, going seven games without a victory by recording four losses and three ties.
The Wild are 6-4-2 at home against the Flames (17-11-3) over the last three seasons. Gaborik has five goals and 11 assists against them in the last 10 games.
Calgary comes into this game after snapping a three-game (0-1-2) winless streak with a 6-3 victory over St. Louis on Tuesday. That allowed the Flames to move into a tie atop the Northwest with Vancouver, both six points ahead of Minnesota and Colorado.
Iginla recorded two goals and two assists, matching his career high for points in a game. It was his first multi-goal game since scoring two against Nashville on Nov. 6, and came after he recorded one assist during Calgary's winless streak.
"He had a great game," Flames coach Mike Keenan said . "He had a leadership game and you expect that from your best players. He was engaged tonight, and it looked like that right from the start."
Iginla leads the Flames with 16 goals and 37 points. He is one point shy of 800 for his career.
Iginla also has a five-game points streak in Minnesota, scoring four goals with three assists.
Flames Game Day Talk 2008-09
AV's @ Flames
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