Jarome Iginla changed his philosophy and had a hat trick in the 5-2 win at Minnesota Sunday, including two blistering slapshots.

"I resorted today to shoot it as hard as I could. There were some screens in front of both of those," he said, smiling. "I'd be lying if I said I was aiming those. I was really just trying to hit 'em hard, and fortunately, they came off the right way and we had a screen. It was nice to see."

It was the first time in 11 games that Iginla scored against Minnesota. His last goal came during a hat trick March 22, 2008. Calgary is 18-2-1 all-time against the Wild when Iginla scores.

"I don’t know if there's a goalie in this league that would've stopped that one," said Wild defenseman Greg Zanon, referencing Iginla's second goal. "That was a hell of a shot by a world-class player."

The key to the offensive outburst, Iginla said, is confidence and playing basic hockey.

The back-to-back five-goal games mark just the fifth time this year the Flames have scored at least three goals in consecutive games.

"You can't just be cautious out there and try and work hard and make sure you're trying to win a game 1-0," Iginla said. "The last couple of games we've been moving the puck a lot better, making more plays. We have skill in here; we just have to show it and use it. I think at times this year we've been a little too safe, a little too cautious. The last couple of games we've just been playing. We know the stakes of each game."

Calgary beat Detroit 4-2 to claim eighth place in the Western Conference entering Tuesday's game at Detroit, a point behind the Red Wings, and two points behind seventh-place Nashville.

Coach Brent Sutter deserves some credit as well for placing Iginla with Matt Stajan and Rene Bourque after the Olympic break.

"Bourque is a big, strong, solid guy," Sutter said. "When he's skating and can handle the puck, and obviously can really shoot it. He's very good in his own zone, too."

The trio combined for five goals and eight assists in the wins over New Jersey and Minnesota. Bourque had a four-point outing against the Wild, including one goal, and Stajan had two helpers.

"We got confidence after scoring a couple of early goals against New Jersey, and just carried it onto (Sunday)," Bourque said.

Teammates also notice the way Iginla leads with his defense.

Against the Wild, Iginla hustled back to thwart a potential tip by lifting the stick of Guillaume Latendresse as he came down the slot. The Flames then headed up ice and scored on a Mark Giordano goal, after he took a perfect pass from Iginla.

“There’s guys in the league who can score a bunch of goals, but you don’t see them doing those types of things that help teams win,” said Steve Staios, who was acquired Wednesday from Edmonton. “That’s got to be the most impressive thing about a player like that — there’s other guys that can go out and score hat tricks, but I guarantee that those aren’t the guys backchecking and playing physical. … It's nice being on this side of it, that's for sure."

However, the team's captain knows it is not all about him.

"The play of the team is contagious," Iginla said. "We're all taking it on ourselves to create a little bit more. We know this is our team and we know we have to create the offense in here. As a line the last couple of games it felt good, but it's bigger than that. The last couple of games all the lines have been looking a lot more confident and creating a lot more."

Vesa Toskala, acquired from Anaheim at the trade deadline, played with confidence against Minnesota, stopping 27 shots. It was his first action since Jan. 30. He became the first Flames goalie other than Miikka Kiprusoff to start against Minnesota since current Calgary goalie coach Jamie McLennan started against the Wild on Nov. 7, 2003.

Could it be an early sign of a dangerous 1-2 goalie combination entering the final month?

"Vesa's been a No. 1 goalie for a couple, three years now in the NHL. It wasn't surprising to see him play that way. He made some big saves at key times," Sutter said.

