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Huselius, Iginla lead Flames past Rangers

Jan 3, 2008 - 6:27 AM CALGARY, Alberta (Ticker) -- Kristian Huselius and Jarome Iginla made the New York Rangers' first visit to Calgary in over five years an unsuccessful one.

Huselius scored a goal and set up three others and Iginla tallied twice as the Calgary Flames held on for a 4-3 triumph over the Rangers on Wednesday.

Craig Conroy added a pair of assists and Miikka Kiprusoff made 29 saves for the Flames, who have won three in a row at home for the first time this season.

With New York making its first visit since November 14, 2002, it took Calgary just 99 seconds to take the lead.

Conroy outmuscled the considerably larger Marek Malik in the right corner and got the puck to Huselius, who dished to defenseman Adrian Aucoin for a one-timer from the right point that sailed past goaltender Henrik Lundqvist for his seventh goal of the season.

The Flames cashed in on a power play 5:42 into the second period to double their lead.

After receiving a pass from Iginla in the right corner, blue-liner Dion Phaneuf returned the puck to the captain, who beat Lundqvist to the stick side with a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle for a 2-0 advantage.

"They're probably in the same boat as us where you don't really know each other's tendencies," Iginla said of New York's rare visit. "It makes you emphasize your own style of play."

New York halved the deficit with 3:25 to go in the middle session, as Scott Gomez made a cross-ice pass to defenseman Michal Rozsival, who one-timed the puck past Kiprusoff from above the left circle for his 10th tally.

Gomez's assist extended his points streak to 13 games.

Kiprusoff preserved the one-goal lead with several impressive saves late in the second, including stops on Marcel Hossa and Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr.

"You don't see him that often, but you read about him and see him on TV. He's a smart goalie," Jagr said. "I think the difference between him and other goalies is, he's thinking as a forward. He's thinking about what the forward would do - shoot the puck or pass the puck. He's always there.

"When guys have a 2-on-1, he knows what they are going to do. That's what makes him special. He looks so quick, but he's smart enough to read it. That's what the difference is."

Kiprusoff claims he just reacts to the play.

"I try not to think about the situation," he said. "Every game is so close, so you have to be able to make a couple of big (saves). I think those were the big ones tonight."

A tremendous individual effort by Huselius led to Iginla's second goal of the night and a 3-1 bulge less than seven minutes into the third.

After receiving the puck at the blue line, Huselius skated around both rookie defenseman Marc Staal and Gomez. Without a stick, Rozsival slid past Huselius in a futile attempt to break up the play, and the Swede fed Iginla, who was alone at the right goalpost for an easy tap-in at 6:51 for his 29th tally.

"It kept looking like he was going to get checked, but he spun around and, before you know, we were both sitting in front of the net," Iginla said. "I was hoping he would pass it over, but it would have been understandable after putting in all that work if he tried to put it in himself. It was a generous play, a great play by him."

"It's tough to explain," Huselius said of his effort. "I just tried to get to the net and it opened up. I saw Iggy on the far post, and it's not a hard pass to make."

It capped the seventh multi-goal effort of the season for Iginla and second in three games. The two-time Maurice Richard Trophy winner, who has five goals in his last four contests, also tallied twice in a 5-3 victory over Anaheim on Saturday.

Brandon Dubinsky drew the Rangers within 3-2 with 4:07 remaining, but Huselius restored the Flames' two-goal cushion with a bad-angle goal from the left side of the net less than two minutes later.

"From that angle, he shouldn't score, obviously," Lundqvist said. "Just a bad mistake."

The tally capped a four-point night for Huselius, who has recorded five points twice this season.

"You can't think too much out there. It's instinct," he said. "You just have to do what feels right and react, and then good things will happen."

Huselius, who has 43 points this campaign, continues to amaze his teammates and coach.

"He just keeps getting better and better, and it's awesome to watch him out there," Iginla said. "It's even better to play with him when he's out there and gives you a one-foot open net."

"Kristian's skill level really surfaced at an opportune time for us tonight," Calgary coach Mike Keenan added. "He was quick in finding holes and he has always had a quick stick. ... I think that he is a player that worked through some confidence issues earlier. He started well, had a little bit of a slump, and probably most players do, and dealt with it. I think Jarome came to his aid at a certain level to get him back on track."

Brendan Shanahan extended his goal-scoring streak to three games with 16 seconds to go.

Jagr had two assists and Lundqvist stopped 18 shots for New York, which had its three-game winning streak snapped.

"Some little mistakes that turned into some big problems for us," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "Some coverage issues on a couple of them. Just a couple of brain cramps here and there cost us the game. ... At the end of the day, with all due respect to our opponents, we kind of beat ourselves."