Final
Iginla nets 50th, fuels Flames past Canucks
Apr 6, 2008 - 6:30 AM VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- In what likely was Trevor Linden's swan song, Jarome Iginla reached a milestone.Iginla recorded his 50th goal of the season and added two assists as the Calgary Flames scored three times in the first period and cruised to a 7-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.
"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.
"It's also an honor, if that is Trevor's last game - to play against him and play in it."
Eric Nystrom had two goals and two assists while David Moss, Kristian Huselius, Dustin Boyd and Alex Tanguay also tallied for Calgary (42-30-10), which moved past idle Colorado (43-31-7) for sixth place in the Western Conference. The Avalanche finish their season on Sunday against the Northwest Division champion Minnesota Wild (44-28-9).
"Playoffs is obviously going to be another notch up, but it's good to go in rolling like this," Nystrom said. "We haven't been playing our best hockey, but for some guys, getting the puck in the net is always an added bonus."
Byron Ritchie scored the lone goal and Linden played in potentially the last game of his career for Vancouver, which went 1-7-0 over its last eight games of the season.
With Calgary owning a 5-1 advantage with 7:25 remaining, 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 50th 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 50-goal mark 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."
After Calgary built a 3-1 lead after one period to chase All-Star Roberto Luongo, Boyd upped the advantage to three goals - and temporarily denied Iginla his 50th in process.
Iginla wristed a shot from the slot that initially was stopped by Sanford, but the puck slowly trickled past the netminder and was headed for the goal line. Boyd alertly saw the puck, extended his body and tapped it into the vacant net with 4:48 remaining in the second for his seventh goal of the season.
"First of all, it's instinct," Iginla said of Boyd's goal. "When it's going there, and you see a puck that close, you obviously dive for it. Actually talking to him, he actually tipped it on the way to the net, so it would have been his either way."
Midway through the third period, Tanguay beat Sanford from the doorstep to give Calgary a 5-1 lead. Iginla was credited with his second assist, which gave him a career-high 97 points. He netted his milestone tally nearly three minutes later.
Linden received a loud ovation just before the start of the third period from the crowd at General Motors Place. After the game, the Flames remained on the ice to exchange handshakes with the 38-year-old Linden.
"I think it was a very classy thing to do," Linden said of Iginla's gesture to keep his team on the ice. "I think Jarome is one of the most classy players in the league. Not only that, he's probably the best player in the league. When you have a captain like that, it was certainly a very classy move on their part, no doubt."
Playing in his 19th NHL season and 16th with Vancouver, Linden holds the franchise record for games played (1,140) and is second in points (733) to captain Markus Naslund. He also is the Canucks' all-time leader in playoff goals (34), assists (61) and points (95).
"It's obvious how much he's loved in this city," said Naslund, who himself is an unrestricted free agent after this season. "It was great for him to have an evening. I wish we could have helped him out and make it a more fun evening (by) winning the game and getting him a goal or so.
"But it says a lot how much he's meant to this city and to this organization the way that the fans treated him."
Linden, who took an appreciative lap around the rink after being named the game's first star, has not publicly declared whether he will retire or return for his 20th campaign next season.
"At this point, I don't feel right talking about it," Linden said. "It's been a emotional week from a lot of standpoints. From having an opportunity to go to the playoffs to not getting there, at this point, I just need to take some time and reflect."
- NHL
FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
CALGARY 3 1 3 7
VANCOUVER 1 0 0 1 FINAL
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: CGY - DAVID MOSS 4 (ERIC NYSTROM) 1:33
VAN - BYRON RITCHIE 3 (RICK RYPIEN) 8:42
CGY - KRISTIAN HUSELIUS 25 (MATTHEW LOMBARDI, ROBYN REGEHR)
9:05
CGY - ERIC NYSTROM 2 (DAVID MOSS) 16:16
2ND PRD: CGY - DUSTIN BOYD 7 (J
Apr 6 12:18 AM - NHL
CALGARY 7
VANCOUVER 1
3RD PRD: CGY - ERIC NYSTROM 3 (WAYNE PRIMEAU) 18:18
Flames 7, Canucks 1 3rd - 1:42Apr 6 12:16 AM - NHL
CALGARY 6
VANCOUVER 1
3RD PRD: CGY - JAROME IGINLA 50 (ERIC NYSTROM, WAYNE PRIMEAU) 12:35
Flames 6, Canucks 1 3rd - 7:25Apr 6 12:07 AM - NHL
CALGARY 5
VANCOUVER 1
3RD PRD: CGY - ALEX TANGUAY 18 (DAYMOND LANGKOW, JAROME IGINLA) 9:43
Flames 5, Canucks 1 3rd - 10:17Apr 6 12:00 AM - NHL
END OF THE 2ND 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
CALGARY 3 1 4
VANCOUVER 1 0 1 END OF THE 2ND
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: CGY - DAVID MOSS 4 (ERIC NYSTROM) 1:33
VAN - BYRON RITCHIE 3 (RICK RYPIEN) 8:42
CGY - KRISTIAN HUSELIUS 25 (MATTHEW LOMBARDI, ROBYN REGEHR)
9:05
CGY - ERIC NYSTROM 2 (DAVID MOSS) 16:16
2ND PRD: CGY - DUS
Apr 5 11:28 PM - NHL
CALGARY 4
VANCOUVER 1
2ND PRD: CGY - DUSTIN BOYD 7 (JAROME IGINLA, DAVID HALE) 15:12
Flames 4, Canucks 1 2nd - 4:48Apr 5 11:21 PM - ------------------------
Calgary
3 --3
Vancouver 1 --1
------------------------
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Calgary, David Moss 4 (Eric Nystrom), 1:33.
2, Vancouver, Byron Ritchie 3 (Rick Rypien), 8:42. 3, Calgary,
Kristian Huselius 25 (Matthew Lombardi, Robyn Regehr), 9:05. 4,
Calgary, Eric Nystrom 2 (David Moss), 16:16. Penalties: J Vandermeer,
Cgy (interference), 2:16.
Shots on go
Apr 5 10:41 PM - NHL
CALGARY 3
VANCOUVER 1
1ST PRD: CGY - ERIC NYSTROM 2 (DAVID MOSS) 16:16
Flames 3, Canucks 1 1st - 3:44Apr 5 10:37 PM - NHL
CALGARY 2
VANCOUVER 1
1ST PRD: CGY - KRISTIAN HUSELIUS 25 (MATTHEW LOMBARDI, ROBYN REGEHR)
9:05
Flames 2, Canucks 1 1st - 10:55Apr 5 10:23 PM - NHL
CALGARY 1
VANCOUVER 1
1ST PRD: VAN - BYRON RITCHIE 3 (RICK RYPIEN) 8:42
Flames 1, Canucks 1 1st - 11:18Apr 5 10:23 PM - NHL
CALGARY 1
VANCOUVER 0
1ST PRD: CGY - DAVID MOSS 4 (ERIC NYSTROM) 1:33
Flames 1, Canucks 0 1st - 18:27Apr 5 10:13 PM
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