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Hogberg makes 40 saves, Senators beat Flames 5-2

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Game # 50
 
Flames Hockey Forum 2 Senators Hockey Forum 5
 
 

By
Associated Press
Updated: 19 hours ago

OTTAWA -- Marcus Hogberg isn’t sure he belongs in the NHL.

 

He might be the only one with that thought.

 

Hogberg was at his finest Saturday, making 40 saves to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames.

 

The Senators (17-23-8) were outshot 42-21 and, if not for Hogberg’s performance, the result could very well have been different for a team that was winless in nine games.

 

It marked the 25-year-old’s second NHL win in 13 career starts.

 

“He’s got points in four straight (games),” said Senators coach D.J. Smith. “He gave us every chance to win those other three games and he was really good again.

 

It’s good for our team and our organization to have a young guy that’s playing at this level.”

 

Brady Tkachuk, Chris Tierney, Connor Brown, Colin White and Vladislav Namestnikov had the Ottawa goals.

Mark Jankowski snapped Hogberg’s shutout bid with just under six minutes remaining with his first of the season and Noah Hanifin scored with just over two minutes left.

 

Hogberg has a 1-2-5 record this season, but his record is hardly indicative of his play. He has seen substantial playing time as Anders Nilsson remains sidelined with a concussion.

 

The Senators have played the 25-year-old instead of veteran Craig Anderson, who could be moved at the trade deadline.

 

“I just try to work hard and show my best for the guys and the coaches, and we will see what happens,” Hogberg said.

 

The victory comes at a good time as the Senators are headed into an eight-day break.

 

“We’ve played for stretches the way we want to play, but tonight without Hogberg we’re not winning that game, it’s that simple, he was excellent,” Dylan DeMelo said.

 

“We got some timely goals, the power play scored, which was huge for us, and it kind of seemed like we didn’t have many shots, but when we did they went in.”

 

Calgary (26-19-5) saw its six-game winning streak come to an end heading into a nine-day break for the All-Star Game.

 

“If we get this one ... we go into the break feeling really good about ourselves and try to gather some momentum for the last 32 games," Matthew Tkachuk said. "But this didn’t allow us to feel that way."

 

David Rittich turned aside 16 of 20 shots for Calgary.

 

Despite outshooting the Senators by a wide margin, the Flames felt they made far too many mistakes that cost them in the end.

 

“We had a few breakdowns and they took advantage of it,” said Flames coach Geoff Ward. “At the end of the day it’s not enough when you need to catch up.”

 

White gave Ottawa a 4-0 lead, scoring on a Mikkel Boedker rebound early in the third and Namestnikov added an empty-net goal.

 

With nearly 40 family members on hand for the fourth installment of the clash between the Tkachuk brothers, it was Brady who finally prevailed, also picking up an assist.

 

It marked the first time he was on the winning side.

 

The game started with referee Wes McCauley throwing out Artem Anisimov and Elias Lindholm out of the faceoff circle to allow the brothers to take the opening draw.

 

“We got that out of the way last year and we had talked about it,” Matthew Tkachuk said.

 

“This year we didn’t talk about it and weren’t going to do it. Wes was great. He said, ‘If I’m reffing, you guys have got to do the opening draw -- your mom will love it.’ "

 

Brady admitted getting the win was a little more special considering who it was against, but in the end the two points were the most important.

 

“It’s two teams who need those points and definitely happy we got those two points,” he said. “It was all because of (Hogberg). He stood in there and had a phenomenal performance.

 

Wish we could have lessened the load in the first period, but it showed everybody how good of a goalie he is.”

 

The Senators took a 2-0 lead in the second as Tierney picked up a loose puck in front and backhanded it past Rittich. Brown then scored on a power play as he dug at a puck under Rittich and was able to push it over the goal line.

 

Hogberg made a huge stick save on Sam Bennett midway through the second to keep the Flames off the board.

 

Brady Tkachuk scored his 15th of the season when he looked to pass to Anthony Duclair but instead saw the puck deflect off Travis Harmonic’s stick and into the net at 7:15 of the first.

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Blues get 1st SO win, beat Flames 5-4

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Game # 51
 
Flames Hockey Forum 4 Blues Hockey Forum 5  S)
 
 

By
Associated Press
Updated: 14 hours ago

CALGARY, Alberta -- For David Perron, Calgary has become his home away from home.

 

Up against a team he's always thrived against and in a building he enjoys playing in, Perron had a goal and an assist in regulation and added a shootout goal to help the St. Louis Blues beat the Calgary Flames 5-4 on Tuesday night.

 

Perron has 17 goals in 39 career games against the Flames, includings 12 goals in 20 games at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

 

"I like the old barn, maybe. I don't know," said Perron, when asked about his success historically against Calgary.

 

"I always have fun coming up to Canada and playing here, even when I was back with the Oilers."

 

Alex Steen, Jaden Schwartz and Zach Sanford also scored in regulation for the Blues, who got their first win the tiebreaker in four games this season. Jordan Binnington stopped 27 shots to improve to 23-8-5.

 

Sean Monahan scored twice, and Matthew Tkachuk and Mark Jankowski also had goals for the Flames, who were 5-0 in shootouts. Cam Talbot finished with 30 saves.

 

The Flames were 3 for 3 on the power play during regulation, and got a fourth man-advantage in overtime, but squandered it.

 

"It's obviously a big kill," said Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo. "Four-on-three's are never easy, especially late in the game when you're tired, legs and brain are a little tired. Good time for us to step up and kill that."

 

Perron and Ryan O'Reilly scored on St. Louis' first two shootout attempts, while Monahan and Tkachuk missed their tries.

 

In a wild back-and-forth game in which both teams blew two leads, St. Louis tied it 4-4 less than a minute into the third period.

 

After Andrew Mangiapane hit the goal post at one end, the Blues raced up ice on a 2-on-1 with Sanford keeping the puck and ripping a shot over Talbot's glove.

 

St. Louis then scored what appeared to be the go-ahead goal less than three minutes later when Talbot muffed Perron's shot off the wing.

 

However, interim head coach Geoff Ward challenged the play for offside and after video review, the goal was waved off.

 

"I kind of had a feeling right away," said Perron, who extended his point streak to four games (2-4-6). "Even going through the line I was asking, `is it offside?' Coming back to the bench I saw coach right away. If it's a quick challenge like that, it doesn't go our way very often."

 

St. Louis lost 3-1 in Vancouver on Monday night in its first game back after an eight-day layoff. It was the Flames' first game in 10 days.

 

"It's tough to come off (the break) and have two back-to-back games against teams that play heavy and have speed," O'Reilly said. "It is good though. We got two points tonight.

 

Last night they were available and we didn't get them. We have to keep building and keep growing our game and get back on track here."

 

After taking a 3-2 lead after 20 minutes, thanks to two goals in the final couple minutes of the first period, the Blues' second lead of the night was erased at 4:40 of the second when Monahan scored off a pass from Johnny Gaudreau, for Calgary's third power-play goal.

