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Iginla hopes meeting with Predators ends drought

Nov 6, 2008 - 11:23 AM Nashville (6-5-1) at Calgary (7-5-1) 9:30 p.m. EST

CALGARY, Alberta (Ticker) -- A meeting with the Nashville Predators is exactly what Jarome Iginla needs to regain his scoring touch.

Iginla and the Calgary Flames look to avoid a third straight regulation loss when they host the Predators on Thursday.

The Flames' captain, Iginla leads the team with 14 points and eight assists while ranking second with six goals. However, five of his tallies came in a three-game span from October 21-25, and he has not tallied in the last five contests.

The 31-year-old right wing had his best game of the season against the Predators on October 23, scoring two goals in the third period to complete his eighth career hat trick and lift the Flames to a 5-3 victory. With that performance, Iginla pushed his career totals to 21 goals and 19 assists in 33 games against Nashville.

Iginla needs to increase his offense to help neutralize the Predators' attack. Nashville on Tuesday was held to under three goals for the first time since its season opener as it dropped a 4-0 decision to the Vancouver Canucks.