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Lightning begin tour of western Canada in Calgary

Dec 7, 2010 - 3:50 PM (Sports Network) - The Tampa Bay Lightning will begin a three-game tour of western Canada tonight, when they visit the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Tampa Bay figures to have a good shot at getting this swing off to a positive start tonight considering the recent series history. The Lightning have won four of five and six of the last eight regular-season meetings with the Flames and have also taken three straight in Calgary.

Of course, the Lightning also won their only playoff meeting against the Flames when they ousted Calgary in seven games to win the Stanley Cup in 2004.

The Lightning, who are 8-7-1 as the guest this year, will visit Edmonton on Friday before closing the road trip Saturday in Vancouver.

Tampa won a wild game Saturday against the visiting Colorado Avalanche as Simon Gagne and Martin St. Louis both registered a goal and two assists to help the Lightning outlast the Avs, 6-5.

Sean Bergenheim's tally at the 15:55 mark of the third period gave Tampa Bay a 6-3 lead, but the Avalanche recorded a pair of goals with the goaltender on the bench to make things interesting. However, Tampa was able to stop Colorado from scoring the equalizer in the final minute.

"Didn't like the ending," St. Louis said. "We have to rectify some mistakes, but I thought we did a lot of good things, too."

Ryan Malone scored a goal and set up another for the Lightning, while Dan Ellis made 19 saves in the win.

Meanwhile, the Flames have lost two of their last three games and are coming off Sunday's setback in Chicago. The Blackhawks scored four power-play goals en route to a 4-2 victory over Calgary.

Jarome Iginla and Anton Babchuk each netted a power-play goal for the Flames, while Miikka Kiprusoff took the loss after allowing three goals on 31 shots.

Calgary will hope to have a better showing tonight than it did in its last home game, a 7-2 loss to Vancouver on Wednesday. The Flames are 6-6-0 as the host this season.