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Flames, Wild battle for first place in Northwest

Feb 24, 2008 - 3:36 PM Calgary (32-22-8) at Minnesota (34-22-5) 2:00 pm EST

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- The surging Calgary Flames aim to move into sole possession of first place when they visit the Northwest Division-leading Minnesota Wild on Sunday.

In an ultra-competitive division, the Flames are currently tied with Vancouver (32-22-8) and one point behind Minnesota for first place.

Alex Tanguay scored and Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 38 shots Friday to record his first shutout of the season as the Flames posted a third straight win, 1-0, over the league-leading Detroit Red Wings.

It was the first shutout in nearly a year for Kiprusoff, whose last blanking came against Minnesota on March 27. Kiprusoff stopped 23 shots in a 2-1 win over Minnesota on January 22 and has had great success against Minnesota.

A former Vezina Trophy winner, Kiprusoff is 17-5-1 with two ties and a 1.73 goals-against average in 25 career starts vs. the Wild.

Minnesota is looking to avoid losing a second straight for the first time since going 0-4-1 from October 24-November 1.

Leading scorer Marian Gaborik, who has five goals in his last seven games, will try to help the Wild solve Kiprusoff. He has nine goals and 26 points in 34 career games against the Flames.