Jarome Iginla recorded his second hat trick of the season, as the Calgary Flames handled the Minnesota Wild, 5-2, in a battle between Northwest Division foes at the XCel Energy Center.
Iginla also dished out an assist for the Flames, who have won two in a row and three of four overall. Rene Bourque had a goal and three assists, while Mark Giordano had a goal and an assist for the victors.
"I was just shooting as hard as I could," Iginla said of his two power play goals.
Vesa Toskala made his Calgary debut, stopping 27 shots in the start. In a deal before this past Wednesday's trade deadline, the Flames acquired Toskala from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for goaltender Curtis McElhinney.
Guillaume Latendresse scored both goals for the Wild, who have dropped two straight and four of six overall. Niklas Backstrom made only 19 saves in the setback.
Ahead 3-2, Iginla lit the lamp on the power play at the 13:45 mark of the third to give Calgary a two-goal margin. Iginla's one-timer following a faceoff found the top right portion of the net.
Iginla completed the hat trick and sealed the victory with an empty-net goal with 1:33 to go.
The Flames drew first blood just 19 seconds into the first period. Steve Staios' slapper from the right point was tipped into the net by Bourque. The score was 2-0 after Giordano scored on a wrister at the 2:44 mark.
Minnesota got a goal back at the 9:53 mark of the second. Martin Havlat controlled the puck along the right boards and slid a pass in front for Latendresse, whose backhander beat Toskala.
Iginla's slapper on the power play with 6:49 remaining put the Flames up 3-1. But the Wild got the goal back on Latendresse's power-play score with 4:28 left. Brent Burns hit a streaking Latendresse with a perfect pass, and the forward completed the play with a big slap shot.
"I thought we had some breakdowns where we gave them some chances," Wild coach Todd Richards said. "We were already chasing right there, 19 seconds into the game."
Game Notes
The Flames went 2-for-5 on the power play, while the Wild went 1-for-4 with the man advantage...Minnesota leads the season series with Calgary, 3-1...Iginla has 10 hat tricks in his career.