Flames Clip Struggling Wings

Tyler Moss had no idea when he was going to see his first action of the season. When the opportunity suddenly came up, the 23-year-old goaltender was ready.

Moss relieved Ken Wregget and won his first NHL game since January and Cory Stillman scored two goals as the Calgary Flames beat Detroit 5-2 Tuesday night, handing the Red Wings their third loss in a row.

Wregget, who had played every Calgary game this season, stopped all 19 shots he faced before suddenly leaving a scoreless game with back spasms four minutes into the second period.

"He hasn't come to the bench in any of the games we've played, so when he came to the bench I said, 'You've got to be kidding me,'" Moss said. "It was probably best I just got in there quick."

Moss stopped 26 of 28 shots to win the first NHL game he's played since a 4-3 loss at Los Angeles on Jan. 20. He had a shutout and a team-best 2.13 goals-against average in the preseason but hadn't been off the bench since.

"After the first six or seven (games) I quit guessing when I was going to play and just worked hard in practice," Moss said.

Theoren Fleury and Andrew Cassels both had a goal and an assist and Steve Dubinsky scored for the Flames, who were 0-6-2 against the Red Wings since last beating them Oct. 11, 1996.

Tomas Holmstrom had a goal and an assist and Martin Lapointe added a goal for the Red Wings, who are 2-4-0 since coach Scotty Bowman returned to the bench Oct. 23. They've lost three straight for the first time since the final three games of last season, before they went o to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship.

"It's just frustrating because that doesn't happen here," Detroit forward Darren McCarty said. "Two times in a row doesn't happen often here. We just have to get back together tomorrow and practice and prepare to win some games on the road."

Calgary was outshot 47-26 but went 3-for-5 on its power-play and also scored a short-handed goal against Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood. Detroit, meanwhile, was just 1-for-10 with the man advantage.

"Three power play goals? That's as many as we've allowed all year," Bowman said. "If you can't get ahead, you can't play you're own game."

Cassels broke a scoreless tie 13:26 into the second period when he deflected Phil Housley's blue-line blast past Osgood on a power play. The Flames made it 2-0 just 2:02 later when Stillman put his own rebound into the net.

Detroit got one back on Holmstrom's power-play goal with 2:22 left in the second. The Red Wings were 11 seconds into a 5-on-3 advantage when Holmstrom got free left of Moss and converted Steve Yzerman's pass through the crease.

Two more power-play goals gave the Flames a 4-1 lead early in the third. Stillman scored his second of the night at 2:28, then an outstanding individual effort from Fleury resulted in another score just 1:37 later.

Fleury skated alone down the left side, went behind the net and spun around in front before wristing a shot between Osgood's legs.

"When you've got opportunities on the power play, you've got to score," Fleury said. "We've been working on the power play all season long."

Lapointe deflected a shot by Nicklas Lidstrom past Moss at 7:25, but Dubinsky's short-handed breakaway goal after a Detroit turnover made it 5-2 with 9:45 remaining.

Wregget stopped all 16 shots he faced in a scoreless first period, including two good chances for Lapointe during the same Detroit power play.

"Wregs kept us in like he has all year, and when Tyler went in we knew we had to be a little better and we were," Calgary coach Brian Sutter said.

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