Calgary Flames Rene Bourque (L) and Jarome Iginla celebrate Bourque's goal against the Anaheim Ducks during the second period of their NHL hockey game in Calgary, Alberta, March 23, 2010.JACK CUSANO
Rene Bourque scored the game-winning goal on a breakaway late in the second period to lead the Calgary Flames to a 3-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.
With the win, the Flames (37-27-9) pulled to within two points of the Detroit Red Wings (36-23-13) for eighth place in the Western Conference.
Nigel Dawes and Niklas Hagman also scored for the Flames, while captain Jarome Iginla and defenceman Jay Bouwmeester chipped in with a pair of assists each.
Scott Niedermayer scored the lone goal of the game for the Ducks (34-30-8), who are nine points out of a playoff spot with just 10 games remaining on their season.
Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 22 of 23 shots to record his 32nd win of the season, while Jonas Hiller made 25 saves for Anaheim.
With Daymond Langkow out of the lineup with a neck injury sustained Sunday at Minnesota, the Flames called up forward Brett Sutter from the Abbotsford Heat of the American Hockey League.
It didn't take lone for Sutter to make an impact when he dropped the gloves and fought Anaheim defenceman Brett Festerling two minutes into the first period. Sutter knocked Festerling to the ice with a hard punch much to the delight of the 19,289 fans in attendance at the Pengrowth Saddledome.
The Flames took a 1-0 lead on a fluky goal by Dawes during a Calgary power play at 15:11 of the first period. With Dawes driving to the slot, Steve Staois let go a shot from the point that hit the Calgary forward and bounced into the net behind Hiller.
Anaheim tied the game at 14:27 of the second period when Niedermayer's point shot found its way into the top corner behind Kiprusoff, who was screened by Anaheim forward Todd Marchant on the play.
With 1:35 left in the second, Bourque scored his 23rd goal of the season when he broke in alone on Hiller and put a wrist shot through the legs of the Anaheim netminder. Iginla set up the breakaway by stealing the puck from Anaheim forward Corey Perry at his own blue-line and chipping it ahead to Bourque.
Hagman added an insurance marker early in the third period when he converted a feed from Iginla for his first goal in 13 games and only his second in 18 games as a Flame since being acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in a seven-player deal on Jan. 31.
Notes: The Flames now have a 30-1-3 record when leading after two periods and a 29-11-6 record when scoring the first goal of the game this season. ... The Ducks have compiled a 18-11-1 record in their last 30 games dating back to Jan. 5 ... Hiller has started 18 consecutive games and 29 of the past 30 contests for the Ducks.