COLORADO

Chris Stewart was named the NHL's First Star of the Week after scoring five goals and totaling nine points. He completed his first NHL hat trick with a penalty shot Saturday to lead the Avs to a 7-3 win over St. Louis. The hat trick was the first by an Avalanche player since Milan Hejduk had one on Dec. 9, 2007. The 199-game span was the longest active drought in the NHL. Entering Tuesday, Stewart has seven goals and eight assists in the last eight games. “I didn’t really know what to think. I thought at first that some of the other teams maybe played only two games last week,” joked Stewart. “It’s a confidence boost, but you have to put personal goals aside. It was a nice little reward, a pat on your back for your hard work, but at the end of the day we have a team-first attitude here.” … Hejduk scored twice against the Blues in his return from a seven-week knee injury … D Kyle Cumiskey, who has missed five straight games with a concussion, participated in Monday's practice and is expected to play Tuesday (Hear his comments). … D Ruslan Salei left Saturday's game in the second period with a torso injury and is out indefinitely. He already missed most of the season due to a back injury. ... Peter Mueller, acquired at the trade deadline from Phoenix, has points in each of his first three games with Colorado. He played on a line with Hejduk and Matt Duchene Saturday. "He was fun to play with," Hejduk told the Denver Post. "I know him from Phoenix. He's a really good young player, a talented guy, and he'll get even better. I think the whole line worked pretty good, we skated well and did give-and-go passes, which I like. It seems like a pretty good fit."… Wojtek Wolski, who went to Phoenix in the trade, scored the go-ahead goal with 22 seconds left in the Coyotes’ 3-1 victory over the Avalanche Thursday. “It was tough playing against my old team, but I put that behind,” he said. … Watch Craig Anderson answer some rapid-fire questions.

G Nikolai Khabibulin spoke to reporters Tuesday about his injured back, but, on the advice of his attorney, wouldn’t discuss his recent extreme DUI charge. (Watch) … D Aaron Johnson is the answer to a trivia question. Who was the first player traded from Calgary to Edmonton? The cities have been home to the NHL for 30 years. … Acquiring D Ryan Whitney from Anaheim for D Lubomir Visnovsky saves Edmonton a little cash. Both have three years left on the deals: Whitney at $4 million per season, Visnovsky is a $5.6-million cap hit. … Tom Gilbert is only the defenseman from opening night still playing. Denis Grebeshkov, Steve Staios and Visnovsky have been traded, and Ladislav Smid and Sheldon Souray are injured. … Prior to Friday’s game against Minnesota, Gilbert provided an excellent assessment of the Oilers’ season.  "All you can do is just work through it," Gilbert told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "We have 20 games left still. It's tough playing those games when you've got nothing to play for. There's no playoff reach for us. We want to get through this year we're having. No one's really having a great year. It's been pretty miserable." … However, the Oilers beat Minnesota 2-1 in a shootout, just the team’s fifth win in 32 games. Edmonton then blanked New Jersey 2-0 Sunday. … Patrick O'Sullivan is a league-worst minus-32. Shawn Horcoff is second worst at minus-28. … There isn’t much doubt that Souray's season is over due to an infection in his repaired right hand that he first injured in a Jan. 30 fight. … See how well his teammates know Mike Comrie. 

VANCOUVER

The Canucks will end a 14-game road trip Wednesday in Phoenix, and open a five-game homestand Saturday against Ottawa. Vancouver will play 10 of its final 15 games on home ice. … Ryan Kesler has a nine-game point streak entering Tuesday's game with Colorado. … Watch as Red Wings TV recently caught up with Kesler when he visited family with an Olympic silver medal in hand. …It was announced Tuesday that Kesler will be featured as the cover athlete and spokesman for 2K Sports upcoming video game, NHL 2K11. … Roberto Luongo, expected to play his 600th career game in Colorado, says that he will donate the $20,000 he will receive from the Canadian government for winning a gold medal at the Olympics to charity. … Mikael Samuelsson has three goals in four games since the Olympic break, and five of six games overall. … RW Steve Bernier is out with a groin injury and has returned to Vancouver to see a specialist. … D Brad Lukowich was sent to the minors Thursday after passing through waivers. The move was made for salary cap reasons. … Top prospect Cody Hodgson suffered a broken toe while playing for OHL Brampton and is expected to miss the rest of the season. Hodgson, the 10th overall pick in the 2008 draft, had 20 points in 13 games since returning to action on Feb. 4 from a bad back. … Jordan Schroeder, the team's top pick (22nd overall) in 2009, leads the University of Minnesota in scoring with eight goals and 19 assists in 34 games. He was 13-32-45 in 35 games with the Gophers last season.

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