 

Five minutes later, the Flames surged back in front when Jankowski converted a centering feed from Sam Bennett. It was the second goal in two games for Jankowski after he started the season without a goal in the first 38 games.

 

Calgary had a chance to go up by two, but on his second breakaway of the period, Gaudreau was thwarted once again by Binnington.

 

After a deke to his backhand didn't work on his first try, he tried to shoot high blocker side, but again was denied by the Blues' goalie, who also got a pad on the rebound.

 

"He's a good goaltender," Gaudreau said. "You watch him in the playoffs last year, he's a hard goalie to score against. The first breakaway, I didn't sell it enough.

 

Second one, I just missed low, he got a quick blocker on it."

 

St. Louis opened the scoring at 5:45 of the first. Oliver Kylington gave the puck away to Steen, who worked a width-of-the-ice give-and-go with Robert Thomas, with Steen finishing for his fifth goal of the season.

 

After power-play goals five minutes apart by Tkachuk and Monahan put Calgary in front, Perron tied it with 1:19 left. Schwartz's deflection 8 seconds into a man-advantage made it 3-2 just 44 seconds later.

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Monahan scores shootout winner, Flames edge rival Oilers 4-3

Game # 52
 
Flames Hockey Forum 4 Oilers Hockey Forum 3
 
 

By
Associated Press
Updated: 3 hours ago

EDMONTON, Alberta -- Sean Monahan scored the shootout winner and the Calgary Flames beat the rival Edmonton Oilers 4-3 on Wednesday night in a heated game that featured a much-anticipated fight between Matthew Tkachuk and Zack Kassian.

 

Andrew Mangiapane had a pair of goals and Elias Lindholm also scored for the Flames, who snapped a two-game skid and improved to 27-19-6. David Rittich finished with 31 saves.

 

"Our only concern right now is to get two points," Monahan said. "You look at the standings and this is obviously a four-point game. You're trying to move up a day at a time.

 

When you're playing your rivals like that, obviously you want to step up and want to earn those points and we did that tonight."

 

Kailer Yamamoto, Alex Chiasson and Matt Benning scored for the Oilers (26-18-6), who won their previous two.

 

"It's fun when you're playing games that matter and tonight was one that mattered, for sure," Edmonton captain Connor McDavid said.

 

"The crowd felt that, both teams felt that and it was fun, for sure."

 

In the last meeting between the clubs on Jan. 11 in Calgary, Tkachuk delivered a pair of crushing hits on Kassian, prompting the Oilers winger to jump Tkachuk -- a move that earned Kassian a two-game suspension.

Kassian returned from the ban Wednesday and the two squared off for a brief scrap during a faceoff late in the first period.

 

"A lot of people didn't want me to do it, but I wanted to," Tkachuk said. "So it was just kind of a way for me to stick up for myself and it didn't have anything to do with owing anybody. It was just doing it for myself there."

Many were anticipating an altercation.

 

"Now it's over," Kassian said. "I wish that would have happened in the first place, then it would have been done. I respect him for stepping up to the plate."

 

The Flames scored just 61 seconds in with a bit of a gift goal as a sharp-angle shot by Lindholm hit defender Adam Larsson's stick and deflected past Oilers goalie Mike Smith.

 

Less than a minute after Rittich made a point-blank save on McDavid with five minutes to play in the first, a Flames shot trickled past Smith and sat on the goal line before being cleared to safety with a millimeter to spare by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who then got into a rare fight with Monahan on the next shift.

 

Edmonton tied the game six minutes into the second period when Yamamoto scored his fourth goal in nine games up with the big club this season on a rebound.

 

Calgary regained the lead with seven minutes left in the middle frame as Mangiapane fired a one-timer to the top right corner.

 

The Oilers evened things up again less than two minutes later when Chiasson scored on a rebound in tight on the power play.

 

Mangiapane scored his second of the game with 45 seconds left in the second, waiting out Smith before lifting in a backhand shot.

 

Edmonton made it 3-all with eight minutes left in the third when Benning, a defenseman who had missed the past 20 games with a head injury, made a great move to get past Noah Hanifin and beat Rittich for his first goal of the season. That sent the game to a thrilling overtime session, when both goalies were forced to make five-alarm saves to send it to the shootout.

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McDavid scores twice, Oilers battle past Flames

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0:48
 
 
 
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0:48
 
 
 
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Talbot, Smith exchange blows in goalie fight

Flames goalie Cam Talbot and Oilers goalie Mike Smith square up at center ice in the second period.

 

Game # 53

 

Flames Hockey Forum 3 Oilers Hockey Forum 8


By
Associated Press
Updated: 14 hours ago

CALGARY, Alberta -- Edmonton used a fast start and strong finish to get past Calgary.

 

Connor McDavid scored twice to lead the Oilers to an 8-3 victory over the Flames on Saturday night in a game that featured a goalie fight.

 

The Oilers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and extended it to three before the Flames rallied in the second period. Edmonton then reeled off four unanswered goals and earned their first win over the Flames in four tries this season.

 

"When we start better, we start on time," Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl, who chipped in four assists. "We've lost a few games against them this season so we wanted to come out strong and come out fast."

 

Draisaitl also took the time to share his thoughts on David Rittich's stick-flip celebration following his shootout-winning save against the NHL's leading scorer when the Oilers and Flames met last Wednesday.

 

"It's just disrespectful," Draisaitl said. "We hit two posts and he's celebrating like they just won the Stanley Cup. Just show some respect, that's my opinion."

 

Mike Smith, who spent the last two seasons as Rittich's teammate in Calgary, acknowledged that the pair have an on-going relationship, but did admit the Flames netminder took things too far.

 

"What goes around comes around," Smith said.

 

Zack Kassian, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Caleb Jones, Sam Gagner and Gaetan Haas also scored, while Smith made 15 saves to record the win before being ejected with 24 seconds left in the second period for a secondary fight with Flames netminder Cam Talbot.

 

Mikko Koskinen played the final 20:24 in net for the Oilers and stopped all eight shots he faced.

 

"They've kind of took it to us the last three times we've played them," said Smith, who signed with the Oilers on July 1 after playing the previous two seasons with the Flames.

 

"I feel like we hadn't played our best game against Calgary yet. Tonight was a lot better."

 

Buddy Robinson, Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk scored for the Flames, while Mark Giordano had two assists.

 

"We allowed their best players to really feel it tonight and that was the difference," Giordano said.

 

"When they're getting chances, they're a really dangerous team and we didn't do a good enough job of eliminating odd-man rushes and zone time. It felt like they had a lot of space out there tonight."

 

Rittich started in net for Calgary, but was pulled 3:18 into the second period after allowing four goals on 17 shots.

 

Talbot made 21 saves in a relief appearance before being ejected from the game for the secondary fight with Smith. Rittich then went back in net and made nine more saves.

 

The Oilers opened the scoring 29 seconds into the game when Yamamoto picked up a rebound and slid a shot past a sprawling Rittich.

