RALEIGH, N.C. – Dion Phaneuf scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period Friday night to lead the Calgary Flames past the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-3.
Jarome Iginla, Kristian Huselius and Dustin Boyd also scored for the Flames, who improved to 4-0 on their six-game road trip. Adrian Aucoin added two assists, while Miikka Kiprusoff finished with 33 saves.
Matt Cullen had a goal and two assists for the Hurricanes, who continued their recent slump despite outshooting Calgary 36-21.
The Flames came in with plenty of momentum after a strong start to their road trip, winning at Chicago and beating Florida in a shootout before cruising by Tampa Bay 9-6 on Thursday night. They added to it by never trailing against a Carolina team desperate to get a win.
The Hurricanes were in a foul mood after Wednesday’s 6-0 home loss to Ottawa, a performance that veteran defenseman Glen Wesley called “unacceptable” and “embarrassing.” And while they still lead the Southeast Division, they had lost six of nine entering Friday’s game.
Carolina seemed to carry much of the action and repeatedly got good scoring chances against Kiprusoff. But Kiprusoff stopped most of what came his way, while the Flames scored a couple of opportunistic goals off Carolina turnovers to get an early lead before heading into the final 8 minutes tied at 3-3.
That’s when Phaneuf came up with the winner, grabbing the puck when Matthew Lombardi won the faceoff and burying a low shot by Cam Ward for the lead at 11:48 of the third.
The Flames’ penalty kill then came up with a pair of big stops in the final 6 minutes, preventing Carolina from getting a shot on the first power play then holding the Hurricanes to just two shots on the second.
The Hurricanes didn’t help themselves with the man advantage, going 1-for-8 on the power play.
Notes: The Hurricanes played without RW Scott Walker, who was suspended one game for head-butting Ottawa’s Mike Fisher during a fight Wednesday night. … Wesley played his 1,412th career game, moving past Harry Howell into eighth place on the NHL’s all-time list of games played by a defenseman. … After Calgary got off the first three shots, the Hurricanes outshot the Flames 16-4 through the rest of the first period. … Iginla scored a goal for the third straight game.
AP-ES-12-14-07 2149EST
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