Ice Hockey: Flames smother Lightning to draw first blood

Mikka Kiprusoff stopped 23 shots and Jarome Iginla scored a short-handed goal as the Calgary Flames beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 to draw first blood in the finals.

The Flames put a dampener on Tampa's first Stanley Cup party and continued on their cinderella run towards their first title in 15 years.

Iginla, Martin Gelinas, Stephane Yelle and Chris Simon accounted for Calgary's goals and Martin St Louis, the NHL's leading scorer, ruined Kiprusoff's shutout bid with a third-period goal.

The opening match of the best-of-seven series marked the first time since the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the finals in 1994 that the Canadian national anthem had been heard before the start of a Stanley Cup contest.

In the last 75 years, the winners of the opening game have gone on to lift the trophy 61 times.