Flames 1, Predators 0

2011-12 Game No. 23; Home Game No. 11

Flames Record: 10-12-1

FULL HIGHLIGHTS ›KIPPER'S BIG STOP› GAME GALLERY ›THE FIVE TAKEAWAYS ›

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CALGARYFLAMES.COM 3 STARS

1st STAR MIIKKA KIPRUSOFF GOALTENDER - CGY SHOTS AGAINST: 26 | SAVES: 26 SAVE PERCENTAGE: 1.00 VIDEO ›

2nd STAR TJ BRODIE DEFENCE - CGY GOALS: 0 | ASST: 1 | SHOTS: 1 | +/-: +1 TOI: 18:14 | PIM: 0 VIDEO ›

3rd STAR BLAKE COMEAU LEFT WING - CGY GOALS: 0 | ASST: 0 | SHOTS: 1 | +/-: 0 TOI: 15:15 | HITS: 6 VIDEO ›

Which line were you most impressed with? Glencross, Jokinen, Iginla Tanguay, Horak, Bourque Comeau, Backlund, Stempniak Kostopoulos, Stajan, Jackman VOTE

CALGARY, AB -- Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 26 shots, earning his first shutout of the season, in the Calgary Flames 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.

Kiprusoff has recorded 41 shutouts in his career with 38 of those coming in a Flames jersey.

The netminder is now 18-10-2-2 in his career against Nashville.

"It’s a pretty nice feeling," said Kiprusoff afterwards. "Playing with that team, you know it’s going to be close. They have pretty good goalie there, so we know we have to play tight and try to use our chances."

Calgary's defence corps took quite the hit in the first period when Mark Giordano and Chris Butler sustained injuries.

Giordano was struck in the ankle with a puck while blocking a shot and tried valiently to make it back to the bench but fell to the ice after just a few strides.

Butler was hit in the face after a pass was deflected high. He immediately went to the locker room for repairs and was able to return in the second period.

Despite being short two men on the blueline, it was two defenceman that got the Flames on the board in the first frame.

Derek Smith opened the scoring at 18:50, converting an excellent pass from TJ Brodie. It was Smith's first NHL goal, making him the third member of the team to notch their first career tally this season.

‘"Rinne’s a tough goalie," said Smith . "You definitely got to take advantage. He’s one of the best goalies in the league. If he’s going to see it, he’s going to stop it."

Jarome Iginla also assisted on the goal, pushing his points total to 12. The Flames captain has points in three of his last four games.

Nashville nearly evened the score late in the third period when Blake Comeau was called for hooking at 14:46 but a few lucky bounces and some great saves from Kiprusoff preserved the win for the Flames.

"It was one of those games where we didn’t give up many chances, but when we did, Kipper was there to back us up," Smith stated. "He was our best player tonight."

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PHOTO OF THE GAME

BY THE NUMBERS

STAT OF THE NIGHT After resident shot-blocker Mark Giordano left the game with a lower body injury, Scott Hannan picked up the slack in that department. He threw his body in front of four shots which accounted for 1/3 of the Flames blocked shots. FLAMES LEADERS Icetime -- Bouwmeester (28:29) Shots -- Iginla, Jokinen (4) Hits -- Comeau (6) Blocks -- Hannan (4) Takeaways -- Horak (2) Faceoff Wins -- Tanguay (2, 100%)

TWEET OF THE NIGHT: @sampark7: @NHLFlames Wow alex tanguay is skilled. Did you see that move? Too bad rinne saved it or we would've been replaying that on all year

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FLAMES LINEUP VS. NASHVILLE
FORWARD LINES
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Curtis Glencross	Olli Jokinen	Jarome Iginla
Alex Tanguay	Roman Horak	Rene Bourque
Blake Comeau	Mikael Backlund	Lee Stempniak
Tom Kostopoulos	Matt Stajan	Tim Jackman

DEFENCE PAIRINGS
Left Defence	Right Defence
Scott Hannan	Mark Giordano
Jay Bouwmeester	Chris Butler
Derek Smith	TJ Brodie
Goaltenders: Miikka Kiprusoff, Henrik Karlsson Starting Lineup: Kiprusoff, Bouwmeester, Butler, Glencross, Jokinen, Iginla

POWERPLAY UNITS
FORWARD LINES
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Rene Bourque	Jarome Iginla	Lee Stempniak
Alex Tanguay	Olli Jokinen	Blake Comeau

POINT MEN
Left Point	Right Point
Mark Giordano	TJ Brodie

PENALTY KILL UNITS
FORWARD UNITS
Forward	Forward
Alex Tanguay	Curtis Glencross
Blake Comeau	Lee Stempniak

DEFENCE PAIRINGS
Left Defence	Right Defence
Scott Hannan	Mark Giordano
Jay Bouwmeester	Chris Butler