CALGARY, Alberta – Two nights after catching fire, the Avalanche flamed out.

Kristian Huselius scored twice and Jarome Iginla added a goal and an assist as the Calgary Flames avenged Thursday night’s loss to Colorado with a 5-2 win Saturday night at the Pengrowth Saddledome.

With the loss, the Avs dropped nine points behind the Minnesota Wild in the chase for the final Western Conference playoff spot. Colorado ends a three-game trip tonight at Vancouver.

''We’re not trying to think we have to go 25-0 to make the playoffs, but we know we need to win two out of three every week,’’ Avalanche defenseman Ken Klee said. ''(Sunday) is a huge game for us.’’

Colorado, hoping to ride the momentum of consecutive victories, had an opportunity to match its season-best three-game win streak but could not hold a brief 2-1 lead in the second period.

The Avs had a chance to make it 3-1 when Mark Rycroft skated in on a shorthanded rush, but his shot missed the net badly and caromed off the boards, leading to Iginla’s tying goal.

Dion Phaneuf gave Calgary the lead less than 2 minutes later, and Huselius added some insurance by scoring on a power play with 10:52 remaining.

''We’re playing the perfect game, and the next thing you know it’s 2-2 and they score two quick ones,’’ Colorado coach Joel Quenneville said. ''That was obviously a big turning point.’’

Huselius victimized Avalanche goalie Peter Budaj, who struggled for the second game in a row. Back in net after allowing four goals on 20 shots in Colorado’s 7-5 win Thursday, Budaj finished with 25 saves.

Stephane Yelle added an empty net goal with 2:25 left as the Avalanche tried to take advantage of a 6-on-4 power play.

Quenneville was non-committal on whether Budaj would start against Vancouver, but expect to see Jose Theodore in goal. Theodore is 3-0 against the Canucks this season, allowing only five goals in the three games.

Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, torched for six goals two nights earlier, turned in a solid, if unspectacular performance, stopping 24 shots.

Colorado twice erased two-goal deficits Thursday night but could not repeat the trick Saturday, managing only eight shots in the final period.

Making matters even worse, rookie forward Wojtek Wolski left the game with an apparent left shoulder injury when he was hit by Craig Conroy with 3:03 remaining.

Wolski, third among NHL rookies with 19 goals, looked to be in extreme pain as he was helped to the locker room. He will be re-evaluated Sunday but probably will not play against Vancouver.

After combining for only nine shots in a scoreless first period, the Avs and Flames opened the throttle in the second.

Huselius gave Calgary a 1-0 lead 2:59 into the period and was stopped by Budaj on a breakaway a little more than two minutes later.

That enabled the Avalanche to tie the game on Peter Stastny’s 19th goal of the season at 7:42, and Andrew Brunette put Colorado ahead 2-1 when he put home a rebound at 11:13.

The Avalanche then got sloppy, committing back-to-back penalties, and Iginla converted on the second man advantage, firing a one-timer past Budaj at 14:45 for his fourth goal in three games.

Phaneuf blasted a shot past Budaj 1:46 later, sending the Flames to the dressing room with a 3-2 lead.

''For a while, it looked pretty good,’’ Colorado forward Milan Hejduk said. ''They scored two or three goals and we couldn’t come back.’’

The Avs were without defenseman Jordan Leopold, sidelined by what the team said was a wrist injury.

Leopold has dealt with health issues all season. He missed the first 25 games of year while recovering from sports hernia surgery and sat out another 18 games after suffering a setback following his return.

Quenneville said Leopold will not play Sunday and will be re-evaluated when the Avs return home. To add defensive depth, Colorado recalled Jeff Finger from Albany of the American Hockey League. Finger was scheduled to join the team in Vancouver.

Colorado lost another defenseman 15 minutes into the first period Saturday night as Ossi Vaananen received a game-misconduct penalty for hitting Calgary forward David Moss along the halfboards.

Moss’ back was turned when Vaananen made the hit. He split open his upper lip when he fell into the boards and did not return.

''Obviously I feel bad at him getting hurt on a play like that,’’ Vaananen said. ''It’s not a good thing. I was going to go and hit him and I think he lost the puck around his feet and he was focusing on that and didn’t know I was coming. It was unfortunate.’’

The Flames failed to take advantage of the ensuing 5-minute power play, managing only two shots on goal, and the teams entered the second period scoreless.

ETC: Colorado forwards Joe Sakic (five goals, nine assists) and Stastny (five goals, four assists) each extended their point streaks to seven games, while teammate Milan Hejduk (five goals, five assists) ran his point streak to six games. ? Former Avalanche forward Alex Tanguay failed to record a point for the first time in four games against Colorado.

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