Calgary Flames Mike Cammalleri can’t help but look forward to his first NHL playoff game. The left winger helped Calgary move a step closer to locking up a postseason spot, scoring his 31st and 32nd goals of the season Friday night in the Flames’ 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild.
Miikka Kiprusoff made 15 saves, and Dion Phaneuf and Jamie Lundmark also scored for Calgary, which has won four straight and picked up points in nine games in a row (7-0-2). Wild defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron spoiled Kiprusoff’s shutout bid with 3:36 left.
Calgary opened the scoring with goals 20 seconds apart in the first minute of the second period. Jarome Iginla and Craig Conroy set up Cammalleri for his first goal of the game, and Phaneuf made it 2-0 with a slap shot at 37 seconds.
Cammalleri made it 3-0 with 5:21 left in the third with a power-play goal. Clinging to a playoff spot in the Western Conference, the Minnesota Wild remained in a four-way tie for seventh place.
Niklas Backstrom made 25 saves for Minnesota, 3-17-4 overall in Calgary and 1-13-2 in its last 16 game at the Saddledome.
The Minnesota Wild will face Edmonton, one of the teams they’re even with in the standings, on Saturday night in the second stop of their six-game trip.