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Stempniak nets hat trick as Flames burn Oilers

Jan 22, 2012 - 6:17 AM Edmonton, AB (Sports Network) - Lee Stempniak completed his second career hat trick and added an assist as the Calgary Flames thumped the Edmonton Oilers, 6-2, at Rexall Place.

Blake Comeau finished with a goal and two assists, while Jay Bouwmeester and Mikael Backlund also scored for the Flames, who have won two straight and five of their last seven. Miikka Kiprusoff made 21 saves in the victory.

"It feels great," Stempniak said of his four-point performance. "I was just the recipient of a couple good plays. It's nice to be on the receiving end of those."

Calgary has also won nine consecutive games and 18 of the last 21 matchups with the Oilers.

Ryan Smyth contributed a goal and an assist and Andy Sutton scored. Nikolai Khabibulin was tagged for four goals on just 16 shots and backup Devan Dubnyk gave up one goal on six shots in relief. Edmonton has lost three straight and eight of its last nine contests.

Calgary came out of the gate on fire, netting three goals in the opening 20 minutes. The first goal of the period came at the 6:48 mark as a result of some good work down low in the offensive zone. Two Flames went in on the forecheck down low and worked the puck out to Mark Giordano at the left point. The big defenseman fired a hard shot that was stopped by Khabibulin, but the rebound made it all the way out to Backlund, who ripped the twine from the right circle.

Goal number two of the period occurred off a neutral zone turnover that sent the Flames into the offensive zone on a 3-on-2 rush, led by Comeau. He stopped at the left circle and fired a hard slap shot into the net.

Stempniak picked up his first goal of the game with 1:08 left in the first when he accepted a nice drop pass from Bouwmeester and fired it into the net from the left circle.

The Flames kept the momentum going in the second period, striking again at 19:24 to make it 4-0. Stempniak jumped on a loose puck just inside the blue and had plenty of space to work his way to the right circle before pulling off a perfect curl-and-drag wrister that beat Khabibulin through the five hole.

Edmonton finally got on the board at 4:24 of the third period when Sutton blasted one past a screened Kiprusoff from the left circle to make it 4-1, but Bouwmeester answered with a power-play goal less than three minutes later to make it 5-1 on a well-placed point shot that just slipped over the line behind Dubnyk.

Smyth pulled the Oilers within 5-2 at 16:15 of the third period on a prefect deflection off a point shot from Jeff Petry, but Stempniak erased all hope of a comeback with an empty-netter at 17:55 to put the Oilers away.

"We tried, but we didn't try very smart," Oilers head coach Tom Renney said of his team's effort. "Calgary stayed disiplined and stayed within their structure and we needed to match that and play the way we need to play to have success. We didn't do that."

Game Notes

Calgary improved to a perfect 4-0 this season against the Oilers..The Flames improved to 15-0-3 when leading after two periods of play and 12-3-0 against Northwest Division opponents...Comeau snapped a 13-game goalless drought...Kiprusoff improved to 32-12-3 in his career against Edmonton...Edmonton failed to convert on two power play chances, while the Flames went 1-for-5 with the man advantage.