 

Just 36 seconds later, Kassian took a pass from Josh Archibald and lifted a shot into the top-right corner.

 

The Flames had a great chance to score a short time later when Smith ventured behind his net to play the puck, but had to scramble to get back into position before he extended his stick and stopped Johnny Gaudreau.

 

Robinson pulled Calgary within a goal at 12:42 of the first when he took a pass from Gaudreau and chipped the puck over Smith's right pad and into the net.

 

It was his first goal as a Flame and first since scoring against the Florida Panthers as a member of the Ottawa Senators on Apr. 17, 2016.

 

"It was definitely a special moment for myself to score a goal after all this time and have a friend like (Gaudreau) assist on it on a cool play, but it's just something that I'm going to have to just kind of put in the memory bank and get ready to go back to work tomorrow," Robinson said.

 

McDavid restored Edmonton's two-goal lead at 15:33 by snapping a shot from the slot through a screen and over Rittich's blocker.

 

McDavid added his second of the game 3:18 into the second. Rittich got a piece of the shot with his right arm, but the puck got past him.

 

The Flames fought back within a goal as Tkachuk beat Smith off a feed from Andrew Mangiapane at 4:35 of the second, before Lindholm banked the puck off the Oilers netminder's leg and into the net from behind the goal line at 10:14.

 

The Oilers responded 83 seconds later when Nugent-Hopkins scored off a pass from Yamamoto.

 

Jones put Edmonton up 6-3 at 15:58 of the second when his slap shot from the point through traffic found its way into the net.

 

Tempers flared with 24 seconds left before the second intermission when Gagner poked a puck that was under Talbot into the net.

 

Although the goal was immediately waved off, several skirmishes broke out including a fight between Tkachuk and Ethan Bear and another at center ice between Smith and Talbot.

 

"In a game like that, it kinds of sets you off and I reacted accordingly -- probably not the smartest reaction on my part, but it is a highly emotional game and my emotions got the best of me," Talbot said.

 

Smith didn't like seeing Talbot mix it up with his teammates, so he skated out to the red line.

 

"Old fashioned hockey right there," Smith said. "Obviously, Talbot gets in there and mixes up a little bit, throws some blockers. I didn't really like that. I was just seeing what was happening there. He obliged."

 

The teams were subsequently sent to their respective locker rooms and the remaining 24 seconds were played just prior to the start of the third period.

 

The Oilers scored the only two goals of the third as Gagner snapped a shot that fooled Rittich shortside at 13:16, before Haas scored on a penalty shot with 1:57 remaining in regulation.

 

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Thornton reaches 1,500 points, Sharks beat Flames 3-1

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Game # 54
 
 
Flames Hockey Forum 1 Sharks Hockey Forum 3 
 

By
Associated Press
Updated: 5 hours ago

CALGARY, Alberta -- Joe Thornton had two assists to reach 1,500 career points and the San Jose Sharks beat the Calgary Flames 3-1 Tuesday night.

 

Evander Kane, Brent Burns and Kevin Labanc scored for the Sharks, who have just two wins in their last seven games. San Jose is 8-11-2 since interim coach Bob Boughner replaced the fired Peter DeBoer on Dec. 11.

 

Thornton became the 14th player in NHL history to reach the 1,500-point mark, and trails Paul Coffey by 31 for 13th place.

 

"I've played with a lot of really good teams and really good players," the 40-year-old Thornton said. "Fortunate enough to stay healthy a lot of years so it's very, very special."

 

Aaron Dell, from nearby Airdrie and who played his Junior A hockey in Calgary, stopped 30 shots for the win.

"I've played a few here," Dell said. "Some of them haven't gone so great, so I needed this one."

 

Johnny Gaudreau scored for the Flames, who are 1-3-1 in their last five. David Rittich finished with 23 saves.

 

"I don't think frustration does a whole lot for you," Flames interim coach Geoff Ward said. "I think anger does a lot more for you. ... When we're sick and tired as a group of seeing this and losing games we'll find a way to fix it.

 

But more than anything, you've got to hate losing."

 

Calgary captain Mark Giordano left the game in the second period. The defenseman injured his right leg lunging to launch a sharp-angled shot. He massaged his right hamstring when he made it to the bench.

 

After testing his leg with a short skate during a timeout, last season's Norris Trophy winner headed to the dressing room.

 

"We don't know the extent of it. We don't know what it is," Ward said. "We'll worry about things as they unfold. Right now, it's all speculation, so we'll wait and see what the doctors say and go from there, but potentially it's a huge loss."

 

The Flames were looking for both a bounce-back game and precious points after Saturday's 8-3 loss to Edmonton.

 

Calgary was among five teams separated by just six points atop the Pacific Division coming in.

Labanc beat Rittich with a high backhand at 7:45 of the third period to seal the win.

 

The Flames outshot San Jose 16-9 in a scoreless first period.

 

Calgary opened the second period on the power play because of Kane's high-sticking minor. After the Sharks flubbed a short-handed 3-on-1 chance, the Flames scored on the return trip.

 

Gaudreau and Elias Lindholm combined on a give-and-go at 59 seconds to put Calgary up 1-0.

 

Burns tied it at 3:57, getting his 500th career point as a Shark, with a high slap shot over Rittich's blocker.

 

Thornton nabbed the puck in the neutral zone and fed Burns at the top of the faceoff circle.

 

San Jose went ahead at 8:02 when Kane roofed the puck on a behind-the-net feed from Barclay Goodrow.

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Granlund helps Predators past Flames 3-2

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Game # 55
 
Flames Hockey Forum 2 Predators Hockey Forum 3 

By
Associated Press
Updated: 17 hours ago

CALGARY, Alberta -- Mikael Granlund had a goal and an assist to lead to lead the Nashville Predators to a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.

 

After assisting on the tying goal in the first, Granlund made it three straight goals for the visitors at 9:06 of the second, poking in a rebound after Cam Talbot had stopped the initial blast from the blue line by Roman Josi.

 

The goal came on the Predators' only power play of the game.

 

"Huge win for us," said Josi, who had two assists to surpass the 400-point plateau for his career. "We're a confident group.

 

We need to make a push. We're not happy with where we are, but we're feeling confident and we're excited to make that push."

 

Six of Granlund's 12 goals on the season have come in the 12 games since John Hynes took over behind the bench on Jan. 7 for the fired Peter Laviolette.

 

"When pucks are going in, that's when the confidence comes," Granlund said.

 

"But at the same time, I've been out there a lot, getting a lot of minutes and chances. You just try to take advantage of that."

 

Hynes says his Finnish forward has earned the increased ice time.

 

"He's a good, smart, competitive player that has offensive skill. He's bringing that to the table, but the big thing is he's been consistent," says Hynes, whose record is 7-5-0.

 

"He plays the game in the right areas. He's very strong at the net front offensively. He's strong on his puck battles. He's a very smart player. I can use him everywhere."

