Flames 7, Avalanche 3

DENVER (AP) -The Calgary Flames had trouble with Colorado's power play.

Then again, so did the Avalanche.

Calgary gave up three power-play goals but scored two short-handed goals as the Flames had a season-high offensive output in a 7-3 win over Colorado on Thursday night.

Daymond Langkow had two goals and two assists as the Flames won their fourth game in a row.
"I can't remember a game like that," said Langkow, who tied a career high with four points. "Those short-handed goals made it a weird game."

Calgary's scoring spree also ended the night of Colorado goalie Peter Budaj early. The Avalanche pulled Budaj at the 12:05 mark of the second period after he gave up his fifth goal of the game on 17 shots.

Jose Theodore, who was booed as he skated on, gave up two goals on nine shots. Theodore hasn't played since being pulled on Dec. 27 against Dallas after giving up five goals.

"I don't think, starting with me, we competed as well," said Budaj, who was coming off a career-high 40 saves against Detroit on Tuesday before his meltdown.

The Flames broke the game open with three unanswered goals to begin the second period, including two by Langkow - his 17th and 18th goals of the season - within 1:51 of each other. The team scored a season-high four goals for a period in the second.

"The second period, that was the game there," Avs coach Joel Quenneville said. "Giving up the second short-handed goal was killer. You're not going to win giving up two short-handed goals; I don't care what happens. We gave up more odd-man breaks in the second period than we did in the last month. Our coverage was terrible."

Alex Tanguay, who was making his first appearance in the Pepsi Center against his old team, had two assists. He said there was no added pressure to perform, even with the crowd occasionally booing him.

"I was just trying to focus on the game," he said. "We won and that was what we wanted to do. The personal stuff for me I can't worry about too much."

Calgary's leading scorer Jarome Iginla missed his third game since spraining a ligament in his left knee against Florida on Jan. 4, but there was plenty of offense in his absence. Tony Amonte added a goal, Rhett Warrener had two assists and Kristian Huselius scored two goals and added an assist.

"Since Jarome's been out, I think guys realize that we need to pick it up," Langkow said. "Everybody did an incredible job."

Lost in all the offense was the play of goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, who finished with 27 saves. He's now 5-1 over his last six starts.

"I thought Miikka did a real good job of getting in front of them," Calgary coach Jim Playfair said.
Yet he wasn't totally satisfied with his team's play.

"I can see a lot of room for improvement for us," Playfair said.

Joe Sakic had three assists for the Avalanche and Paul Stastny and Marek Svatos scored power-play goals for Colorado in the first period. Andrew Brunette added another in the second period.
What the Avalanche will remember from this loss, though, is their power-play woes. It's the first time they've given up two short-handed goals since Oct. 18, 2003, at Edmonton.

"It's a disappointing loss," Sakic said. "It's unacceptable how we played."