Flames 3, Red Wings 1

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) - Tony Amonte knew how much Darren McCarty wanted to score against his former teammates.

Amonte and Daymond Langkow assisted on McCarty's second goal of the season and the Flames held on to beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-1 Wednesday night for their eighth straight victory.

McCarty picked up the puck behind the net and backhanded a wraparound shot past Manny Legace into the far corner at 2:03 of the third period, clinching the win for the Flames.

"It's nice to see Mac get a goal," said Amonte, who also had a goal in the first period. "He wanted it really bad. He was talking about it all night and talking about it between the second and the third. To go out and pot one early that was sweet for him and everybody was happy for him."

Chuck Kobasew also scored for Calgary. His second effort in a goal-mouth scramble beat goaltender Manny Legace and gave the Flames a 2-1 lead.

Robert Lang scored for Detroit (15-4-1).

With the score tied 1-1 in the second and Calgary killing a penalty, McCarty had a couple of chances to score, but Legace made a pad save and then a glove grab to thwart him.

Calgary improved to 8-0-1 when leading after two periods, while Detroit slipped to 0-4 when trailing heading into the third.

"We've tried to establish ourselves as one of the best third-period teams in the league," McCarty said. "We were able to get one early and really didn't give them any chances. The importance wasn't just scoring but putting us up 3-1 in the third. We're a tough team with a two-goal lead in the third."

Legace, who made 25 saves, claimed that McCarty "got lucky," and that his goal deflated any chance the Red Wings had to come back.

"We're trying to get fired up," Legace said. "We just got our butts handed to us in the second period and he comes out and gets a cheesy goal like that."

Detroit defenseman Mathieu Schneider said the Red Wings weren't playing like themselves once the Flames took the lead.

"You could sense the frustration on the bench," Schneider said. "Guys upset at themselves, upset at one another and that's not our team. That's now how we're going to have success, that's not how we're going to win."

Lang scored Detroit's lone goal on a breakaway just 1:20 into the game. After that, the Red Wings weren't able to get anything past goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, who made 21 saves to record his 11th win of the season.

For the Red Wings, it was their second straight road loss after winning their first seven away from Joe Louis Arena.

"The whole West Coast, they're all tough games," said Legace, whose team lost 4-1 in Vancouver on Sunday. "You come across a couple time zones, it's tough to play out here. They play well at home, extremely well, both Vancouver and Calgary."

Detroit will wrap up their three-game road trip in Edmonton on Thursday night.

Detroit coach Mike Babcock challenged his players to come out with a better effort in order to end the slump.

"You have got to look down the rink and play better than the guy across from you," Babcock said. "That's the way it is every night."

Notes: Amonte and Jarome Iginla, who drew an assist on Kobasew's goal, extended their point streaks to five games, while rookie Dion Phaneuf's four-game run ended. ... The Red Wings are 5-0 this season when Brendan Shanahan scores the game's first goal. ... The Flames ended a four-game losing streak to the Red Wings. Their last victory over Detroit was Jan. 25, 2003, at home.