CALGARY, Alberta – Jarome Iginla scored twice and Miikka Kiprusoff made 21 saves and the Calgary Flames continued their domination of provincial rival Edmonton with a 3-0 win over the Oilers on Saturday.
It was Calgary's eighth straight win against Edmonton and 15th victory in the past 16 games. The Flames have also been unbeatable against the Oilers at home with 10 consecutive wins at the Saddledome.
Tom Kostopoulos added a power-play goal for Calgary (14-13-2), which is 6-1-1 in its past eight and moved within one point of the Oilers in the Western Conference.
Edmonton (14-13-3), winners of just two of its past eight, is off for the next four days before starting a short two-game road trip in Phoenix on Thursday.
The game was scoreless for the first half of the game when the Flames put out their fourth line for the final 5 seconds of a power play and a faceoff deep in the Edmonton end. It took them only 4 seconds to score.
Matt Stajan cleanly beat Anton Lander on the draw, pulling the puck back to Derek Smith. The Flames defenseman sent a shot that goaltender Devan Dubnyk stopped, but Kostopoulos was right there to swat in the rebound.
The goal came with Edmonton's Sam Gagner in the penalty box for a slash on Kostopoulos that prematurely ended an Oilers' 4-minute power play.
Calgary surged in front 2-0 with 16 seconds left in the second.
With the teams skating four-on-four and Calgary on the attack, Iginla was able to work himself free in the high slot, took a pass from Brendan Morrison and sent a one-timer into the top corner over the blocker of Dubnyk.
It was the 10th goal of the season for Iginla, who assumed the team lead in that category for the first time this season. Morrison continues to make an impact since his return to the lineup.
After being a healthy scratch for five games in a row, Morrison has seven points (two goals, five assists) in the past three games.
Kiprusoff earned his second shutout of the season and 42nd of his career.
Only tested 12 times through the first two periods, the most dangerous chance Kiprusoff faced over the first two periods was the result of his own misplay.
Late in the first period, Kiprusoff accidentally cleared the puck right onto the stick of Ryan Jones in front of the net. Jones let a quick shot go, but Kiprusoff threw out his left arm and nonchalantly grabbed the 20-footer with his glove.
An even better scoring chance came earlier in the period when Shawn Horcoff was set up by Ryan Smyth on a 2-on-1, but with the open side of the net in front of him Horcoff shot wide.
Part of the Flames' success was their ability to shut down the Oilers' high-flying top line of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle and Gagner — playing left wing in place of injured Taylor Hall.
Nugent-Hopkins and Eberle entered the night with eight points each during six-game points streaks. Gagner had six points in his past four games.
The three of them have been especially potent on the man advantage with Nugent-Hopkins second in the NHL in power-play points (15). Calgary was 4 for 4 on the penalty kill, including the killing off a key four-minute double minor for high-sticking to Olli Jokinen in the second period with the game scoreless.
That successful penalty kill was followed up shortly after by the night's first goal by Kostopoulos.
Notes: Calgary LW Alex Tanguay (flu) did not play. Recalled from Abbotsford (AHL) to take his place was Flames 2008 first round pick Greg Nemisz. ... Edmonton D Andy Sutton served the second game of an eight-game suspension, which was handed down by the NHL prior to the game for his hit Wednesday night on Carolina's Alex Ponikarovsky. ... Of Nugent-Hopkins' 32 points, only eight (five goals, three assists) have come in the Oilers 14 road games. ... It is the second time the Oilers have been shut out this season, having all been blanked in Detroit on Nov. 11. ... Edmonton LW Taylor Hall (shoulder) missed his seventh game. He is practicing with the team though and expected back soon.
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