Jarome Iginla has had a pretty good start to the season, but Calgary coach Brent Sutter wants his captain to be dominant.
Sutter must have liked what he saw Wednesday night.
Iginla scored a power-play goal at 1:25 of overtime - his second goal of the game - to give the Flames a 3-2 comeback victory over the Dallas Stars.
"Certainly Jarome's game was good, and not just because he scored two goals," Sutter said. "He's a big, strong guy that gets in there in areas where he's hard to retain."
Iginla scored four times Calgary's first dozen games. Not bad, but Sutter expects big numbers from a player who had 85 goals in the previous two seasons.
"We've been talking a lot as a group about bringing our compete level up, and we really battled tonight," Iginla said. "It was a step in the right direction."
Elsewhere in the NHL it was: Florida 3 Carolina 0; San Jose 3 Columbus 2 (SO); Buffalo 3 New York Islanders 0; New Jersey 3 Washington 2; and Colorado 4 Phoenix 1.
At Dallas, Daymond Langkow tied it for the Flames with 49 seconds left in regulation and goalie Curtis McElhinney on the bench for an extra attacker. Iginla passed in front to Langkow, who backhanded the puck past Marty Turco.
Dallas drew a delay of game penalty at 1:09 of overtime when defenceman Nicklas Grossman was whistled for shooting the puck out of the rink - a call disputed by Stars coach Marc Crawford.
The Flames needed only 16 seconds to capitalize when Iginla fired a shot from the left point that got past Turco, who was screened by Calgary's Olli Jokinen.
"The overtime didn't really last very long, and it's somewhat frustrating because it didn't look like it was a penalty," Crawford said.
Iginla didn't even know he'd scored through a crowd until he was mobbed by teammates.
"In overtime and 4-on-3, you're just trying to set up the umbrella," Iginla said. "I could see Olli in front. I was thinking if I just got it by him, it could have a chance to go in. I didn't even see how it went."
McElhinney, the backup to Miikka Kiprusoff, made 38 saves and stopped a second-period penalty shot in his second start of the season and 21st NHL game. Kiprusoff sat out because of illness.
"He hasn't played in a while, and he stood tall tonight and he was rewarded for it," Sutter said. "He had a great effort."
Turco, back after missing two games due to flu-like symptoms, stopped 19 shots.
Loui Eriksson gave Dallas a 2-1 lead at 8:52 of the third period, skating to the net and tapping in Brad Richards' centring pass.
Dallas' Brenden Morrow was awarded a penalty shot at 12:26 of the second period after he was hooked to the ice on the way to the net by Calgary defenceman Mark Giordano, but Morrow's wrist shot was easily steered aside by McElhinney to keep the game scoreless.
Iginla put the Flames in front at 15:53 of the second period with a wrist shot from the right circle.
McElhinney had a strong second period, stopping all 16 shots he faced.
Dallas' James Neal tied it 1-1 at 4:49 of the third period.
The Stars had far more scoring chances than the Flames, but that was little consolation for a team that has gone to overtime seven times, winning once.
"We did what we wanted to do against Calgary; we got the puck behind the defence, we really exposed the defence," Crawford said. "I thought they were on their heels the better part of the night. We generated a number of power play opportunities. I thought we were the better club in terms of chances generated by a long shot."
Forwards Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen were back in the Dallas lineup after each missed extensive time with injuries. Modano, the career scoring leader among U.S.-born players, sat out 13 games because of a rib injury, and Lehtinen was out for nine games with abdominal soreness.
Panthers 3 Hurricanes 0
At Sunrise, Fla., Tomas Vokoun made 31 saves for his second straight shutout, Steven Reinprecht opened the scoring early in the third period, and Florida extended Carolina's winless streak to 10 games.
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Sharks 3 Blue Jackets 2 (SO)
At Columbus, Ohio, defenceman Dan Boyle scored the lone goal in a shootout, and Evgeni Nabokov stopped all three Blue Jackets shooters to give the San Jose its sixth straight win and eighth in its last nine games.
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Sabres 3 Islanders 0
At Buffalo, N.Y., Ryan Miller made 24 saves for his second shutout of the season and 14th overall, and Thomas Vanek had a goal and assist for the Sabres.
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Devils 3 Capitals 2
At Newark, N.J., Niclas Bergfors scored power-play goals 3:13 apart in the third period and New Jersey beat Alex Ovechkin-less Washington.
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Avalanche 4 Coyotes 1
At Denver, Milan Hejduk had two goals and an assist, and Peter Budaj - recovered from swine flu - stopped 28 shots for Colorado in his first start of the season.
