Regeln » arance of the season for Raonic, who is looking for his first A

DENVER -- Jean-Sebastien Giguere wasnt perfect, but he was good enough to keep the Colorado Avalanche rolling. Giguere stopped 30 shots, Ryan OReilly had a goal and an assist and Colorado beat the Calgary Flames 4-2 on Friday night. Paul Stastny, John Mitchell and Matt Duchene also scored for the Avalanche, who joined the 1995 Quebec Nordiques for the best 15-game start in franchise history. Colorado (13-2) needed 29 games to earn 26 points in last years lockout shortened season. Giguere has been a big reason for Colorados turnaround. The 36-year-old goalies 5-0 record ties the franchise record for best start to a season. He came into Friday having allowed three goals in four games and posted two shutouts, so allowing two goals in a 3 mnute, 39 second span seemed out of character. "You are not going to be perfect every time," Giguere said. Mike Cammalleri had two goals and Mikael Backlund had two assists for Calgary, which has dropped seven of nine. Goalie Karri Ramo made 23 saves for the Flames. Early, it looked like Colorado would cruise against the struggling Flames. The Avalanche were up 2-0 after Stastny scored on a 5-on-3 1:09 into the second period, but Cammalleri kept Calgary close. He scored his first goal on a pass from Backlund early in the second, and 2:30 after Mitchell restored Colorados two-goal lead, he beat Giguere again to make it 3-2 midway through the second period. It wasnt enough to overcome another slow beginning. "I thought it was the start again. I dont know what it is," Cammalleri said. "It seems like were in kind of a little bit wait-and-see and then we spot them two or three and it makes it hard." Cammalleri nearly got the hat trick on an 2-on-1 rush late in the period but Giguere made the save. "Hes a capable goaltender. Hes going to make his saves," Cammalleri said. "Im sure if you ask him on the goals hed like to have them back and the ones he saved Id like to have them back." Giguere had to be sharp again in the third to keep the game from going to overtime. He stopped Cammalleri again on the power play in the first minute of the period and made 13 saves in the frame. Jiri Hudler had a backhand chance with 2:35 left but Giguere made a sprawling save. The Flames pulled Ramo for an extra skater with just over a minute remaining but couldnt get the equalizer. Duchene iced it with an empty-netter in the final seconds. It was his 11th goal of the season. "I think after the first period we might have taken them lightly," Duchene said. "We dominated the first period. The second and third I thought they were skating downhill." Colorado survived to rebound after a tough loss to Nashville on Thursday. "This was a big game for us. After going 12-1, you lose a game, it would be easy to go into bad habits and lose some," Giguere said. "We ended up getting a big win. We should be happy with this one." The Flames are searching for answers after another tough loss. They started the season 4-2-2 but have earned just four points in their last nine games. "We had some real bad turnovers that ended up in our net," Calgary coach Bob Hartley said. "This league, its not a feel-good league. Moral victories do not exist, you need to put points on the board." The Avalanche scored first when OReilly one-timed a pass from P.A. Parenteau just 5:31 into the game. It was OReillys sixth of the season and extended his goal streak to three games. NOTES: Avalanche D Ryan Wilson (back) was scratched from the lineup. Nick Holden played in his place against Calgary. Wilson is expected to miss at least two weeks. ... The Flames acquired D Ladislav Smid and goalie prospect Olivier Roy from Edmonton for centre Roman Horak and goalie prospect Laurent Brossoit on Friday. Smid is expected to join the team in Calgary on Saturday while Roy will report to Anchorage of the ECHL. ... Duchene missed Thursdays practice with a bruise foot suffered in Wednesdays loss to Nashville. Outlet Salomon Online . Samir Nasris 88th-minute equalizer at Etihad Stadium will be of little consolation to City, which is now six points behind league leader Liverpool and four points behind second-place Chelsea. Third-place City has a game in hand but the surprise result against Sunderland, coupled with Sundays 3-2 loss at Liverpool, may be a setback too far in its bid for a second championship in three seasons. Scarpe Salomon Outlet . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.salomonoutlet.it/.com) - Bradley Beal deposited a season-high 33 points and John Wall posted another double-double as the Washington Wizards went on the road and beat the Houston Rockets, 104-103. Scarpe Salomon Outlet Online . And all things considered, the first 40 games have offered a little bit of everything from a hockey club that faced many questions in its first year under new management, with a new head coach and with a number of new faces in the lineup. However, with a recent dip in scoring, it seems some of the same old questions persist and several new ones have been raised after a somewhat troubling homestand. Scarpe Salomon Offerta . -- The Atlanta Braves added to their extensive wave of long-term deals with their young stars on Sunday by agreeing to a $42 million, four-year contract with All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel.OEIRAS, Portugal -- Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., is through to the quarter-finals of the Portugal Open after posting a 6-3, 6-2 win over Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay on Thursday. It will be the fourth consecutive quarter-final appearance of the season for Raonic, who is looking for his first ATP Tour win on clay. Raonic, the world No. 9 and second seed at the tournament, will face Argentine Carlos Berlocq on Friday. Raonic lost just 11 points on serve in his 67 minute victory over Cuevas, five of which came on double faults. In womens action, Montreals Eugenie Bouchard was ddefeated 6-4, 6-1 in the quarter-finals by two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia.dddddddddddd Bouchard, ranked 18th in the world, took a 4-1 lead in the opening set, but went on to lose 11 of the final 12 games. In other matches, mens top seed Tomas Berdych strolled to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Somdev Devvarman of India. Other mens winners included Leonardo Mayer of Argentina, Gastao Elias of Portugal and Victor Hanescu of Romania. Top-seeded woman Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain beat Polona Hercog of Slovenia 6-1, 6-3 to reach the semifinals. ' ' '