by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor
Rene Bourque notched the winner in the shootout as Calgary nipped Philadelphia, 3-2, in the Flyers' semi-annual day-after-Thanksgiving matinee on South Broad Street.
After Mike Richards was unable to score on the backhand to start the third round, Bourque was able to beat Sergei Bobrovsky with a snapshot inside the left post to end the contest.
Curtis Glencross and Steve Staios scored in regulation for the Flames, who stopped a three-game losing streak. Miikka Kiprusoff made 34 stops for the win.
"They're really one of the top teams in the league and it was a big challenge for us," Kiprusoff said of the Flyers, who entered play tied with Washington for the best record in the NHL. "We talked about it before the game and we've been working pretty hard, but the last two games, we weren't able to get wins there. We have to keep pushing and play as a team and we woke up."
James van Riemsdyk and Nikolay Zherdev tallied for the Flyers, who saw their three-game win streak snapped. Bobrovsky made 28 saves in the loss.
"I think that we played a hungry hockey team. I think we're capable of playing better," said Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette. "I wouldn't say we stole a point. We didn't generate a whole lot offensively."
Philadelphia appeared to have won the game in overtime, but were short-changed by a questionable call.
Flames defenseman Mark Giordano was sent to the box for holding the stick with 2:17 left in the extra session, giving the Flyers a 4-on-3 advantage. A potential game-winning shot from Richards sailed under the crossbar with 1:35 left but was disallowed when backliner Chris Pronger, who screened Kiprusoff on the score but didn't touch the netminder, was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
"It doesn't really matter, does it. I'm not going to get into 'he said, she said' with the refs," said a visibly angry Pronger shortly after the game. "The puck went into the net. It (the call) was five seconds after the shot went in. I wasn't turned to him (Kiprusoff), waving my stick in his face."
Kiprusoff was then forced to make a diving stick save with just over a minute left, as Philly defenseman Kimmo Timonen had the open top portion of the net wide open, but shot low.
"Yeah, I got that save, their guy was pretty open and I found a way to get it," Kiprusoff noted of his game-saver. "Kimmo had a wide open net there but he took his time and I was able to just make a desperate save with my stick."
Following a scoreless first period, the Flyers got on the board at 3:09 of the second when Zherdev made a quick stick move in the slot and ripped a wrister by Kiprusoff from the edge of the right circle.
Glencross tied the game on a partial short-handed breakaway with 6:44 left in the second, scoring on a backhand with Richards draped on his back.
However, van Riemsdyk was on the doorstep to convert a Richards feed 1:45 later and the home team led 2-1.
Calgary knotted the game with 7:09 played in the third period as Staios' quick shot off a dish from Alex Tanguay fooled Bobrovsky.
Notes: Calgary has won four of the last five games at Philadelphia since March, 2002...Van Riemsdyk tied his career best with goals in three straight games, first accomplished from November 12-18, 2009...Flames forward Olli Jokinen played in his 900th NHL contest...Calgary defenseman Jay Bouwmeester extended his NHL-best consecutive-games streak to 446.
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