Flames 3, Red Wings 2: Steve Begin took advantage of a pair of turnovers to score twice in the third period as host Calgary completed a season sweep of Detroit.
Lee Stempniak also tallied and Miikka Kiprusoff turned aside 36 shots for the Flames, who have won four of their last six games overall and outscored the Red Wings by a 12-5 margin in the three-game season series.
Johan Franzen scored for the third straight contest, Gustav Nyquist also tallied and Jimmy Howard finished with 14 saves for Detroit, which fell to 1-2-2 in its last five games. The Red Wings dropped two points behind eighth-place Columbus, which skated to a 3-2 overtime victory over Anaheim on Wednesday.
Begin gave Calgary a 2-1 lead at 2:28 of the third period by tapping the puck off Howard's skate as Red Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson failed to cleanly play it on the exchange behind the net. Begin tallied again and doubled his season total after Howard fanned on his attempt to play the puck behind the net. Begin scored on an uncontested wraparound as Howard raised his stick in disgust.
Franzen trimmed the deficit with 2:42 remaining as his shot skidded past Kiprusoff, but the Red Wings failed to net the equalizer despite having a 6-on-4 advantage for the final 30 seconds.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Howard denied D Cory Sarich's shot from the right faceoff circle, but the puck caromed off Stempniak and into the net with 6:32 remaining in the first period. Nyquist answered at 12:31 of the second as he one-timed C Joakim Andersson's centering feed from the corner for his third goal - and second in six games. ... Calgary LW Sven Baertschi had an assist to extend his point streak to three games. ... The Flames skated to a 4-1 victory over the Red Wings on Feb. 5 and a 5-2 triumph on March 13.
Detroit | Calgary | |
Johan Franzen 1 | Points | Steve Begin 2 |
Johan Franzen 1 | Goals | Steve Begin 2 |
Joakim Andersson 1 | Assists | Sven Baertschi 1 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | Steve Begin 1 |
Jimmy Howard .824 | Save Percentage | Miikka Kiprusoff .947 |
Jimmy Howard 14 | Saves | Miikka Kiprusoff 36 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Detroit | 38 | 2 | 0-5 | 1-1 | 2 | 27 |
Calgary | 17 | 3 | 0-1 | 5-5 | 10 | 27 |