The Calgary Flames extended their winning ways over division rival Colorado Avalanche to nine games as they fought back in the third period to win their 13th game of the season 3-2. Penalties issues throughout the game for the visiting Avalanche proved to be the opportunity the Flames needed.

PHOTO CREDIT - CalgaryFlames.com

Calgary - December 9, 2011 - The Calgary Flames extended their winning ways over division rival Colorado Avalanche to nine games as they fought back in the third period to win their 13th game of the season 3-2. Penalties issues throughout the game for the visiting Avalanche proved to be the opportunity the Flames needed as the netted a pair of power play goals in the third period to get themselves back into the game.

It took a while for both teams to get settled as the first period flew by with neither team generating a whole lot offensively. Calgary did however do a good job on the defensive side of the puck which resulted in a few takeaways and shots on goal. Calgary came out hard in the second and maintained a good fore check for the entirety of the period, they were yet again very aggressive in the neutral zone and their puck pursuit was excellent. But as per usual, one break down cost the team as the exceptional skill of youngster Matt Duchene was put on display. After losing the puck once entering the offensive zone, Duchene was able to track the play around the boards and create a turnover that spilt out into the middle of the slot. Quick to jump on the loose puck, Duchene found himself untouched as he fired off a very fast and accurate wrist shot that found its way past a screened Miikka Kiprusoff. After two relatively solid periods of play, the home team found themselves trailing by one. With that being said they did a great job a controlling the pace of the game as they managed to outshoot the Avalanche by a 25-9 margin after 40 minutes of play.

Reversing the roles of the second period saw the Colorado Avalanche take the momentum of the game early in the third period. The lead was almost pushed to two when Ryan O’Reilly fought his way off of the side boards and into the slot before ringing a shot that hit the crossbar. Calgary native TJ Galiardi took a careless double minor penalty after high sticking Mikael Backlund at the 4:35 of the final frame. This marked the second four minute power play opportunity for the Flames in the game, and they took full advantage of it. Just fourteen seconds before the first half of the double minor expired Lee Stempniak blew a slapshot over the shoulder of former Flame goaltender J.S Giguere. With Galiardi still remaining in the box Curtis Glencross scored to give Calgary their first lead of the game. It did not take long however for Galiardi to redeem himself as just over two minutes later he broke into the zone before snapping a weak shot through the gaping legs of Kiprusoff. Despite the goal, Calgary continued pressing and they were rewarded when the top line pulled through when the team needed them the most. The trio successfully cleared their zone as Curtis Glencross cruised into the Avalanche end before dishing the biscuit off to Jarome Iginla, from there Iginla quickly threw a cross ice feed over to Jokinen as he snapped a shot over the hopeless body of Giguere.

That proved to be all the Flames needed as they shutdown the on coming attack of the Avalanche in the final minutes of the game. With the win Calgary passes Colorado in the standings and gets back to a .500 record on the season. Things appear to be turning around for this squad as they have earned a 5-1-1 record over the past seven games. A consistent effort on a night to night basis is paying dividends as they now find themselves just three points out of a playoff spot to this point in the season.