 

Dante Fabbro and Kyle Turris also scored for Nashville, which has won four of its last five to climb within one point of the Flames for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

 

Sam Bennett and Rasmus Andersson had the goals for Calgary, which lost all three games on its homestand.

 

Calgary was without Mark Giordano (hamstring), his first game missed due to injury since February 2015.

 

The Flames captain is week-to-week. In the absence of the club's ice-time leader, Travis Hamonic jumped up to the top pairing to join TJ Brodie. That pair was on the ice for all three Predators goals.

 

Juuse Saros made his second straight start in goal for Nashville and was sharp again.

 

After a 33-save performance Tuesday in Winnipeg, he made 37 stops. His best stop was a pad save off Matthew Tkachuk as Calgary failed to convert a late second-period 2-on-1 that would have tied it.

 

"It's getting frustrating," Tkachuk said. "It's crunch time right now. We've just got to play our game and get to it early.

There's no excuse why after we make it 1-0, it's 2-1 after the end of the first period. We've got to do a better job of playing with the lead."

 

Cam Talbot, in his first appearance since he was thrown out of Saturday's game against Edmonton after his fight with Mike Smith, made 32 saves.

 

Calgary got off to a fast start with Bennett snapping a 12-game goalless drought just 33 seconds into the game. Skating hard to the top of the crease, he arrived just in time to redirect a centering pass from Travis Hamonic.

 

The lead was short-lived with Fabbro tying it at 1:49, strolling into the slot uncontested and ripping a shot over the glove of Talbot.

 

The Predators took the lead 10 minutes later when Turris banged in a loose puck during a scramble in front.

 

Flames interim head coach Geoff Ward, visibly frustrated, spoke about his club's lack of urgency. Entering the third period and down by a goal, Calgary went over 12 minutes without a shot.

 

"It's about how hard you want to compete," Ward said. "At the end of the day when there's a loose puck, are we getting it or are they getting it? And right now, we're not getting it enough."

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Dube has goal, 2 assists as Flames beat Canucks 6-2

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Game # 56
 
Flames Hockey Forum  6 Canucks Hockey Forum 2

By
Associated Press
Updated: 15 hours ago

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Dillon Dube had a goal and an assist for a career-high three-point night, and the Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks 6-2 Saturday might.

 

Milan Lucic and Derek Ryan each had a goal and assist for the Flames,who snapped a three-game skid. 

 

Matthew Tkachuk, Sean Monahan and Tobias Rieder also scored. Mikael Backlund and Johnny Gaudreau each added two assists. David Rittich had 25 saves.

 

The Flames found themselves trailing 1-0 after just 34 seconds, then got some momentum when Tkachuk dropped the gloves in a fight with Vancouver's J.T. Miller on the ensuing faceoff.

 

"We were stunned," Dube said. "Right away you see some heads drop, but when (Tkachuk) went out there every single guy was on the bench going crazy. ... I think it got our momentum going and said, `we're here for business,' so he was big for us."

 

Calgary moved into the first wild card spot in the Western Conference, one point ahead of Winnipeg and Arizona, and three points behind the Canucks who lead the Pacific Division.

 

Tanner Pearson and Adam Gaudette scored for the Canucks, who lost their third straight and saw a nine-game home-winning streak end. Jacob Markstrom stopped 26 shots.

 

Vancouver coach Travis Green said the Canucks looked like a team still learning how to battle for a playoff spot. Vancouver has missed the playoffs in each of the last four seasons.

 

"I think tonight in a way they (Calgary) looked like a team that had been in this situation before," he said. "We made some mistakes at costly times, a couple little details that cost goals. When you are playing games like this, it is those little details that matter."

 

Lucic put Calgary ahead 4-2 on a power play at 6:48 of the third, tipping Backlund's shot past Markstrom for his fifth of the season. Monahan made it 5-2 at 16:01 on a pretty feed from Gaudreau.

 

Pearson said the Canucks need to do a better job clearing the net in front of Markstrom.

 

"He gave us a chance to win that hockey game," Pearson said. "We have to help him when he's doing that. That one is on us."

 

Markstrom blamed himself.

 

"It was a huge game," he said. "I have to come up with some stops and help our team. ... It's my job to see the puck."

 

The Flames led 3-2 after 40 minutes.

 

Dube gave Calgary the lead with just under three minutes gone in the second with a shot from the high slot.

 

Markstrom was screened on the play by a battle in front of the net between rookie Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes and Ryan.

 

The teams were tied 2-2 after a first period that saw a goal and fight in the first 35 seconds.

 

The Canucks scored with just 34 seconds gone. Pearson took a pass from Hughes, turned and fired a low shot that went under Rittich. Tkachuk and Miller then dropped gloves.

 

Flames' coach Geoff Ward praised Tkachuk's leadership.

 

"He's trying to change the momentum in the hockey game and get our guys back on a good footing," Ward said. "He understands what impact he can have on the game."

 

Ryan tied it at 4:20 on a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle. Markstrom was screened on the play by Canucks forward Jake Virtanen.

 

Tkachuk made it 2-1 on a breakaway at 12:08. Markstrom made a pad save on the initial shot but the puck when in off Tkachuk's skate.

 

Gaudette scored his first goal in 15 games at 18:13. He pounced on a bad bounce off the boards behind the Calgary net and lifted a shot over a surprised Rittich.

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Flames use fast start to beat Sharks 6-2

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Game # 57
 
Flames Hockey Forum  6 Sharks Hockey Forum 2
 
 

By
Associated Press
Updated: 7 hours ago

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Milan Lucic and Tobias Rieder scored in a span of 34 seconds early in the first period, Matthew Tkachuk added a highlight-reel tally in the third, and the Calgary Flames beat the San Jose Sharks 6-2 on Monday night.

 

"It was good to come out with the start we had and going up 3-0," Tkahcuk said.

 

"It tided us over as they came back. But I thought all in all we did a good job of coming out here and playing with the lead the whole game."

 

Zac Rinaldo, Mark Jankowski and Mikael Backlund also scored to give the Flames back-to-back wins following a three-game losing streak thanks to some unlikely scorers.

 

Calgary got goals from all three fourth-liners in Rieder, Rinaldo and Jankowski, who entered the game with seven goals in 98 games.

 

But the prettiest of all came from Tkachuk, who played the puck between his legs before beating Aaron Dell on a power-play goal that made it 5-2.

 

"It was a pretty impressive goal," Backlund said. "He's obviously worked on it a lot. ... He's done at least three times that I know of."

 

David Rittich made 34 saves for the Flames.

 

Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns scored for the Sharks, who were trying for their first three-game winning streak since November. Dell made 31 saves.

 

"We said all along we have to be a detailed and structured team to give ourselves a chance and I don't think we were detailed or structured especially in the first 10 minutes," interim coach Bob Boughner said.

 

The Flames jumped out early by scoring on back-to-back shifts in the first five minutes of the first period.

 

The Sharks nearly killed off an early penalty to Brenden Dillon but Radim Simek's clearing attempt was stopped at the blue line by Rasmus Andersson.

