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Power play guides Flames past Avalanche

Mar 21, 2008 - 6:38 AM CALGARY, Alberta (Ticker) -- After a disappointing road trip, the Calgary Flames got back on track at home.

Daymond Langkow and Craig Conroy scored power-play goals in the first period and Miikka Kiprusoff made them stand as the Flames skated to a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.

Kiprusoff made 15 saves for Calgary (38-26-10), which remained tied with Vancouver (38-26-10) for sixth place in the Western Conference and second in the Northwest Division. The Canucks posted a 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.

"That type of game against that team, a team that we were tied with, to come out and have a strong effort like that should show the guys in this room we need to continue that in every game," Flames defenseman Robyn Regehr said. "I think we have all divisional games left."

Both Calgary and Vancouver are one point behind the division-leading Minnesota Wild (39-26-9).

"We're drawing penalties and our power play goes out there and scores both times," Calgary's Matthew Lombardi said. "It's huge for us. We're chasing Minnesota right now, and (the Avalanche), they're doing the same. It's a good start in the right direction."

Ben Guite tallied for the Avalanche, who maintained their four-point lead over Nashville (36-31-8) for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West thanks to the Predators' loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

"Tonight was one of those games in the offensive zone we didn't get the puck," Colorado coach Joel Quenneville said. "Tonight, it was pretty dry in generating scoring chances and making plays down in their end."

Calgary coach Mike Keenan was pleased with his team's defensive play, as it limited the Avalanche to just 16 shots.

"These are tough playoff games, as everyone has described, and when we can shut a team down - they've got some real high-end skilled players - it shows that we've got a real strong, committed defensive effort," Keenan said. "For playoff competition, that's what you need."

"We didn't generate a lot," Colorado captain Joe Sakic said. "They had those two power-play goals in the first period. We have to get at least one to match it. They deserved to win. ...

Coming off a 1-3-0 road trip, the Flames used their power play to gain a 2-0 lead in the opening period.

"We came back and obviously, people were disappointed in the city," Conroy said of the poor trek. "Nobody's more disappointed with that road trip than the guys in this room. We felt we had an opportunity here, and we took advantage tonight."

With Colorado defenseman Ruslan Salei in the penalty box for hooking, captain Jarome Iginla carried the puck to the net from the left side and attempted to stuff it past Jose Theodore. The goaltender made the save, but Langkow swept in the rebound while standing in the crease at 8:19 for his 28th goal of the season and a 1-0 edge.

The Flames cashed in on the man advantage again with 5:22 to go in the period.

All-Star blue-liner Dion Phaneuf unleashed a shot from the left point that was stopped by Theodore. The rebound bounced directly in front to Owen Nolan, who pulled the puck to his backhand but lost control, allowing Conroy to fire it in for his 12th goal.

"I was just lucky," Conroy said. "I went back to Robyn and Jarome and I talked about it. We have to get more traffic in front of the net and get some ugly goals. I went there and (Nolan) made a play, swiped at it and it was nice to see it go. It was all over the place, (but) I didn't even care. I was just so happy."

After a scoreless second period, Colorado halved the deficit less than six minutes into the third.

From along the left wing boards, defenseman Scott Hannan fired a shot that was denied by Kiprusoff. Guite got to the rebound on the left side and backhanded it past the Finn at 5:52 for his 10th of the season.

"I got caught behind the play a bit, so I guess that worked out for me," Guite said. "Hannan, he got a great shot on net and (Ryan) Smyth did a great job going to the net. He kind of took both defensemen and Kiprusoff at the same time trying to figure out where the puck was, and it just bounced right on my stick and into the net."

Theodore turned aside 26 shots for the Avalanche, who have lost three in a row.

"(Calgary) played a pretty solid game, but I don't think we did enough to help ourselves," Sakic said. "We didn't get on the forecheck well enough, make those plays behind the net."