Alex Tanguay and Jarome Iginla had third-period goals to pad Calgary's lead and help stop a three-game losing streak for the Flames with a 5-2 win on Sunday over the Minnesota Wild. Matt Giordano, Lee Stempniak and T.J. Brodie scored during a furious first period, and Mikka Kiprusoff steadied himself after the early barrage to make 19 saves for the Flames. He improved to 26-15-5 in his career against the Wild. Cal Clutterbuck and Nick Johnson had goals in those first 9 minutes for the Wild, but goalie Niklas Backstrom was pulled for Josh Harding after the Flames took a 3-2 lead. Backstrom was in the net for the first time in four games – he was tending to a personal matter this week – and was yanked from a home game for the first time in nearly two years. Senators 4, Hurricanes 3: At Ottawa, Jason Spezza scored twice, including his 200th regular-season goal, and David Runblad got his first NHL goal to lead Ottawa past Carolina. Spezza reached the milestone with his second goal of the game on a power play late in the first period. His first tally 55 seconds in ended a personal 11-game goal drought. Zack Smith also scored and Craig Anderson made 34 saves for Ottawa, which is on a 4-1-1 run. Eric Staal and Alexei Ponikarovsky scored in the third as Carolina twice closed to within one. Patrick Dwyer also had a goal for the Hurricanes and Cam Ward made 21 saves. Blues 2, Blue Jackets 1: At Columbus, Ohio, David Backes scored in the third period to lift St. Louis to the win over Columbus in coach Ken Hitchcock's first game against his former club. Kris Russell, who was traded from Columbus earlier in the month, also scored for St. Louis, which is 7-1-2 since Hitchcock replaced Davis Payne on Nov. 6. Brian Elliott made 23 saves for the Blues to improve to 10-1-0 this season. Derek Dorsett scored and Curtis Sanford made 27 saves for Columbus, which had its five-game points streak snapped. Maple Leafs 5, Ducks 2: Tyler Bozak scored two goals, Joffrey Lupul had two assists against his former Anaheim teammates, and Toronto beat the host Ducks for its fourth victory in five games.
