Flames 3, Lightning 1
CALGARY, Alberta -- Goaltender Karri Ramo stopped 30 of 31 shots he faced to backstop the Calgary Flames to a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday.
Looking for his second straight shutout, Ramo gave up a late goal to Lightning center Steven Stamkos with just 1:39 left in the third period.
Despite that fact, the 29-year-old netminder established a career-high shutout sequence of 152:55, which is still short of the franchise record of 164:40 that Mike Vernon set in December of 1992.
Centers Matt Stajan and Lance Bouma and right winger David Jones scored for the Flames (19-18-2), who vaulted over three teams and into third place in the Pacific Division.
Goalie Ben Bishop made 21 saves for the Lightning (19-17-4).
Stajan scored to put the Flames up 1-0 at 3:56 of the first period when he backhanded a cross-crease pass from defenseman Mark Giordano past Bishop.
A short time later, Bishop had to be sharp to make a pad save on a point shot by defenseman Dennis Wideman.
At the other end of the ice, Ramo kicked out his right pad to stop a shot from in close off the stick of Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman
Despite the fact that Tampa Bay outshot Calgary 14-7 in the second period, the Flames took a 2-0 lead when Jones redirected a pass from Giordano into the top corner behind Bishop with 4:30 to play before the second intermission.
Ramo received some help to keep his shut-out string alive from defenseman TJ Brodie five minutes into the third period. Brodie cleared a loose puck off the goal line after Ramo made the initial save to stop a scoring attempt by Lightning forward Valtteri Filppula.
After Stamkos got the Lightning on the board, Bouma rounded out the scoring with an empty-net goal at 19:02 of the third period.
Lightning forward Ryan Callahan left the game late in the second period with a lower-body injury and did not return.
NOTES: Lightning C Tyler Johnson played in his 200th career NHL game. ... RW Jiri Hudler logged only 5:26 of ice time Saturday during Calgary's 4-0 road win over the Colorado Avalanche because of a lower-body injury that also kept him out Tuesday. He was replaced in the lineup by Mason Raymond, who plays both right and left wing. ... Calgary's other scratches were LW Brandon Bollig and D Deryk Engelland, while Tampa Bay scratched RW Erik Condra and D Matthew Carle. ... Linesman Mike Cvik, a Calgary native, worked his 1,868th and final NHL game Tuesday.