Music: {allcanada} Ottawa (17-29-8) at Calgary (27-21-7)

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

{allcanada} Ottawa (17-29-8) at Calgary (27-21-7)

Game info: 9:30 pm EST Wed Feb 9, 2011
TV: RSNE, RSNC

The Calgary Flames have spent more than three months clawing their way back into the playoff race in the Western Conference. The Ottawa Senators have dug themselves a deep hole in the East with 10 straight losses.

The two teams heading in opposite directions meet at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday night.

Calgary (27-21-7) had not been in playoff position in the West since Oct. 29, but its 13-3-4 surge has improved it from 14th to eighth. The Flames jumped into the last spot with a 3-1 victory over Chicago on Monday, moving to 7-0-1 in their last eight.

"It's a great accomplishment for us," said forward Curtis Glencross (notes), whose goal with 11:23 to play snapped a 1-all tie. "We put ourselves in a hole early in the year and we've bounced back. We've had some adversity and we've shown a lot of courage to come back."

The Flames will try to continue their offensive roll as they look to make the playoffs after missing out last season. They have scored 29 goals in the last eight games, with 16 coming from Glencross, Jarome Iginla (notes), Alex Tanguay (notes) and David Moss (notes).

Olli Jokinen (notes) and Brendan Morrison (notes) have been the playmakers during the run, with each recording six assists.

Miikka Kiprusoff (notes) has gone 6-0-1 with a 1.79 goals-against average during Calgary's point streak. He is 6-1-0 with a 2.23 GAA and two shutouts versus Ottawa, the second one of those coming March 10 with a 33-save effort in a 2-0 victory.

The Flames play seven of their next nine at the Saddledome, where they are 15-9-2.

Ottawa's losing streak reached 10 with a 4-2 defeat at Vancouver on Monday. In a stretch that defined the bad breaks of the skid, Jason Spezza (notes), Sergei Gonchar (notes) and Milan Michalek (notes) had shots hit the goal posts in the second period after the Senators (17-29-8) had pulled within 3-2.

"We've had enough close calls lately," said Spezza, who had a goal and an assist. "We're pretty disappointed. We've just got to figure out what we did well the second half of the game and bring that to our next game."

Ottawa has fallen to 14th in the conference. The Senators, whose longest losing streak was a 14-game skid from March 2-April 7, 1993, have dropped five straight on the road and 16 of 17 overall.

Moss scored two goals in a 2:23 span of the second period to lead Calgary to a 3-2 victory at Ottawa on Jan. 14. Henrik Karlsson (notes) made 33 saves for the Flames, who withstood a third-period rally by the Senators as Nick Foligno (notes) had a goal and an assist.

Calgary has won seven of eight between the teams, including the last four at home.