After a terrible four game stretch to end the month of February, the Calgary Flames would begin March on a winning note as they stormed into Phoenix and beat the red hot Coyotes 3-2. Jarome Iginla led the way with a goal and an assist, while Miikka Kiprusoff made 29 saves in the win.

PHOTO CREDIT - CalgaryFlames.com

Calgary - March 2, 2012 - After a terrible four game stretch to end the month of February, the Calgary Flames would begin March on a winning note as they stormed into Phoenix to hand the Coyotes there first defeat in eleven games. Olli Jokinen would score the eventual game winner early in the first period as the Flames fought hard to stay in front of the hottest team in the NHL over the final two periods and just managed to do so edging out the Coyotes by a 3-2 margin on Thursday night.

Much like in the past four games, the Calgary Flames would open the scoring on the night when Mike Cammalleri netted his 15th goal of the season at the 14:09 mark of the first period after he converted on an Alex Tanguay pass that capped off a perfectly executed three way passing play. The opening marker of the game would undoubtedly spark the visiting Flames as they would go on to score another two goals in the next two and a half minutes of play. Both Curtis Glencross and Olli Jokinen would score their 20th goals of the season in that stretch of time to put an end to very solid road period. The only blemish of note would be the Flames inability to stay out of the penalty box as they were penalized four times in the opening frame alone.

As a late Mark Giordano tripping penalty would carry over into the second period, the Phoenix Coyotes would finally capitalize on the man advantage when rugged forward Raffi Torres would redirect his 10th goal of the season past a screened Miikka Kiprusoff. Seemingly following in the footsteps of a successful first period by Calgary, the Coyotes would cash in on the gigantic momentum change caused by their first goal as just over two minutes later Michael Rozsival would score his 1st goal of the season to snap a lengthy personal goalless drought of 41 games. After previously blowing multiple goal leads in the past four games, Brent Sutter would not take any chances and would burn his only timeout in attempt to settle his troops. This stoppage of play ultimately proved to help as the Flames showed some much needed signs of intensity. The suspect officiating would continue in the second period however as Calgary was penalized twice more in the second frame to bring their total to six penalties through forty minutes of play.

In what was a breath of fresh air to all Flames fans, Calgary would not fall back into a defensive shell on this night as they continued to push for offense in a tight one goal game. This strategy would prove effective as the Flames outshot Phoenix by a 14-9 total in the final stanza. One large mishap by the Flames defensive early in the period would lead to a Ray “the wizard” Whitney breakaway, but unlike last weekend in Calgary he was unable to beat Miikka Kiprusoff to tie the game at three. With the time passing by, the Phoenix Coyotes would be forced to pull there goaltender with just over one minute to play in regulation. A crucial face off victory by everybody’s favorite whipping boy Matt Stajan would set up the put away goal by Jarome Iginla into an empty net to secure a Flames victory on this night. With the win Calgary improves there overall record on the season to 29-24-11 and pulls them back to within two points of the 8th placed Dallas Stars who are sitting with 71 points. Continuing the positive news on this night was the return of right winger David Moss to the lineup after he missed a whopping 48 games due to a nagging ankle injury.

1. Jarome Iginla (1 goal, 1 Assist, 4 Shots, 5 Hits)
2. Miikka Kiprusoff (29 Saves, 0.935 SV%, 28th Win)
3. Matt Stajan (1 Assist, 3 Shots, Strong defensive effort)