 

Calgary quickly turned that mistake into a goal with Andersson feeding Backlund, who set up Lucic for the backdoor tip to make it 1-0.

 

The Flames added to the lead on the next shift when Jankoswki's shot from the slot went off the back boards to Rieder, who tapped it into the open net.

 

Rinaldo added his goal a few minutes later on the fourth rebound during a scramble following an icing against the Sharks.

 

San Jose finally got back into the game after that with Karlsson scoring off a give-and-go with Barclay Goodrow in the first period and Burns scoring on the power play early in the second.

 

The Sharks put heavy pressure on after that but couldn't get the equalizer and fell back behind by two when Lucic's cross-ice pass on the rush deflected off Timo Meier's stick and bounced off Jankowski's chest for a goal.

 

"Obviously didn't get off to the start we wanted to," Sharks forward Stefan Noesen said. "Maybe we had a little bit of arrogance in our game just to start, and that kind of backfired.

 

We'll get back to work. I think we had some pretty good pushes. We responded fairly well and they had that one that hit off the guy's chest and went in. Maybe got a little deflated off that."

 

Backlund and Tkachuk scored on the power play in the third period.

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Toffoli, Wagner score in 2nd period, Kings beat Flames 5-3

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Game # 58
 
Flames Hockey Forum 3  Kings Hockey Forum 5
 
 

By
Associated Press
4 hours ago

LOS ANGELES -- Tyler Toffoli and Austin Wagner scored 39 seconds apart in the second period to give Los Angeles the lead, and the Kings went on to beat the Calgary Flames 5-3 on Wednesday night.

 

Kurtis MacDermid, Jeff Carter and Sean Walker also scored to help the Kings end a five-game losing streak. Calvin Petersen stopped 35 shots to get his first win of the season in his second start.

 

Elias Lindholm had two goals and Mikael Backlund also scored for Calgary. 

 

Johnny Gaudreau had two assists and David Rittich finished with 28 saves in the Flames' fourth loss in six games.

 

Toffoli tied the score 1-1 off a rebound for his 15th of the season just 44 seconds after Backlund had put the Flames ahead.

 

Wagner then gave Los Angeles the lead for good with his fourth on a breakaway with 7 minutes to go in the middle period.

 

"It was nice to score," said Wagner, a Calgary native who hadn't scored a goal in two months. "I've had lots of chances, just haven't gotten the bounce I need. ... Nice to finally see one go in.

 

I think I've just been trying so hard lately. Think I've been gripping my stick a little too tight. On that one, I just kind of relaxed."

 

MacDermid scored on a wrister that beat Rittich top shelf to extend the Kings lead to 3-1 at 1:42 of the third. It was the defenseman's third.

 

Lindholm scored at 3:25 to pull the Flames within one goal.

 

"I think they're pretty tight in the middle," Lindholm said. "We have a hard time sometimes to get the puck in and get to work down low. Next time we play them we have to be better."

 

The Kings had a key penalty kill midway through the final period, with Calgary on a 5-on-3 power play for 1:03 thanks to back-to-back tripping penalties by Drew Doughty and Iafallo.

 

"That was huge," MacDermid said. "That's a strength of ours. When we get it done, that's a huge momentum swing."

 

Carter then scored from the slot for his 17th to give the Kings a two-goal lead again with 4:48 remaining.

 

With Rittich pulled for an extra skater, Lindholm got his second of the night and 24th of the season to pull Calgary to 4-3 with 3:05 remaining.

 

Walker's empty-netter with 3 seconds left sealed Los Angeles' win.

 

Backlund scored to put Calgary on the board first in the second period after a mistake by Petersen.

 

The goalie went behind the net to play the puck, but the it took an unexpected bounce and in trying to clear it, the puck went right to Keith Tkachuck, who passed to Backlund for the goal.

 

The Kings -- last in the Pacific Division -- played a strong first period and outshot the Flames 13-8 in a scoreless first period.

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Talbot makes 44 saves, Calgary Flames rout Anaheim Ducks 6-0

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Game # 59
 
Flames Hockey Forum 6 Ducks Hockey Forum 0
 
 

By
Associated Press
Updated: 14 hours ago

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Mikael Backlund and Mark Jankowski scored two goals apiece, and Cam Talbot made a career-high 44 saves for his 21st career shutout in the Flames' 6-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.

 

The Ducks gave up four goals in the first period of their first game since since their game against St. Louis was called off Tuesday night when Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester collapsed on the Honda Center bench during the first period.

 

Talbot was superb in his first shutout for the Flames and his first victory since Jan. 11, making 18 saves in the second period alone.

 

"I felt like I controlled the game the best I could," Talbot said. "I didn't leave too much laying around for them to bang in. A lot of their shots came from the outside, makes it easy for me to control it."

 

Elias Lindholm, Oliver Kylington, Backlund and Jankowski all scored for Calgary during that one-sided opening period. Lindholm extended his scoring streak to nine games, one shy of his career high, with his 25th goal.

 

"We got some timely scoring early," Calgary coach Geoff Ward said. "I liked the response of our guys. We talked about how important it was to come out and play a solid first period, get into the game early. I thought the guys did a good job of that."

 

John Gibson stopped 12 shots in Anaheim's awful first period before Ryan Miller replaced him to start the second. The Ducks' season-best streak of five straight games with a point ended with just their second regulation loss in eight games.

 

"We learn from these," Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. "As much as you want to keep point streaks going, I think a kick in the rear end is good for you every once and a while."

 

Backlund got a short-handed goal in the second period for his 14th career multi-goal game, his first since March 10.

 

Calgary finished its four-game road trip with three wins in the first of two games between the Pacific Division rivals in five days.

 

Lindholm opened the scoring moments after a power play expired in the first period, finishing a scramble near the Ducks' net by stuffing the puck past Gibson's short side.

 

"We had breakdowns," Ducks forward Troy Terry said. "This really goes for myself, but we need to score on our chances. ... We need to have more jam than that.

 

It was one of those nights where we just couldn't figure it out."

 

Lindholm, who isn't related to Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm, is already approaching the career high of 27 goals last season with Calgary after spending his first five NHL campaigns with Carolina.

 

He scored two goals Wednesday during Calgary's loss to the last-place Los Angeles Kings.

 

Backlund extended his scoring streak to five games by converting a pass from Andrew Mangiapane. Just 1:29 later, Kylington beat Gibson high to the glove side for the 22-year-old Swede's second goal of the season and fifth of his NHL career.

 

Jankowski then put an unobstructed shot past Gibson's glove while skating up the middle during an odd-man rush 55 seconds before the first period ended.

 

Backlund got his short-handed goal late in the second, and Jankowski added another goal off his own rebound in the third.

 

He has scored five goals in his last seven games after failing to score in his first 38 this season.

 

"I think ever since I got that first one in Ottawa, the weight was lifted off my shoulders," Jankowski said. "I was able to play a little bit more freely. It definitely feels good."

