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Tanguay, Iginla tally in shootout, Flames edge Wild

Mar 28, 2007 - 5:47 AM ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- Alex Tanguay showed his Calgary Flames teammates how it's done in the shootout.

Tanguay scored on the first attempt in the bonus format and goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff made it stand up as the Flames posted a 1-0 victory over the Minnesota Wild.

In a tense, taut contest, Kiprusoff stopped 38 shots while counterpart Niklas Backstrom made 24 saves in regulation and overtime.

"A 0-0 tie happened to me a couple of years ago, and we that lost time," Kiprusoff said. "It was nice to get a better result this time."

The 2006 Vezina Trophy winner, was particularly strong in net in the first two periods, knocking away 14 and 15 shots, respectively, for Calgary (41-25-10), which has won three straight games and leads Colorado (39-29-7) by seven points for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

"Miikka certainly was strong," Flames coach Jim Playfair said. "I thought they took a lot of shots and also had some great scoring chances that he was really strong with."

On the Flames' first chance in the shootout, Tanguay skated in and snapped the puck over the blocker of Backstrom to put Calgary up one.

"You just go in and hope for the best," Tanguay said. "The goalies were playing so great tonight that we didn't know if we were ever going to be able to get the puck by them. Fortunately for us, we were able to get a couple of shots by Backstrom. It was a good two points for us, we are in need of them right now."

After Kiprusoff stuffed the Wild's first attempt by Pavol Demitra, Flames captain Jarome Iginla skated in slowly and rifled a shot between the pads of Backstrom to put Calgary ahead by two.

"I was trying to go five-hole, and the puck kind of whipped up and went in a little weird, but I'll take it," Iginla said. "It definitely was a good break."

Kiprusoff then denied Brian Rolston to preserve the victory for the Flames, who snapped Minnesota's franchise-record nine-game winning streak.

The teams meet again here on Thursday.

"The positive is the intensity that we had," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said. "I just hope we play the same way on Thursday."

The Wild (45-24-8) dropped one point behind the Vancouver Canucks for first place in the Northwest Division. Vancouver defeated the Colorado Avalanche, 3-0, on Tuesday.