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Flames’ Ales Kotalik, left, celebrates with teammates Daymond Langkow, centre, and Christopher Higgins during the second period of their game against the New Jersey Devils on Friday in Calgary. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)

The Calgary Flames looked like a team with something to prove Friday night.

Damon Langkow, Curtis Glencross and Eric Nystrom scored second period goals to lift the Calgary Flames over the New Jersey Devils 5-3 at the Saddledome.

Zach Parise netted two goals, and Ilya Kovalchuk added another for the Devils, who fell to 1-1 since returning from the Olympic break.

Friday’s matchup marked the first time Calgary head coach Brent Sutter faced his former club since leaving the Devils following the 2008-09 season.

Starting out seemingly on fire, the Flames came close around the 10-minute mark.

Damon Langkow grabbed a loose puck in the slot and snapped it on Martin Brodeur, but the NHL shutout leader closed the door, keeping the score 0-0.

Calgary kept up the pressure in the offensive zone, firing shots from every angle, but the Devils backstop turned aside all offerings.

Even with consistent pressure from the home side, it was New Jersey who found the score sheet first.

Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner set up Parise for his 29th goal of the season.

When the New Jersey point shot careened off the back boards, Langenbrunner made a blind backhand pass to Parise, who one-timed the puck behind Mikka Kiprusoff.

Calgary evened the score early in the second frame.

After an icing call, the Devils were left with a defensive zone faceoff. Newly bought forward Chris Higgins fought for the puck off the draw, drove out front and place a shot on net. Langkow, who nearly scored a period before, powered past the Devils defenceman and swept a backhander under Marty Brodeur to tie the game at 1-1.

Just over two minutes later, Calgary took the lead.

On the penalty kill, Flames forward Curtis Glencross stole the puck at the blue line and was off to the races. The gritty forward went in alone on Brodeur, snapping the puck under the bar for the small-handed marker and a 2-1 Calgary lead.

The home side struck again late in the second period.

Eric Nystrom battled out of the left corner, putting a shot on net as he was knocked to the ice. From his knees, the forward collected his own rebound and sent the puck past Brodeur, giving the Flames a two-goal advantage.

In the third, Matt Stajan and David Moss scored for Calgary.

Stajan potted his 19th on the season midway through the final frame, and David Moss added another with less then 10 minutes to play to give Calgary a four-goal lead.

But the Devils weren’t finished.

At 16:08, Parise tapped in another Langenbrunner pass on the power play for his second of the game and 30th of the year.

Just over a minute later, Kovalchuk beat Kiprusoff for his third as a Devil, but the comeback proved to be too late for New Jersey.

Early scare

It was a scary moment early in the first as veteran defenceman Steve Staios and Kovalchuk went crashing into the end boards.

As the puck was iced by the Devils, Kovalchuk and Staios raced down the left-hand boards. The former Thrasher appeared to lose an edged and slid into boards with the huge blue liner falling on top of him. Kovalchuk looked shaken, holding his hand as he got up off the ice, but did return on his next shift.

Kovalchuk was bought on Feb. 5 from the Atlanta Thrashers in an attempt to add an offensive punch to a Devils team known for defence.

In eight games since the trade, Kovalchuk has registered three goals and five assists for eight points.

University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran says Canadian officials intentionally handed over Afghan detainees to be tortured in order to gather intelligence. (CBC)

Federal government documents on Afghan detainees suggest that Canadian officials intended some prisoners to be tortured in order to gather intelligence, according to a legal expert.

If the allegation is right, such actions would constitute a war crime, said University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran, who has been digging deep into the issue and told CBC News he has seen uncensored versions of government documents released last year.

“If these documents were released [in full], what they will show is that Canada partnered deliberately with the torturers in Afghanistan for the interrogation of detainees,” he said.

“There would be a question of rendition and a question of war crimes on the part of certain Canadian officials. That’s what’s in these documents, and that’s why the government is covering up as hard as it can.”

Detainee abuse became the subject of national debate last year after heavily redacted versions of the documents were made public after Attaran filed an access to information request. They revealed the Canadian military was not monitoring detainees who had been transferred from Canadian to Afghan custody. It was later alleged that some of those detainees were being mistreated.

Diplomat Richard Colvin says he warned top Canadian officials as early as 2006 that Afghan detainees handed over to Afghans were subsequently being tortured. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

Until now, the controversy has centred on whether the government turned a blind eye to abuse of Afghan detainees.

But, Attaran said the full versions of the documents show that Canada went even further in intentionally handing over prisoners to torturers.

“And it wasn’t accidental; it was done for a reason,” he said. “It was done so that they could be interrogated using harsher methods.”

The government maintains that nothing improper happened.

“The Canadian Forces have conducted themselves with the highest performance of all countries,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the House of Commons Thursday.

But many facets of the issue remain top secret, such as the role of Canada’s elite Joint Task Force 2, or JTF2. There have been hints that JTF2 might be handling so-called high-value prisoners.

“High-value targets would be detained under a completely different mechanism that involved special forces and targeted, intelligence-driven operations,” Richard Colvin, a former senior diplomat with Canada’s mission in Afghanistan, told a parliamentary committee last November.

Colvin claimed that all detainees transferred by Canadians to Afghan prisons were likely tortured by Afghan officials. He also said that his concerns were ignored by top government officials and that the government might have tried to cover up the issue.

Opposition parties have been trying to get the Conservative government to release the uncensored versions of the documents pertaining to the handling of Afghan detainees.

Retired Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci has been questioned to review whether documents pertaining to the transfer of Afghan detainees can be released to Parliament.

(Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

The Conservatives insist that releasing uncensored files on the issue would hurt national security. On Friday, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson questioned former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Frank Iacobucci to review whether there would be “injurious” effects if some Afghan detainee documents were made public.

Nicholson did not give full details on Iacobucci’s assignment or a timetable for when the review might be completed.

But, opposition parties said Parliament is entitled to those documents regardless of what Iacobucci decides.

“Parliament is supreme,” said Ontario NDP MP Paul Dewar. “What this is, is a skate around Parliament.”

Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh said the government still has many questions to answer on the subject of detainees.

“Who knew what and when, and who allowed the continuing saga of Afghan detainees being sent to a potential risk of torture?” Dosanjh said.

It’s not clear whether the government will make Iacobucci’s advice public. Moreover, he is not a sitting judge and can’t legally rule or force the government to do anything.

Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo is unable make a save on a shot by Blackhawks forward Andrew Ladd. (Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press)

The Canucks’ NHL record 14-game road trip can’t end soon enough for Roberto Luongo.

Coming off a gold-medal win with Team Canada at the Vancouver Olympics, he allowed five goals on 14 shots before head coach Alain Vigneault sat him after one period of a 6-3 loss at Chicago on Friday night.

It was the third time Luongo was pulled in favour of Andrew Raycroft in the first 11 games of the road trip, for which the Canucks have a 6-5-0 record.

Luongo’s rough night was marred by terrible luck and poor decisions. Andrew Ladd opened the scoring with a harmless-looking shot from the side boards that hit the knob of the goalie’s stick and crossed the goal-line.

With Vancouver trailing 2-0, Luongo misplayed a puck in the crease and watched Troy Brouwer bury it midway through the first period.

More to come