Music: {allcanada} Calgary (17-18-3) at Edmonton (12-17-7)

Saturday, January 1, 2011

{allcanada} Calgary (17-18-3) at Edmonton (12-17-7)

Game info: 10:00 pm EST Sat Jan 1, 2011
TV: CBC

Neither the Calgary Flames nor Edmonton Oilers have played as well as they would've liked, but one team heads into the new year on a more positive note.

Calgary seeks its season-high fourth straight win Saturday night when it travels to Edmonton, where the Flames have won three of four.

Calgary's struggles led to the resignation of general manager Darryl Sutter, who stepped down last week amid pressure from the organization.

Jarome Iginla (notes) scored for the second straight game Friday as Calgary (17-18-3) held on for a 3-2 win against Colorado. After a slow start to the season, Iginla leads the Flames in goals (15) and points (34), and he's tied for the team lead in assists (19) with Alex Tanguay (notes).

The fourth line of Tom Kostopoulos (notes), Tim Jackman (notes) and David Moss (notes) continued their solid play, with each Kostopoulos and Jackman contributing a goal and an assist in the win.

"They played extremely well again," coach Brent Sutter said. "They have just carried on the way they have been playing and that was just two huge goals for us tonight. I was very pleased with their play. It's an energy line that works and competes hard and does it to the details. They play the way we want them to play and they were rewarded for it."

The victory gave Calgary its second three-game winning streak of the season, and the Flames seek their first four-game streak since March 5-11. To do so, they'll have to maintain their dominance against Edmonton, which they've beaten nine of the last 10. The teams met three times in October, with Calgary winning the last two.

Miikka Kiprusoff (notes), who made 19 saves against the Avalanche, is 7-1-0 with a 2.58 goals-against average in his last eight against the Oilers.

Edmonton (12-17-7) heads into 2011 having lost five straight and seven of eight.

Despite a 4-3 shootout loss Thursday against Colorado, the Oilers erased a 3-0 deficit in the second period. Coach Tom Renney was pleased with the effort, though he'd like to see that translate into victories.

"A game like tonight illuminates a lot of things," Renney said. "I'm hoping it illuminates what we are capable of in respect to our character and ability to push back."

Rookie Taylor Hall (notes) scored his 12th goal, which is second among first-year players behind San Jose forward Logan Couture's (notes) 18.

"I think it was really important for the young guys to just go out there and just do whatever we could do to help win the second period," Hall said. "I think there were two or three shifts there by our line that turned the game around for us."

It's unclear who will start in net Saturday, but Nikolai Khabibulin (notes) started the first three meetings against the Flames. He's 23-8-2 with two ties and a 2.26 GAA lifetime against Calgary.