Flames RW Iginla nets 50th goal

Apr 6, 2008 - 6:43 AM VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla etched his name among the NHL's elite Saturday by becoming the third player in league to score at least 50 goals this season.

The franchise's all-time goal-scoring leader, Iginla netted his 50th of the campaign and added two assists as the Flames scored three times in the first period and cruised to a 7-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

"It was pretty nice to see it go in," Iginla said of milestone goal. "The guys were trying all night to set me up, they're very generous. I think Vancouver knew they were trying to get me that."

With Calgary owning a 5-1 advantage with 7:25 remaining, Eric Nystrom skated out from the corner before finding Iginla, who had weaved around two defenders to get open. The All-Star accepted the feed and beat goaltender Curtis Sanford for his milestone goal.

"It was a great play by Nystrom," Iginla said. "He looked at me, then he looked to the net (and Wayne Primeau) drove right through. I couldn't believe the pass coming across. It felt pretty good to see that go in."

Iginla joins Washington's Alex Ovechkin (65) and Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk (52) as the only players to reach the plateau this season. Pittsburgh All-Star Evgeni Malkin has 47 goals with one game remaining.

"I was really happy for him," Calgary coach Mike Keenan said. "I was wondering - and I'm sure he was, too - whether he would get it or not. He wasn't getting many opportunities earlier, and I think Eric Nystrom made a nice play on that goal for him."

Iginla also has 48 assists and career-high 98 points this season.

Drafted 11th overall by Dallas in 1995, the 30-year-old Iginla has 374 career goals in 860 games over 10 seasons - all with Calgary.