Eurolanche

Flames shut out Avalanche

Karri Ramo made 26 saves for his first shutout of the season in the Calgary Flames' 4-0 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center on Saturday.

"[Shutouts] are always nice, but it's something that shows your team played really well," said Ramo, who has five in his NHL career. "We played the full 60 minutes really well. Main thing is always to win the game, but these are nice, and it's good to get the one out of the way."

Avalanche right wing Jarome Iginla is concerned that his bid for his 600th NHL goal has become a distraction. He's gone three games without one since scoring his 599th on Dec. 27 against the Arizona Coyotes, and there have been times when teammates have passed up good chances to feed him.

"Well, I hope not," said Iginla, whose only shot on goal Saturday came at 2:34 of the third period. "Once the game starts, we play. It's not like there's one game left in the year and we've already made the playoffs or anything like that. I don't want guys ... we talk about it, it's not to look for me. I want us to play normal; if anything, use me as a decoy. There's a lot of time to get that [goal]."

The Flames (18-18-2) were outscored 5-1 in losing two straight games, each with Ramo in goal, before Saturday.

"We decided to roll with one goalie and the schedule is good to us that way," Flames coach Bob Hartley said. "Karri's taking advantage of it. He made some big saves. It's a good team shutout."

The Flames seized control with three goals in the second period to build a 4-0 lead and chase goalie Semyon Varlamov. Calvin Pickard replaced Varlamov at 13:07 when Mikael Backlund put in the rebound of Micheal Ferland's shot after a giveaway by defenseman Tyson Barrie.

Varlamov, who faced 19 shots, has allowed 16 goals during a four-game losing streak (0-2-2).

The Avalanche (18-18-3) continue to struggle at home, where they're 6-9-3. They trail the Nashville Predators by six points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

Josh Jooris gave the Flames a 2-0 lead at 8:18 of the second period when he tipped Mark Giordano's wrist shot from the left point into the net. Jooris was a healthy scratch in the four previous games.

"He didn't play for quite a bit of time, and every day at practice I'm watching him, he's got a great attitude, he's working hard, he's stayed in shape, and look at the game he gave us," Hartley said. "That's the kind of game Josh Jooris can play very well in. He played with lots of energy, was on the puck, gave us a big goal."

Matt Stajan increased the lead to 3-0 at 10:47 after Dennis Wideman took a shot from the right point after getting a pass from Jooris. Stajan was between the faceoff circles when he deflected the puck past Varlamov.

"To represent the lineup, it's the coach's decision," Jooris said. "You have to take every decision in stride and stay positive. Whenever I get a chance to get back in, you want to make a statement. I felt really good in the game tonight. Our line was good."

The Flames took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a power-play goal by Dougie Hamilton at 7:57. After Varlamov made a save, the rebound caromed into the left faceoff circle, where Colorado's Gabriel Landeskog turned it over. Hamilton shot the puck between the goalie's legs.

"We scored the first goal on the road," Hartley said. "It was so important we took the crowd away. That was part of our plan."

It was the first time in a 12-game stretch that the Avalanche didn't score first.

Hamilton's goal came with Avalanche center John Mitchell off for slashing Lance Bouma, a penalty that came 26 seconds after Colorado finished killing off Mitchell's penalty for interfering with Giordano.

Colorado's Alex Tanguay was in position to get off a good shot during a power play at 9:01, but he tried to make a pass to Iginla, and it didn't work out.

"I guess we focused more on seeing Iggy score that 600th instead of playing our game," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. "We had a few good chances and we tried to pass the puck to him instead of bringing it to the net. An example, Tanguay's all alone in front of the net and he's trying a little play to Iggy. We're going to have to refocus. It's not that I don't want to see Iggy scoring his 600th, but we need to play our games here. Our focus was not as good. Is it because of it? I don't know."

Flames forward Jiri Hudler left the game in the second period with a lower-body injury and didn't return.

-- by Rick Sadowski for NHL.com --

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Actual Lineup

Colorado Avalanche lineup from this game