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Nylander nets 2, Blackhawks beat Flames 8-4 to snap skid

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Game # 60
 
 
Flames Hockey Forum 4 Blackhawks Hockey Forum 8
 
 

By
Associated Press
Updated: 14 hours ago

CALGARY, Alberta -- Alex Nylander had two goals and the Chicago Blackhawks snapped a five-game losing streak with an 8-4 victory over the Calgary Flames on Saturday night.

 

Jonathan Toews, Dominik Kubalik, Alex DeBrincat, Brandon Saad, Patrick Kane and rookie Kirby Dach also scored for Chicago.

 

 Robin Lehner turned aside 38 shots to improve to 16-9-5. Toews and Kane each added two assists.

 

After entering with two goals in his previous 34 games, Nylander scored twice in the second as Chicago took advantage of several defensive miscues to outscore the Flames 4-1 in the period despite being outshot 14-7.

 

"I've been working hard since the break in practice," the 21-year-old Nylander said. "Nice to get some goals tonight."

 

Nylander wasn't the only Blackhawks player to break through.

 

DeBrincat, who had 41 goals last season, scored his 14th. Dach, who had one goal in his previous 20 games, got his eighth.

 

"Scoring goals gives you a ton of energy. It gives you a lift. It's nice to see them get a few," Toews said.

 

"Even if you're on the ice and have nothing to do with the play, just to be around goals is infectious. It's nice to see those guys make those plays as a result of their hard work."

 

Sam Bennett and Elias Lindholm had two goals apiece for the Flames, who have dropped five straight home games.

 

"Obviously, our details are way off at home," Lindholm said. "Losing the third guy and leaving the (defensemen) for 3-on-2s or 2-on-1s."

 

Saad broke a 2-all tie at 4:24 of the second and Nylander gave the Blackhawks their first two-goal lead just more than a minute later, pouncing on a bad giveaway in front by Dillon Dube and beating David Rittich with a move to his backhand.

 

With goalie Cam Talbot on in relief, Nylander made it 6-3 at 18:14 with the second of two Chicago goals in 27 seconds.

 

Another turnover by the Flames behind the net led to rookie Matthew Highmore setting up Nylander in the slot.

 

"I didn't think we did enough things at the puck, I didn't think we moved our feet as well as we could have, I didn't think we won as many battles as we needed too," Calgary interim coach Geoff Ward said.

 

"We didn't generate very much offensively in the first two periods because we didn't have the puck an awful lot."

 

The Flames entered the night in the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference. While they still have other teams to pass, the Blackhawks pulled within six points of Calgary with two games in hand.

 

"Big two points, gets us back in the mix," Chicago coach Jeremy Colliton said. "We did a lot of things well, as it's never perfect but the compete level was really good. Obviously we got some big goals, started the game with a big goal."

 

Even though Talbot was coming off a 44-save shutout Thursday at Anaheim, Ward started Rittich, who gave up a goal 30 seconds in when Toews skated down the wing and put a slap shot over his shoulder.

 

Bennett tied it less than two minutes later, but Chicago regained the lead at 9:17.

 

In what became a theme for the home side, a turnover behind the net -- this one by Michael Stone -- allowed Toews to set up Kubalik for a one-timer just after a power play expired.

 

Bennett's breakaway goal at 12:57 tied it again, but Chicago took advantage of the Flames' poor defensive play to pull away in the second period.

 

 Rasmus Andersson and Matthew Tkachuk were also guilty of turnovers deep in their own end that led to goals for the Blackhawks.

 

"It's a little frustrating right now," Bennett said. "We pushed back after they scored early.

 

For whatever reason, our defensive zone and our turnovers, we fell apart and gave up way too many odd-man rushes and good looks and they capitalized."

 

Calgary is 3-8-2 in its last 13 home games.

 

"We want to make this place a real tough place to play and for some reason right now, we're just not having success," Tkachuk said.

 

After Rittich gave up four goals on 15 shots, Talbot allowed four goals on 13 shots to fall to 8-9-1.

 

Calgary is minus its top two defenseman in Mark Giordano (hamstring) and Travis Hamonic (upper body), who remain out indefinitely.

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Mangiapane scores 3 times as Flames beat Ducks 6-4

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Game # 61
 
Flames Hockey Forum 6 Ducks Hockey Forum 4
 
 

By
Associated Press
Updated: 9 hours ago

CALGARY, Alberta -- Andrew Mangiapane had three goals and an assist, and the Calgary Flames rallied for a 6-4 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Monday.

 

Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and an assist for Calgary, which trailed 3-1 early in the third period. Sam Bennett and Sean Monahan also scored.

 

It was Mangiapane's first career hat trick.

 

"Obviously it was nice to get the first one out of the way," the 23-year-old left winger said. "Confidence is big in this league. Every game you play, every move you make, you're growing as a player."

 

Mangiapane's 12th goal got the Flames within one 4:46 into the third.

 

After Bennett tied it 19 seconds later, Mangiapane set up Tkachuk at 12:59. Tkachuk's initial shot was stopped, but he fired in the rebound from a scramble.

 

Mangiapane completed his hat trick with an empty-netter, taking a pass from Johnny Gaudreau.

 

"There was no way (Gaudreau) was going to shoot that puck. He was going to do whatever he had to do to make a pass," Flames interim coach Geoff Ward said. "Guys feel good for a guy like that.

 

He comes in, he's a great team player, he's well-liked in the room. He works extremely hard. He's earned the respect of the veteran players. so the guys were really pulling for him to get it and it's nice to see him get it."

 

Adam Henrique, Jakob Silfverberg, Nicolas Deslauriers and Devin Shore scored for Anaheim. Ryan Miller made 37 saves.

Cam Talbot made 26 stops for Calgary.

 

Leading 2-1 after 20 minutes, Anaheim made it a two-goal cushion at 3:05 when Deslauriers' shot from the sideboards caromed sharply off the skate of Flames defenseman Michael Stone and went over Talbot's shoulder.

 

But the Flames responded big time with five straight goals.

 

"I wish I could stand out here and say that we quit playing, but goals two, three, four and five, we had the puck on our stick, all under full control," Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said.

 

"Goals two, four and five are just simple breakout plays that our guys make with their eyes closed and for some reason we wanted to complicate it by either coming up the strong side or going to the front of the net."

 

The Ducks opened the scoring 5:53 into the second, taking advantage of a turnover by Bennett. Nick Ritchie corralled the loose puck and sprung Henrique on a breakway.

 

He just managed to squeeze a shot through the pads of Talbot.

 

Mangiapane tied it up less than a minute later, burying Noah Hanifin's rebound, but another costly mistake helped the Ducks move ahead again at 10:37.

 

Hanifin mishandled the puck in his own end, allowing Silfverberg to stroll in alone on Talbot.

 

"It was more us giving it to them than them taking it to us," Anaheim defenseman Hampus Lindholm said. "We, as a team, need to find ways to win those games, especially a road game, 3-1 in the third, that's a very good position to be in."

