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For Pete's sake: Flames pound Avalanche

Feb 15, 2011 - 6:24 AM Denver, CO (Sports Network) - The news of Peter Forsberg's sudden retirement wound up sounding sweet to the Calgary Flames.

Hours after the 37-year-old Swede cut short his second comeback after only two games and announced his departure from the NHL after 14 often injury- interrupted seasons, Calgary exploded for five goals in the first period en route to a 9-1 victory over Colorado at Pepsi Center.

Olli Jokinen tied a franchise record with a goal and three assists in the opening 20 minutes but departed with an apparent knee injury for the Flames, who ended a two-game losing streak with their most decisive win of the year.

"We did not feel that we played well in Vancouver. We needed this win and to have good start," Jokinen admitted. "It was not about them playing so bad, it was also as close to a complete game for us as we've ever had."

David Moss notched a career-high four points on a goal and three helpers, while Jarome Iginla and Curtis Glencross each tallied twice for the visitors, who hit the nine-goal mark for the first time since a 9-6 win at Tampa Bay on December 13, 2007.

Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 17-of-18 shots before giving way to Henrik Karlsson for the final 6:36 as Calgary notched a season-high for goals in one game.

Daniel Winnik managed to find the net for the Avalanche, who stumbled to their eighth straight defeat -- longest for the franchise since arriving in Denver for the 1995-96 season.

Neither starter Peter Budaj nor Craig Anderson provided much resistance, with the former tagged for five goals on 18 shots and the latter dented for four goals on 15.

Forsberg -- who played in Colorado from 1995-04, then in two brief spurts at the end of the 2007-08 season and again this past weekend -- concluded his career with 249 goals and 885 points in 708 games. He was a key factor in the Avalanche's two Stanley Cup wins in 1996 and 2001.

The club announced that he will have his jersey number 21 retired at some point next season, but that provided little comfort for a team that finds itself in 14th place in the Western Conference and 10 points out of a playoff spot.

"It was a bad performance, period. All those goals were mental breakdowns," offered Avs forward Paul Stastny. "It's not that they were better than us. It is our job in this locker room that we do not quit. People pay to see us play, and we owe it to them."

Moss opened the scoring at the 18-second mark by tipping in Robyn Regehr's point drive, then Anton Babchuk's blast from the bottom of the left circle on the power play less than six minutes in put the visitors up by two.

Iginla upped the margin to three at 11:14 thanks to a pass from Rene Bourque, then Glencross made it 4-0 just 1:27 later on a redirection of a Jokinen dish.

Jokinen capped the burst as the clock ticked under three minutes remaining in the opening period on a backhander from the high slot.

"We simply got outplayed. We just gotta play harder. They were obviously playing well," was all that Colorado defenseman John-Michael Liles had to say about the surprising home loss.

The Flames opened the second period with a five-minute advantage after Avs forward Philippe Dupuis was given a major and game misconduct for kneeing as the first period expired but failed to score.

Colorado finally hit the scoreboard with 8:51 left in the second, when Kevin Porter's right-circle shot deflected off Winnik's skate and veered in.

Alex Tanguay banked a shot off Anderson from behind the net to give the Flames a 6-1 lead only 40 seconds into the third, then Glencross provided a six-goal edge on a top-shelf wrister at 2:57.

Iginla stretched the advantage to 8-1 at 9:16, then Matt Stajan registered a short-handed score with 1:05 remaining to cap the rout.

"We can't afford to give any games away, and it was really good to get this one," Moss said. "They were probably a little flat early. Once we got those goals, we knew it would be hard for them to come back."

Game Notes

Calgary poured in five goals in the opening period for the first time since October 12, 2009, a 6-5 OT loss at Chicago...Jokinen was the first Flame to have four points in the first period since Al MacInnis did so against Edmonton on March 28, 1991 (1G, 3A)...Forsberg added 64 goals and 171 points in 151 playoff contests...He was the 1995 Calder Trophy winner as the NHL's top rookie, and earned the Hart Trophy as the league's top player in 2003, also winning the Art Ross Trophy with 106 points...Forsberg won a pair of Olympic gold medals with Sweden (1994, 2006)...Flames defenseman Tim Jackman left the game in the second period and did not return with a lower-body injury that appeared to be a leg...Avalanche forward Matt Duchene left the game after two periods with an apparent left-arm injury and did not return...Colorado defenseman Cameron Gaunce left the game with a lower-body injury in the third period after blocking a shot and did not return...The franchise's last eight- game losing skid occurred from January 2-23, 1992 when it was located in Quebec City.