Iginla's hat trick gets Flames by Wild

[PJKCards]

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Jarome Iginla and the Calgary Flames have found some consistency down the stretch, and there's no better point in the season for it.

Iginla scored his first hat trick of the season to move Calgary closer to clinching the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, and the Flames beat the Minnesota Wild 4-2 on Thursday.

"Those are the kind of things you expect Jarome to do," teammate Craig Conroy said.

Daymond Langkow also scored in a three-goal first period for Calgary, which stunned Minnesota and goalie Niklas Backstrom with two scores in the first 80 seconds. Backstrom saw only two shots before Wild coach Jacques Lemaire called timeout and replaced him with Josh Harding.

Flames All-Star Miikka Kiprusoff, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL's most outstanding goaltender, was once again hard to beat.

Read more at: NHL - Calgary Flames/Minnesota Wild Recap Thursday March 29, 2007 - Yahoo! Sports