• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Rejuvenated Flames host torrid Avalanche

Oct 28, 2008 - 1:31 PM Colorado (5-3-0) at Calgary (4-3-1), 9:30 pm EDT

CALGARY, Alberta (Ticker) -- After trudging through dismal starts to the 2008-09 campaign, the Colorado Avalanche and Calgary Flames have found ways to construct their own impressive winning streaks.

Captain Jarome Iginla and the Flames host the offensive-minded Avalanche in a battle of two rejuvenated Western Conference rivals on Tuesday.

Winners of three straight, the Flames have received an outburst of production from Iginla this past week. After being held to one goal over his first five games, the 31-year-old recorded a hat trick in the team's 5-3 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday and then posted a goal and two assists in a 4-1 win against the Phoenix Coyotes two nights later.

Already the franchise's all-time leading goal-scorer with 380, Iginla has 772 career points, needing 58 more to tie Theoren Fleury for first place in team history.

No stranger to offensive success, the Avalanche have scored at least four goals in five of their last six games and their 30 goals rank fourth in the NHL.

They extended their winning streak to five with a 2-1 shootout victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday and erased a three-game losing skid to start the season - something something the team hadn't done since starting 0-4-0 in 1998-99.

Before their torrid run, the Avalanche fell, 5-4, to the Flames on October 14.

Colorado netminder Peter Budaj was roughed up during the team's losing skid, but has thrived since. He has recorded three straight victories, while posting a 1.62 goals-against average during that span. Budaj is 3-1-0 with a 3.89 GAA in his last five games against the Flames.