Iginla's hat trick helps Flames beat Wild

Hockey Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - 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.

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.

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.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.