Flames Favored
Calgary, Alberta – The Calgary Flames enter December with their offense and their goaltender back on track.
The Flames hope to keep producing offensively in support of Miikka Kiprusoff as they go for a fourth straight win Tuesday in a home game against the Dallas Stars.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sports Interaction have made Calgary -155 money line favorites (NHL Odds) for today’s game, the over/under has been set at 5.5 goals (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 55% of bets for this game have been placed on Calgary -155 (View NHL Bet Percentages).
Thanks in part to coach Mike Keenan’s change on the main scoring line, Calgary (14-9-1) has netted 13 goals in winning its past three games. Before that streak, the Flames failed to score more than two goals in seven of 10 games, losing six.
Before Thursday’s start of a home-and-home series with Vancouver, Keenan put captain Jarome Iginla on the same line with Michael Cammalleri and Matthew Lombardi.
Cammalleri got his first career hat trick Thursday and Iginla assisted on two of those goals in a 4-3 win in Vancouver. In Saturday’s 3-1 home victory over the Canucks, Lombardi scored his second goal of the season off an Iginla feed with 1:22 left in the third period.
Iginla, the team leader with 12 goals and 29 points, comes into Tuesday’s game on a six-game point streak in which he has two goals and six assists.
Kiprusoff, who has started every Flames game but one, has gone 5-1-0 with a 1.84 goals-against average in his last six starts. That comes after a 2-4-0 stretch during which he had a 4.91 GAA.
It’s all part of an up-and-down season for the Flames goalie, who started 1-3-1 with a 4.37 GAA but rebounded with a six-game winning streak in which he had a 1.50 GAA.
Kiprusoff (14-8-1) has a 4-8-2 lifetime mark versus the Stars, but is 4-3-1 with a 1.99 GAA in his last eight starts against them.
The Flames have aided their goalie lately by killing off each of their opponents’ last 15 power plays.
"They’ve taken pride in that part of the game," Keenan said. "The people that are killing penalties have taken a lot of pride in their roles and worked very hard at getting better."
The Stars (8-11-4) broke an 0-for-21 streak on the power play Sunday in a 4-3 win over Edmonton. They went 2-for-5 with the man advantage and Mike Modano’s power-play goal with 2:21 to play was the game-winner.
"Finally, our power play was something to get excited about," said Modano, whose two points in that victory gave him 1,300 for his career. "It finally won us a game. It’s been a while. It’s been a real struggle at times."
The Stars wrapped up a 4-6-2 November after a 4-5-2 mark in October. They own the worst record in the Western Conference.
However, their offense seems to have gotten back on track, scoring 13 goals in the past four games after getting 12 in its previous six.
Loui Eriksson enters Tuesday on a five-game point streak, and Brad Richards’ run is at four. Eriksson, the team leader with 11 goals, has not scored in six meetings with the Flames. Richards, who leads the team with 21 points, has four goals and four assists in seven games against Calgary.
Dallas is hindered by its defense, one of the league’s worst at 3.65 goals allowed per game.
Marty Turco (7-10-4) has a career-worst 3.61 GAA and hasn’t won consecutive starts this season. He’s given up 15 goals in his last four starts.
Turco, however, is 9-4-1 with a 1.78 GAA in his last 14 meetings with Calgary.
The Stars have won 11 of the last 15 matchups with the Flames, but have gone 2-3-0 in their last five in Calgary.
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Posted: 12/2/08 11:25 PM ET
