Calgary, AB (Sports Network) - Miikka Kiprusoff stopped all 33 shots he faced for his 34th career shutout, as the Calgary Flames topped the Ottawa Senators, 2-0, at the Saddledome.
Kiprusoff Blanks Senators As Flames Remain In Playoff Position
Jamal Mayers and Chris Higgins scored for the Flames, who won their fourth consecutive game and continued their fight to gain a playoff berth. The Flames have been hovering around the final spot in the West and currently sit one point above Detroit for the eighth position.
Brian Elliott allowed two goals on 25 shots for the Senators, who fell to 1-3-1 since the resumption of play following the Olympics and remained two points behind the Buffalo Sabres in the race for the Northeast Division crown.
The Senators failed on all five of their power-play chances.
The Flames opened the scoring at the 5:29 mark of the first period. Curtis Glencross' strong forechecking effort on a dump-in allowed him to gain control of the puck along the rear boards. Glencross sent a quick pass into the lower right circle, where Mayers corralled the disc and beat Elliott with a wrister.
Midway through the first period, the Senators thought they tied the game, but the celebration was short-lived as referee Rob Martell waived his arms signaling the goal was no-good. Replays showed that Milan Michalek's stick was above the crossbar when it deflected the puck into the back of the cage after a shot from the right point.
Both goaltenders saved all 12 shots they faced in the scoreless second period.
In the early stages of the third stanza, Ottawa gained a power play when Mark Giordano was whistled for cross-checking. However, solid penalty killing by the Flames and the inability of the Sens to gain quality scoring chances kept the visitors without a goal.
Ottawa's Peter Regin was all alone atop the crease for a rebound chance with 12 minutes to go, but he hit the crossbar.
Soon after, Calgary moved ahead by two on Higgins' eighth goal. Ian White intercepted a pass in the neutral zone, skated across the blue line down the left-wing side and, from near the half-wall, sent a pass through the slot for a successful one-timer by Higgins from inside the right circle at 9:05.
In the final minutes, Daniel Alfredsson had a good look from above the right circle, but Kiprusoff was quicker with the glove.
The start of the game was delayed by 35 minutes due to a broken pane of glass which occurred during warmups...Despite the loss, the Sens have still won eight of their last 12 road games...Kiprusoff notched his fourth shutout of the season...The Flames were 0-for-3 on the power play.
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