Leafs earn elusive victory at Saddledome, top Flames

CALGARY, Alberta -- A decade-long drought is finally over.

With Wednesday's 4-2 victory over the host Calgary Flames, the Toronto Maple Leafs earned a win at the Scotiabank Saddledome for the first time in a span of 3,960 days.

Joffrey Lupul, James van Riemsdyk, Mason Raymond and Paul Ranger each scored for Leafs, but goaltender Jonathan Bernier was the undisputed star of the show as Toronto posted its first victory in Calgary since Dec. 27, 2002.

Matt Stajan and David Jones had the only goals on Bernier, who finished with 41 stops in a sensational performance that improves his save percentage to .933 in 10 appearances this season.

"Our goaltending has been very good all year and tonight it was outstanding again," said Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf. "Bernie made some big saves for us."

And a lot of them.

The Maple Leafs (10-4-0) can thank their goaltending tandem for back-to-back victories in Alberta. James Reimer posted a 43-shot shutout in Tuesday's 4-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers, while Bernier was just as good against the Flames (5-5-2), who held a 43-22 edge in shots.

"It's the whole team, it's not just me and Reims," Bernier insisted.

That wasn't the story coming from the Flames' locker-room.

"I hope that the hockey gods remember tonight for us and they pay us back somewhere," said Flames coach Bob Hartley.

"This is just one of those games where we deserved a better fate, but in this league, some nights you win games you don't deserve and other nights you lose games you don't deserve," Flames defenseman Shane O'Brien said. "This one stings a bit, but we'll move forward."

Lupul opened the scoring for the Maple Leafs at the 7:56 mark of the opening period, scoring from the doorstep just as Dennis Wideman's slashing penalty expired and before the Flames defenseman could get back to assist his teammates.

Toronto's second tally was a heartbreaker, with Van Riemsdyk racing down the wing in a short-handed situation and finding a hole in Flames goalie Karri Ramo's protective padding just four seconds before the first intermission.

Stajan trimmed the lead just moments after watching teammate Derek Smith tumble face-first into the boards after a dangerous hit by Maple Leafs right-winger Carter Ashton. O'Brien seemed to spark his squad when he dropped the gloves with Ashton, and Stajan scored from the slot just seven seconds later on Calgary's 31st shot of the night.

Raymond added an insurance marker six minutes into the third period, capitalizing on David Clarkson's rebound.

With 6:21 remaining, Kris Russell's shot from the point was deflected by Jones as the Flames -- on their 41st attempt on net -- trimmed Toronto's lead again.

That was as close, though, as they would get before Ranger sealed the deal with an empty-netter as the Flames pressed for a late power play tally.

"We've got to make sure we stick together as a team," Stajan said. "It's easy when you lose a game where you play so well that you start pointing fingers, but we're not going to do that. We're a strong unit in here. We'll take the positives, tip our hat to their goalie and move on."

Ramo made 18 saves for the Flames.

NOTES: Toronto's former GM, Brian Burke, now the president of hockey operations in Calgary, did not attend Wednesday's game. ... Flames C Joe Colborne, who was acquired from the Maple Leafs in a Sept. 28 swap, faced his former team for the first time. Colborne appeared in only 16 games over parts of three seasons with Toronto, but has already logged 11 regular-season outings for the Flames ... The Flames are without the services of two of their key contributors. The team announced Tuesday that D Mark Giordano -- named the new captain prior to the season -- is out six to eight weeks with a broken ankle, while RW Lee Stempniak is listed as week-to-week with a fractured foot ... The Maple Leafs have injury issues of with their own, with C Tyler Bozak (lower-body), D Mark Fraser (knee) and LW Nikolai Kulemin (ankle) all out of the lineup ... The Flames surprisingly made C Mikael Backlund a healthy scratch, instead beefing up their forward lines with the insertion of RW Tim Jackman. ... The Flames are back in action Friday with a visit from the Detroit Red Wings. Vancouver is the next stop for the Maple Leafs, who will face off against the Canucks in Saturday's Hockey Night in Canada clash.