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Nystrom helps Flames edge Wild

Dec 30, 2008 - 7:13 AM CALGARY, Alberta (Ticker) -- Lately, Eric Nystrom has not contributed offensively for the Calgary Flames. However, they can thank him for extending their winning streak on Monday.

Nystrom snapped a tie midway through the third period with a shorthanded goal to help the Flames win their third game in a row with a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild.

"That's a highlight reel goal for him and for our hockey club, and we're really happy for his contribution," Flames coach Mike Keenan said. "That's a huge goal for us, shorthanded. More importantly, he was applauded by his teammates. He's the type of player who is a good teammate.

"He works very hard, but has had limited offensive success for the effort he's put in. He was rewarded tonight for his efforts."

Daymond Langkow also tallied and Miikka Kiprusoff turned aside 23 shots as the Flames improved to 5-0-3 since a 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on December 8.

"It could have went either way, we had a lot of good chances," Langkow said. "(Kiprusoff) made some huge saves, especially in the third there. It's a battle every time we play these guys. It's usually a one-goal game and fortunately we came out on top tonight."

Stephane Veilleux scored and Eric Belanger and defenseman Martin Skoula notched assists for the Wild, who fell to 3-9-1 in December.

Starting for the first time in five games in place of Niklas Backstrom, Josh Harding made 27 saves for the Wild.

"The same story," Harding said. "We kind of leave ourselves in a hole late in the game. It's kind of frustrating, but we can take the positives out of the game and move on to the big game Wednesday (versus the Western Conference-leading San Jose Sharks)."

After a series of passes from Dustin Boyd and defenseman Adrian Aucoin, Nystrom beat Harding with a wrist shot after collecting a loose puck and skating in on a breakaway 8:56 into the third to give Calgary a lead it would not relinquish.

"I just saw the puck in the lane there," Nystrom said. "I had a full head of steam. Their defenseman was going to dive for it. Luckily, I broke free and got in and just made a move. It's just like an instinctive play. I came back to the bench and was like, 'Holy cow, I can't believe that just happened.' Sometimes you just get into the moment and that's what happened, and it ended up being a big goal."

It was Nystrom's first goal since November 1, a span of 25 games.

"It was a hard fought divisional game and it usually is against these guys," Nystrom said. "They played pretty good defensively and we didn't play our best game tonight, but we still found a way to get a couple of points and move ahead in the division - and that's our objective, to continue to move ahead."

Minnesota pulled even at 1-1 with 15 seconds left in the second when Veilleux converted a wrister from the low slot.

"The guys played really hard," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said. "I've got to give my boys credit. They worked all the way to the end. They made a couple of mistakes and they get the goals, but what can you do? What we wanted was to play more like a team and I think we did that tonight."

Langkow registered his 10th goal of the season with 2:01 remaining in the opening period to put Calgary on top.

"Bad bounces," Wild center Benoit Pouliot said. "I don't think there's any other way to explain it. Lately that's our problem. We play pretty good and we can't get the bounces. We score one or two a game and that's not enough. Our defensive game was solid and we played well offensively too.

"We put the puck on the net. Calgary's goalie was unreal again like he is usually. If we play like we played tonight, just put the puck in the net, I don't think there should be problems."

Minnesota star Marian Gaborik missed his second straight game after playing four in a row. The team is slowly working the two-time All-Star back into the lineup after a lower body injury sidelined him for 27 games.