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Bergeron scores twice as Bruins beat Flames 4-3

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Game # 62
 
Flames Hockey Forum 3 Bruins Hockey Forum 4 
 

By
Associated Press
Updated: 6 hours ago

CALGARY, Alberta -- Patrice Bergeron is healthy again, and showing no signs of slowing down.

 

Bergeron scored two more goals, and the Boston Bruins beat the Calgary Flames 4-3 on Friday night for their fifth consecutive win.

 

Bergeron has scored 21 times in 32 games since returning from a lower-body injury on Dec. 9.

 

He is tied with Alex Ovechkin for the NHL's second-most goals over that span, behind only Auston Matthews of Toronto with 25.

 

Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle also scored for Boston (39-11-12), which opened a five-point lead on Tampa Bay atop the NHL's overall standings. David Pastrnak had two assists.

 

Bergeron said playing with Marchand and Pastrnak makes his job "real easy."

 

"I'm trying to take care of the details of the game and go on the attack and from there, simplifying our game," he said. "We're used to each other. We know where to be. I'm trying to get open for them to find me."

 

The 34-year-old Bergeron is up to 29 goals. His career high is 32, accomplished twice during his 16-year career.

"It goes well beyond him scoring as much as he has been. He does every little thing right," Coyle said.

 

"He's always on the right side of the puck. He has a great stick. Really good defensively. He just puts in the work."

 

The Bruins, who have won 11 of 12 overall, also made a trade Friday, acquiring forward Ondrej Kase from Anaheim.

 

Kase has missed the past five games with flu-like symptoms and won't join his new team until the Bruins return home after completing a four-game trip at Vancouver on Saturday.

 

Boston sent veteran forward David Backes, defensive prospect Axel Andersson and a first-round pick to the Ducks in the deal.

 

Mikael Backlund had two goals and Johnny Gaudreau also scored for Calgary (31-25-6), which is fighting for a wild card in the Western Conference. The Flames head out on a five-game trip that begins Sunday in Detroit, before meeting the Bruins again on Tuesday.

 

"We've got to take the right things out of this game and move on, take the positives out of it," interim Flames coach Geoff Ward said. "To hold a team like that to the number of shots that we did and the number of scoring chances we did, I thought it was a good defensive effort from our guys."

 

Marchand gave Boston its first lead 52 seconds into the second period -- making it 4-3 after trailing 3-1 -- deflecting Brandon Carlo's point shot past Cam Talbot.

 

Bergeron got the comeback started at 6:12 of the first when he outmuscled Sean Monahan at the side of the crease to bang in a puck as it bounced out front off the end boards.

 

Boston tied it six minutes later. After Alexander Yelesin's point shot from the Bruins blue line was blocked, the puck was corralled by Karson Kuhlman, who sprung Coyle on a breakaway. He cleanly beat Talbot with a move to his forehand.

 

"They weren't giving us anything. The couple chances we had, most of them we scored on," Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk said.

 

"They've got four lines that can wear you down. Their D move the puck very well. They defend very, very well. You saw that in the third."

 

Boston's Jaroslav Halak, beaten three times on the first four shots, was perfect the rest of the way, making 18 saves to improve to 16-6-6.

 

Talbot's four goals allowed came on 23 shots. He fell to 9-10-1.

 

Calgary got off to a fast start when Backlund scored 20 seconds into the game. Noah Hanifin's shot missed the net and Rasmus Andersson put the carom off the goal post before Backlund put it past Halak.

 

Backlund scored again at 2:34, one-timing a Tobias Rieder saucer pass over Halak's shoulder for his 12th goal of the season and sixth in the last seven games.

 

Boston got on the scoreboard 24 seconds later. Pastrnak's shot went wide off the skate of Flames defenseman Michael Stone before it was flicked in by Bergeron for his 29th of the season.

 

Gaudreau restored Calgary's two-goal lead less than a minute later. He drove to the net and had the puck deflect in off the stick of Bruins center David Krejci.

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Flames start road trip with 4-2 win over Red Wings

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Game # 63
 
Flames Hockey Forum 4 Red Wings Jackets Hockey Forum 2
 
 

By
Associated Press
Updated: 5 hours ago
 

DETROIT -- Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan scored in the first period, and the Calgary Flames started their road trip with a win, beating the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 on Sunday night.

 

Andrew Mangiapane scored Calgary's last two goals, one of which came into an empty net at the end. Dylan Larkin had both goals for Detroit.

 

The Flames are in a tight race for the final postseason spots in the Western Conference, and the five-game trip they began Sunday could be crucial. This matchup -- against a Detroit team with by far the NHL's worst record -- wasn't terribly intimidating, and initially it looked like it might be an easy night for Calgary.

 

"This is the NHL. Any team you play can win any night," Monahan said. "It comes down to how hard you're going to work, and how bad you want it."

 

Gaudreau was alone in the left circle when he beat goalie Jonathan Bernier with a slap shot to make it 1-0. Monahan scored on a rebound 77 seconds later.

 

"I thought we started the way we wanted. We started on time," Flames coach Geoff Ward said. "We were able to get out to the lead."

 

Larkin, however, got behind Calgary defenseman Michael Stone and beat goalie David Rittich to make it 2-1 later in the first period.

 

The Red Wings stayed within a goal until the final minute of the second. That's when a slapper by Noah Hanifin appeared to carom in off the leg of Mangiapane with 10.6 seconds remaining.

 

"I thought we dug in in the second," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. "I didn't think we were good enough in the first. I thought we had some guys playing and some guys were just in their jerseys."

 

With Detroit's goalie pulled, Larkin made it 3-2 with 2 minutes remaining in the third when his wrist shot from the blue line sailed through traffic and past Rittich. Mangiapane sealed the win for Calgary with 11.8 seconds to play.

 

The Flames pulled into a tie for the first wild card in the West with Arizona. Those two teams are one point ahead of Winnipeg, which lost at Buffalo on Sunday.

 

"We told them not to watch the standings. We're in control of our own fate right now," Ward said. "If you watch the standings right now, you're going to see a lot of different things.

 

Teams are going to be in and out. It's so close on different days, depending on what happens."

 

Detroit is 3-15-1 in its last 19 games. The Red Wings scratched forward Andreas Athanasiou and defenseman Mike Green, fueling speculation that at least one of them could be dealt before Monday's trade deadline.

 

"You don't know what's going to happen next. It could just be precautionary," Larkin said. "That's what we were told."

 

Green was traded to Edmonton in a deal announced a short while later. The Red Wings received forward Kyle Brodziak and a conditional draft pick from the Oilers. The pick will either be in the fourth round in 2020 or the third round in 2021.

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Monahan, Backlund score 2G each, Flames beat Bruins 5-2

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Game # 64
 
 
Flames Hockey Forum 5  Bruins Hockey Forum 2 
 

By
Associated Press
Updated: 17 hours ago

BOSTON -- Sean Monahan scored a pair of goals 1:12 apart in the second period and the Calgary Flames beat the Boston Bruins 5-2 on Tuesday night.

