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Kiprusoff, Flames extend home win streak to eight

Dec 6, 2006 - 4:52 AM CALGARY, Alberta (Ticker) -- Even the defending Stanley Cup champions could not stop Miikka Kiprusoff and the Calgary Flames from extending their home winning streak.

Kiprusoff stopped 23 shots while Daymond Langkow, defenseman Roman Hamrlik and Jarome Iginla scored goals to lift the Flames to a 3-0 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes, their eighth straight home win.

The Calgary goaltender, who entered with the fourth-highest save percentage in the league at .928, registered his fourth shutout of the season and 21st of his career.

"I think our (defense) did a pretty good job tonight," Kiprusoff said. "We knew they have lots of speed and we did a good job matching that tonight. It was a strong, strong game for our defense tonight. Now we have to take this game and do it on the road so we can start getting points there, too."

The Flames play three of their next five on the road, starting with Thursday's contest against the Minnesota Wild.

Langkow gave the Flames a 1-0 lead just 28 seconds into the game when he jammed his own rebound past Carolina goaltender John Grahame. Iginla was credited with his 300th career assist on the play.

"Anytime you give up a goal that early, it gives them the momentum," Grahame said. "I kind of had it at first, but it's a shot you'd like to be able to cover up the rebound. It's always tough to give up a goal like that."

"We had a good start with (Langkow's) goal right off the start of the game, the first shift," Iginla said. "It was a big boost for all of us. We have a lot of respect for Carolina. We know how fast they are. We wanted to have a big push and Kipper made some big saves."

Iginla is one goal shy of reaching 300, which would also give him 600 points.

"I think about it a little bit, 300 goals," Iginla said. "I watched a lot of guys growing up and saw them hit three, four and five-hundred. I realize my points aren't as high as some of those other guys around the league, but I'm thankful for having played with some good players for 10 years. I would love to hit it."

Hamrlik upped Calgary's lead to 2-0 with 2:19 left in the first period, blasting a slap shot from the top of the faceoff circle over Grahame's glove.

"He (Hamrlik) made a nice shot," Grahame said. "It was just inside the post. Looking at it from my point of view, that's a shot I have to come up with. Calgary (is) not going to give up much, so you have to keep the score as close as you can."

Grahame recorded 29 saves for the Hurricanes, who went 0-for-4 on the power play. The Flames were blanked in three opportunities with the extra skater.

Iginla scored his 14th goal of the season with an empty-net tally with 1:29 left in the third period.

The Hurricanes, who mustered only 23 shots, continue their four-game western trip with Wednesday's contest at Edmonton.

"They're a good defensive team, we knew that," Carolina center Rod Brind'Amour said. "They've got a great defense back there, but we never got to our game."