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Nolan's two goals help Flames break skid vs. Avalanche

Nov 21, 2007 - 6:27 AM CALGARY, Alberta (Ticker) -- Owen Nolan scored two goals to lead the Calgary Flames past the Colorado Avalanche, 4-1, on Tuesday.

The Flames, who had not defeated the Avalanche in seven straight games dating to February 17, held Colorado to a single goal by Marek Svatos at 1:54 in the second period.

"After letting two (games get away from us) earlier this year it's nice to finally get a win against these guys," Flames right wing David Moss said.

Only eight seconds after Svatos staked Colorado to a 1-0 lead, right wing Nolan fired a blast from the right faceoff dot past Colorado goaltender Jose Theodore to knot the game at 1-1.

Nolan's first goal was an opportunity Colorado goaltender Jose Theodore would like to have back.

"Obviously that's a shot that I have got to save," Theodore said. "I thought I had it in the glove and it just kind of trickled through."

The Flames took the lead for good at 9:04 of the second. Jarome Iginla took a centering pass from center Matthew Lombardi and fired a snap shot from the left hashmark past Theodore for a 2-1 advantage.

Moss and Nolan padded the lead in the final 20 minutes. The goal by Moss was his first of the season and gave the Flames a two-goal cushion with just over four minutes remaining in the game.

Nolan scored into an empty net for his fourth goal in six games after not finding the net in the first 15 games of the season.

"The opportunities were always there," Nolan said. "I don't think I'm doing anything different, the puck is just going in."

The offense was more than enough for Miikka Kiprusoff, who notched 20 saves for his ninth win of the season.

The Flames were successful in killing all five Colorado power-play opportunities. Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville suggested the team has to be better with the man advantage.

"The power play was the difference," Quenneville said. "Our five-on-five play was exactly what we're looking for."

Colorado, which had won the three previous meetings with Calgary this season, fell to 2-7 on the road and has lost three games in a row for the first time this season.

The loss was the fourth consecutive setback in which the Avalanche managed just one goal.