A four point effort by Curtis Glencross led the Calgary Flames to an exciting 6-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils Tuesday night in Calgary. A strong first period of play by the home club proved to be all they needed in order to hold off a strong push back by the visitors in the latter periods of the game, as Calgary earned their seventh consecutive win on home ice.

PHOTO CREDIT - CalgaryFlames.com

Calgary - January 11, 2012 - A four point effort by Curtis Glencross led the Calgary Flames to an exciting 6-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils Tuesday night in Calgary. A strong first period of play by the home club proved to be all they needed in order to hold off a strong push back by the visitors in the latter periods of the game, as Calgary earned their seventh consecutive win on home ice.

Two of the most unlikely of candidates to open the scoring began the first period onslaught by the Calgary Flames as defensemen Jay Bouwmeester and Cory Sarich struck early in the first frame when they managed to chase goaltender Martin Brodeur from the goal crease after he allowed two goals on just five shots to start the game. A goaltending change by Devils head coach Peter Deboer proved to have no significance on the outcome of the game as Calgary continued to capitalize on the few chances they were able to generate throughout the remainder of the play. The red hot Curtis Glencross tallied his team leading 18th goal of the season at the thirteen minute mark of the first to increase the Flames lead to three as he found himself the beneficiary of a gorgeous passing play from line mates Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen. Defensemen TJ Brodie would go on to score his second goal of the year on a late power play opportunity that came as a result of the Devils having to many men on the ice. If that was not enough excitement for one period of play, Jarome Iginla also found himself in a fight with youngster Adam Henrique in the middle portion of the period.

Clearly the Devils got a good talking to during the intermission as they appeared to be a much superior team to that of what they showed during the first twenty minutes on the night. New Jersey’s non stop pressure during the second period finally invoked a reward as sniper Ilya Kovalchuk swatted in his 16th goal of the season. A quick response by the Flames stopped any momentum the visitors may have built up when Lee Stempniak put an end to his lengthy 15 game scoreless drought just a minute after the Devils had drawn to within three. Not to be outdone, Rookie Adam Henrique would score shorthanded just moments later as his league leading fourth shorthanded goal of the season kept his teams slight comeback hopes alive heading into the third and final frame.

With Jarome Iginla serving time in the penalty box for hooking, Patrick Elias went on to register his teams third goal on the night and more importantly pulled the devils to within two goals with just over fourteen minutes remaining in the hockey game. But as per usual, the captain redeemed himself just a shift later as he scored his 17th goal of the season to put this game to bed. All in all I thought the team struggled mightily after bouncing out to a commanding lead after one period of play, but held strong when New Jersey made an impressive push after both of their goaltenders were unable to make the key saves they needed to. I was thoroughly impressed with the play of Adam Henrique all night, as he showed exactly why he is battling it out with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for the Calder Trophy.

With the win Calgary notches their 20th victory of the season and will look to continue their dominance at home as they welcome Ryan Getzlaf and the Anaheim Ducks to town for their first match of the season.

1. Curtis Glencross (1 Goal, 3 Assists)
2. Jarome Iginla (Gordie Howe Hat Trick â€" 1 Goal, 2 Assist, 1 Fight)
3. Adam Henrique (Gordie Howe Hat Trick â€" 1 Goal, 1 Assist, 1 Fight)