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  Saturday, Oct. 23 7:30pm ET
Cloutier, Kesa spark Lightning
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Dan Cloutier did a probable Hall of Famer one better.

Cloutier stopped 35 shots and Dan Kesa scored the tiebreaking goal with 9:47 left in the third period as the Tampa Bay Lightning snapped a five-game winless streak with a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Saturday night.

"I haven't been playing that great," said Cloutier, 1-2-0 in his first season with Tampa Bay. "I got some old tapes out from last year and noticed I was coming out a lot more and challenging. A lot of people are giving me credit for this game, but the D (defense) played a hell of a game."

Kesa beat goalie Grant Fuhr from the left circle during a 2-on-1 break just 21 seconds after the Flames tied it 1-1 on Andrei Nazarov's goal.

"I think we played a pretty good 60-minute game," Kesa said. "They got a lot of shots on us, but it was on the perimeter."

Cloutier made a spectacular stop on former Rangers teammate Marc Savard in the first period. Savard was alone near the left post, but his shot was stopped just before crossing the goal line by Cloutier's outstretched pad.

"He made some big saves early, especially the one on me," Savard said. "I've got to bear down there. He came up big. Give him credit ... he played well."

Cloutier also stopped Jarome Iginla twice from in close with three minutes remaining.

"It's one we didn't deserve to lose," Flames coach Brian Sutter said. "We deserved better out of it. Grant, it was tough for him to lose because he played so well. Their goalie was good at the other end, big time good."

After being outshot 7-0 during the opening 10 minutes of the second period, the Lightning scored on their second shot and took a 1-0 lead on Stephane Richer's fifth goal of the season at 10:38. The right wing beat Fuhr with a backhander from the low slot.

Richer's five goals have come in the past four games. He needs three goals to become the 54th player in NHL history to reach the 400-goal mark.

"We were talking before the game ... it's a must win game," Richer said. "Dan really played well for us in net, a great game for him."

Fuhr, who became just the sixth goalie to record 400 NHL wins in a 3-2 overtime victory Friday at Florida, kept the game close by stopping Vincent Lecavalier's shot during a late second period 2-on-1. He finished with 23 saves.

Calgary has not led after two periods this season. The Flames have trailed eight times (0-6-2) and were tied twice.

 


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