Mark Recchi's five assists help Tampa Bay Lightning beat Calgary Flames 8-6

CALGARY — Flames fans had plenty to cheer Sunday at the Pengrowth Saddledome.

Captain Jarome Iginla had five points against the Lightning, including two goals for 400 in his career, and his 834 points set a Calgary record, surpassing Theo Fleury's 830.

But the night ultimately belonged to Tampa Bay, which scrounged an 8-6 victory to finish a three-game western Canada road trip 1-2.

Vinny Lecavalier's 27th goal, his second of the game and 300th of his career, 8:32 into the third gave the Lightning a 7-5 lead.

That came after Ryan Malone's 22nd goal — a redirect of Mark Recchi's pass 2:39 into the third — broke a 5-5 tie forged 14 seconds into the period by Iginla's milestone goal and 26th of the season.

Lecavalier's three-point game was bested by Recchi, who had a franchise-record five assists. It also gave him 1,426 points, passing Bryan Trottier, his boyhood idol, for 14th all time.

"It shows we're not going to give up on the coaching staff, and we're not going to give up on each other," Recchi said. "We have a lot of pride in this dressing room. We're going to play for each other."

Said coach Rick Tocchet: "We never thought they would (give up). Sure, you get upset at the way they play sometimes. But they never give up. It was a nice win for us. It was nice to see some guys get some goals."

Recchi's five assists surpassed the record of four done six times: Marty St. Louis (Dec. 7, 2006), Lecavalier (Nov. 4, 2006), Adrian Aucoin (March 3, 2001), Pavel Kubina (Nov. 22, 2000), Marc Bureau (Feb. 1, 1993) and Joe Reekie (Oct. 7, 1992).

Calgary, which lost in regulation for the first time in 11 games, made it interesting with Todd Bertuzzi's goal with 3:14 left, its third power-play goal. But St. Louis' empty-netter, his 22nd goal and second of the game, with 31.4 seconds left, finished the scoring.

The bad news: Defenseman Marek Malik was lost to a lower-body injury. His status is unknown.

The Lightning (21-30-12) turned the game with a four-goal second in which St. Louis, Lecavalier, Steven Stamkos and Vinny Prospal scored, the last three in a 3:30 span to give it a 5-4 lead.

Stamkos' two points gave him 29 for the season, on 13 goals and 16 assists, to surpass Lecavalier's 28-point rookie output.

First Period—1, Tampa Bay, Artyukhin 5, 11:07. 2, Calgary, Iginla 25 (Moss, Cammalleri), 15:44 (pp). Penalties—Krajicek, TB (interference), 14:36; Phaneuf, Cal (holding), 17:34.

Second Period—3, Tampa Bay, St. Louis 21 (Stamkos, Recchi), 1:19. 4, Calgary, Conroy 7 (Phaneuf, Iginla), 8:07. 5, Calgary, Cammalleri 33 (Moss, Iginla), 13:02 (pp). 6, Calgary, Lundmark 2 (Sarich, Lombardi), 14:19. 7, Tampa Bay, Lecavalier 26 (Murphy, Melichar), 14:57. 8, Tampa Bay, Stamkos 13 (Recchi, St. Louis), 16:14. 9, Tampa Bay, Prospal 16 (Roberts, Eminger), 18:27 (pp). Penalties—Eminger, TB (tripping), 12:32; Lundmark, Cal (hooking), 16:58.

Third Period—10, Calgary, Iginla 26 (Conroy, Vandermeer), :14. 11, Tampa Bay, Malone 22 (Recchi, Lecavalier), 2:39 (pp). 12, Tampa Bay, Lecavalier 27 (Recchi, Murphy), 8:32 (pp). 13, Calgary, Bertuzzi 15 (Iginla, Cammalleri), 16:46 (pp). 14, Tampa Bay, St. Louis 22 (Recchi), 19:28 (en). Penalties—Ro.Regehr, Cal (hooking), :49; Malone, TB, major (fighting), 8:17; Ro.Regehr, Cal, served by Van der Gulik, minor-major (high-sticking, fighting), 8:17; Lecavalier, TB (slashing), 15:00. Shots on Goal—Tampa Bay 10-9-13—32. Calgary 14-8-17—39. Power-play opportunities—Tampa Bay 3 of 4; Calgary 3 of 3. Goalies—Tampa Bay, McKenna 3-3-1 (39 shots-33 saves). Calgary, Kiprusoff (19-14), McElhinney 0-4-1 (0:00 third, 12-10). A—19,289 (19,289).