"The groans began less than a minute into the game.

More followed frequently, from the Calgary Flames management staff sitting up in the press box and, no doubt, from those viewers watching from home.

Turnovers and poor decisions aplenty, the Flames still somehow found a way to pull off a victory despite the fact they often weren't the best team on the ice Sunday night at the Pepsi Center.

Thanks in large part to goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff, who was terrific when needed most as the young Colorado Avalanche forwards poured on the pressure, the Flames overcame an early deficit to beat the Avs 2-1 and improve their record to 6-6-1 on the season.

With wins over the Detroit Red Wings and now the Avs, they went 2-1-0 on their road trip. Unfortunately, inconsistencies seem to plague the Flames from game to game, period to period, and shift to shift.

"At the end of the day, we played three road games here and gave up four goals against," said Flames head coach Brent Sutter. "Obviously goaltending was big for us all three games.""