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Glencross' two goals lift Blue Jackets over Flames

Dec 2, 2007 - 7:03 AM CALGARY, Alberta (Ticker) -- Rookie Curtis Glencross scored two goals, including the winner in overtime, to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 4-3 victory over the Calgary Flames on Saturday night.

Kris Beech had a goal and an assist and Fredrik Norrena made 33 saves for the Blue Jackets, who have won three of their last five games.

"We needed that win," Beech said. "We didn't play well for the whole game but found a way to win, which is what you need to do."

In the extra session, Beech hustled into the offensive zone and beat the defense to the puck. He sent a centering feed in front to Glencross, who fired a one-timer past goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff to give Columbus a rare road victory.

It was Glencross' fifth tally of the season and capped his first career multi-goal game.

"Scoring the game-winner is awesome," Glencross said. "It's one of my first overtime shifts all year."

Columbus took a 3-2 lead during a power play at 4:07 of the third period with a little help from the opposition. Beech attempted to make a cross-ice pass, but Calgary's Alex Tanguay got his stick on it and deflected it between the pads of Kiprusoff.

The Flames answered just 15 seconds later, when defenseman Adrian Aucoin launched a shot from the left point that hit the skate of Blue Jackets captain Adam Foote and went in to tie the game at 3-3.

Jarome Iginla picked up an assist on the play for his 700th career point.

"It's not something you think about tonight," Iginla said of reaching the milestone. "It doesn't feel good losing. As far as 700 points, I'm thankful for that.

"Every day in the NHL is a great time, believe me. I've played with a lot of really good players. Hopefully, I get a bunch more."

Norrena, who was starting in place of the injured Pascal Leclaire, registered his first victory since October 23. The Blue Jackets lost all seven game in which Norrena appeared during November.

"I think the biggest news is, our goaltender played terrific for us," Columbus' Michael Peca said. "It was good to see us get some goals and get him the win."

After Peca won a faceoff in the right circle, Nikolai Zherdev took a touch pass from Rick Nash and fired a quick wrist shot over the glove of Kiprusoff to give Columbus a 1-0 lead at 8:20 of the first period.

Glencross doubled the advantage with less than a minute left in the opening session. After receiving a centering feed from Sergei Fedorov, Glencross had his initial shot blocked by Kiprusoff.

But the netminder was unable to control the puck, and Glencross slapped it in with 50 seconds remaining.

The Flames look much better in the second period. They halved the deficit when Daymond Langkow deflected Aucoin's shot from the right point between the pads of Norrena at 9:05.

Iginla tied the game at 2-2 when his backhand shot beat Norrena with 4:43 left in the middle session.

Kiprusoff, who has been a Vezina Trophy canidate each of the past three seasons, stopped 22 of the 26 shots he faced on the night.

"If you want to say the team was a little bit in a lull, I say it was because the goaltending tonight wasn't as good as it should be," Calgary coach Mike Keenan said. "And the team expects more, and we didn't get it.

"Let's call a spade a spade - we should have better goaltending. Period. If we had, we'd be rewarded with the victory today."