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Langkow, Iginla lead Flames to rare road win

Mar 4, 2007 - 7:00 AM EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) -- Daymond Langkow and captain Jarome Iginla provided the outburst needed for a long-awaited road triumph by the Calgary Flames.

Langkow and Iginla scored in a 2:33 span of the third period and Kristian Huselius and Alex Tanguay has two assists apiece as the Flames posted a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

Calgary has struggled away from home this season, winning just eight times in 31 tries. However, the Flames notched their first road triumph in eight contests dating to January 20, when they recorded a 4-0 victory here.

"We came into this game knowing the importance," Iginla said. "We had a chance to distance ourselves from the ninth spot (in the West) and also move up and catch first in the division. It was pretty physical and we knew it would be."

"It's about us finding ways to win on the road," Flames coach Jim Playfair said. "That's the biggest thing. It's something that we have a lot of room for improvement in a lot of areas of our game, but coming out of this one tonight with two points to start our road trip is really important."

Langkow snapped a 2-2 tie at 1:56 of the final session by ripping a one-timer of Huselius' feed past goaltender Dwayne Roloson. It was his 27th tally of the season.

Iginla widened the margin moments later with his 31st goal - and third in four games - by slipping the puck between Roloson's pads from the right faceoff circle.

"It's important to build some confidence and get on a roll," Iginla said. "The last stretch is going to go quick. We know that, and it's time to solidify our playoff spot and keep moving up, but to also feel good about our road game, too."

Rookie David Moss opened the scoring for Calgary with his eighth goal and Stephane Yelle added his seventh tally later in the first period to give the Flames a 2-1 lead.

After a pair of shutout losses following Tuesday's trade of leading scorer Ryan Smyth to the New York Islanders, Edmonton came to life, thanks to Fernando Pisani's first multi-goal game of the season. His second tally of the night tied the contest at 2-2 midway through the second session.

"I thought we had some good jump," Pisani said. "We skated well and were physical. Those are the staples of our game. We've got to make sure we are doing that on a consistent basis."

"We're having a tough time winning hockey games, that much is obvious," Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said. "But I think we had more action around the net than we've had in about three or four games. That's something you want to accomplish against Calgary because you know they are coming hard."

Calgary (35-21-9) won its fourth consecutive game and defeated its provincial rival for the fifth time in seven meetings to move into a first-place tie with the idle Vancouver Canucks (37-22-5) in the Northwest Division, one point ahead of the Minnesota Wild (36-23-6).

Miikka Kiprusoff made 32 saves in raising his career record against Edmonton to 12-4-2.

"I think we kind of stuck with it and wore them down a bit," Flames defenseman Brad Stuart said. "I think it's been emotionally a tough time for them and for us to stick with it until they lost the emotion they had at the start, that was key for us."

Marc-Antoine Pouliot had a pair of assists and Roloson stopped 31 shots for the Oilers, who have dropped four in a row.

"It was a good game," Pouliot said. "We lost, so I can't be happy about that but my game is going better and better. I'm trying to find my best game and to play like I can play."

"It was important to get our legs going and skating and get physical, and to get back to the things we need to do well as a team," Pisani said. "I thought we played well. We just made some mistakes at some bad times."