Flames beat Red Wings 5-2

Calgary breaks open close game with 3 goals in 3rd period

Detroit Red Wings goalie Jonas Gustavsson lets in a goal by Calgary Flames' Jay Bouwmeester.

CALGARY, Alberta — Lee Stempniak scored the winning goal in the third period and added an assist in the Calgary Flames' 5-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night.

Stempniak broke a 2-2 tie 5:37 into the third on a beautiful set up from Curtis Glencross, who missed the previous two games because of a wrist injury. Glencross wheeled deep into the Detroit zone and zipped a pass to the uncovered Stempniak in the slot for his seventh goal of the season.

Glencross added his ninth at 9:12, capitalizing on Valterri Filppula's turnover along the side boards. Blake Comeau followed with a goal 48 seconds later to make it 5-2.

Alex Tanguay and Jay Bouwmeester also scored for Calgary (10-11-4), which won its fifth in a row at home.

Niklas Kronwall and Filppula scored for Detroit (12-10-5).

The Flames were coming off a disappointing three-game trip to California in which they lost all three games by a combined score of 11-3 to drop to last place in the Western Conference.

Miikka Kiprusoff was much sharper Wednesday after giving up 12 goals on 46 shots in his two starts. He was pulled in the third period of his previous game in Los Angeles.

He needed to be good early in this one as Detroit outshot Calgary 15-6 in the first period.

At the other end, Detroit goalie Jonas Gustavsson struggled. Given the start with No. 1 goalie Jimmy Howard out because of the flu, the 28-year-old Swede finished with only 17 saves.

The Red Wings held a 38-22 edge in shots.

After Calgary took the lead in the first period, Detroit tied it 2-2 at 16:39 of the second. Kyle Quincey's long wrist shot on a power play was stopped, but Filppula was there to put the rebound past Kiprusoff. The Red Wings snapped an 0-for-37 mark in road power plays.

Also earning an assist was 23-year-old rookie Gustav Nyquist, who was recalled Tuesday from Grand Rapids where he as the AHL's leading scorer with 23 goals and 37 assists.

Detroit had amassed 69 minutes, 20 seconds in road power-play time before that goal. It was the worst start to a season since the 1928-29 Detroit Cougars, who played a 44-game schedule, failed to score a road power-play goal the entire campaign.

Detroit took a 1-0 lead 3:20 into the game when Kronwall sent a slap shot past Kiprusoff.

Calgary tied it at 5:55 of the first period on a power play. Tanguay took a pass from Mike Cammalleri and made a deke to his forehand before whipping a shot into the top corner.

The Flames took a 2-1 lead at 9:52 on a lucky bounce as Bouwmeester's shot rebounded in off the skate of Detroit defenseman Jakub Kindl.

NOTES: The Red Wings, who have lost three straight, continue their three-game road trip through Western Canada on Friday in Edmonton. ... Kiprusoff improved to 4-5-2, while Gustavsson dropped to 1-2-1. ... Bouwmeester's goal was his fifth of the season, matching his best output since coming to Calgary in the 2009-10 season. His career high is 15, which he reached twice in Florida. ... RW Jordin Tootoo was a healthy scratch for the Red Wings. ... Detroit C Cory Emmerton played his 100th NHL game.