Flames, Avs Cap Home-And-Home In Denver
(Sports Network) - The Calgary Flames had no trouble against the Colorado Avalanche at home this season. They will now try to carry that success into Denver tonight, as the two teams wrap a home-and-home set at the Pepsi Center.The Flames have won all three of their matchups against the Avalanche this year, outscoring them 12-5. All of those games took place in Calgary, meaning the Northwest Division rivals will battle three more times in Colorado this year. That stretch begins tonight after Calgary's 4-1 win on Tuesday gave the club its sixth win in its last eight versus the Avs. The Flames, though, have lost six of seven and eight of their last 10 visits to Colorado. After Colorado's Marek Svatos opened the game's scoring, the Flames netted the next four goals, getting one each from Adrian Aucoin, Rene Bourque, David Moss and Jarome Iginla. Aucoin and Mike Cammalleri both had assists, with Cammalleri now posting five points (1 goal, 4 assists) in three games versus the Avs this year. Miikka Kiprusoff made 22 saves, as Calgary won for just the third time in eight games since winning six in a row. Kiprusoff has been in net for all three wins against Colorado this year, posting a 1.67 goals against average. The Flames, who have lost four in a row on the road and are 3-6-0 as the visiting team this year, fired 51 shots on net, with Colorado's Peter Budaj making 47 saves, a career high. It marked Calgary's first 50-plus shot performance since unleashing 51 versus Pittsburgh on January 21, 1997. Budaj, meanwhile, made the third-most saves in a game since the franchise relocated to Denver. Only Patrick Roy has made more saves in a game in Colorado team history, stopping 51 shots on December 10, 1997 and 48 earlier that year on October 15. Though Budaj is 3-1-0 with a 1.45 GAA in his last four starts, he is now 0-3 with a 3.71 GAA versus the Flames this season. Colorado ended a three-game road trip through western Canada 2-1, doing so without Joe Sakic, who has missed the last three games due to a back strain. He remains day-to-day with the injury. In his first game since signing a five-year contract extension on Monday, Paul Stastny finished with zero points and was a minus-three versus Calgary. The Avs, who had a three-game winning streak end with Tuesday's loss, have dropped three of their last four at the Pepsi Center and are 4-4-0 as the host club this year.
Copyright 2008 Courtesy of The Sports Network.