 

Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and two assists for the Flames and Erik Gustafsson picked up an assist in his debut for Calgary after coming over in a deal with Chicago at Monday's trade deadline.

 

Mikael Backlund also scored twice for Calgary, helping seal the win on a goal with 1:30 left in the third and adding an empty-netter in the final minute.

 

The Flames snuffed out any hopes of a comeback by the Bruins, holding them to just seven shots in the third period.

 

"There were some big blocks. Guys were paying the price," Monahan said. "We're here to win and you've got to do what you've got to do to get those two points."

 

The Flames remained on top of the Western Conference wild card standings with their first victory in Boston since Nov. 25, 2016.

 

"I thought it was an excellent effort," coach Geoff Ward said. "We played with an awful lot of composure.

 

This is a hard building to play in, but I thought we came in and we did a really good job in terms of staying focused."

 

David Rittich finished with 26 saves for Calgary.

 

Brad Marchand scored a shorthanded goal for the Bruins, who were playing their first home game since Feb. 15 and came out flat after a four-game road trip.

 

"We were stubborn. We kept wanting to put the puck in the middle of the ice and it wasn't there," coach Bruce Cassidy said. "We paid the price in the end."

 

The Bruins, who beat the Flames 4-3 on Saturday in Calgary, have lost back-to-back games for the first time since a four-game skid in early December.

 

It was just the third home loss in regulation for the Bruins, who still lead the NHL with 90 points (39-13-12).

 

"We weren't at our best, for sure. We didn't have it all the way through the game," Marchand said. "Just not our normal, upbeat high-energy game, but that's going to happen in an 82-game schedule. You're not going to be perfect."

 

Tuukka Rask finished with 26 saves for Boston.

 

Marchand tied it at 1-all 10:08 into the second on a breakaway, scoring his 27th career shorthanded goal and extending his point streak to seven straight games.

 

Marchand stared down Backlund after the goal and the two exchanged a few words before officials stepped in and kept them apart.

 

"We were just having a chat," Marchand said.

 

If Marchand was trying to fire up his teammates, the move seemed to backfire over the next few minutes as the Flames regained control of the game and held onto it the rest of the way.

 

Monahan scored his 20th of the season 13:25 into the second on a one-timer from the slot off a pass from Gaudreau, putting the Flames back up 2-1.

 

The Flames went on a power play when Boston's Matt Grzelcyk was called for roughing 14:32 into the second. The Flames won the faceoff after the penalty and scored five seconds later when Monahan redirected a shot by Tkachuk.

 

"I just thought the guys did a really, really good job regrouping," Ward said. "Real good response from a team that's showing resiliency to be more and more of a characteristic every day."

 

Tkachuk put Calgary up 1-0 when he backhanded in a rebound after a slap shot by Backlund went wide and took a hard bounce off the end boards.

 

Wagner poked in a loose puck during a scrum 13:09 into the third to pull Boston within 3-2.

 

Backlund set himself up with a pass off the boards coming up the ice and beat Rask with 1:30 left in the third.

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Granlund scores twice as Predators beat Flames 4-3 in OT

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Game # 65
 
Flames Hockey Forum 3 Predators Hockey Forum 4 OT

By
Associated Press
Updated: 17 hours ago
 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Nashville Predators gambled that keeping Mikael Granlund instead of trading the pending free agent at the deadline could help them play their way into the postseason.

 

Granlund certainly delivered Thursday night.

 

He became only the fourth player in NHL history to score a game-tying goal in the final 10 seconds of regulation and then score the game-winner in overtime as the Predators beat Calgary 4-3 in a playoff-type showdown between the Western Conference's two wild-card teams.

 

Granlund scored in regulation, then won the game 1:20 into overtime.

 

“Granny, he was Captain Clutch tonight,” Nashville defenseman Ryan Ellis said.

 

Granlund said it was quite the ending.

 

“The biggest thing is that we got those two points and we found a way somehow,” Granlund said. “It was a big two points. We tied it up, then they get the third goal right at the end and then we tie it up again. That’s hockey sometimes. Entertaining for sure.”

 

Roman Josi and Colton Sissons also had a goal apiece, with Ellis having three assists. Nashville won its third straight and improved to 6-1-1 over its last eight games.

 

Mikael Backlund had a goal and two assists, and Andrew Mangiapane and Rasmus Andersson each scored as Calgary had its two-game winning streak halted.

 

Flames interim coach Geoff Ward called the loss unfortunate even as Calgary got a point to stay a spot ahead of Nashville.

 

“You got 42 seconds left right, and you got the lead,” Ward said.

 

“They came back with a good push. Obviously, they're playing for their lives right now, too. They're the same as us. They're fighting for those last two spots.”

 

The Predators hadn't been among the top eight teams in the West since Nov. 13, until Tuesday night after beating Ottawa, and even then they needed a loss by Arizona to give them the edge for the second wild card.

 

By taking the season series 2-1, Nashville holds onto the second spot, a point behind the Flames with two games still in hand.

 

Nashville trailed 2-1 when Josi scored his 15th with 5:30 left from the left circle, squeezing the puck under goalie David Rittich's right arm.

 

Mangiapane put the Flames up 3-2 scoring with 42.9 seconds left for seemingly the winning goal.

 

Nashville took its timeout immediately, and Granlund tied it up from in front with the

the buzzer. Granlund then scored his 17th for the game-winner from the slot to start the Predators celebrating.

 

Rittich slammed his stick to the ice, breaking it in half as he went to the bench.

 

“It’s frustrating that we let that one last in,” Backlund said. “It’s tough. Point-three or however many seconds were left.”

 

It was Granlund's 11th goal since Nashville hired coach John Hynes on Jan. 7 with this his fourth game-winner in that span.

 

“He’s very consistent in his play, and he finds a way to get to areas where, if you look at him offensively, he gets to the areas where you can score,” Hynes said.

 

“And then he has the ability to make key plays at key times. That’s the player, that’s how good a player he is.”

Goalie Juuse Saros made 36 saves for his eighth win in 10 starts.

 

The Flames were coming off a big 5-2 win in Boston on Tuesday night and have been the NHL's best road team since Nov. 23, winning 15 of their last 20 games. They also got captain Mark Giordano back in Nashville after he missed 10 games with a hamstring injury.

 

Calgary outshot Nashville 11-8 in the first period, and Saros smothered a point-blank shot from Rasmuss Andersson at the edge of the crease at 11:08. Sissons put Nashville up with his ninth goal, beating Rittich from in front with a wrister off a pass from Colin Blackwell with 31.2 seconds left in the period.

 

Saros didn't have a chance to deny Andersson 26 seconds into the second, when he tapped in the puck easily off a pass from Backlund. Then the Swede got his 15th with help of a bounce at 3:48 sending the puck past Saros' outstretched glove and skate giving Calgary a 2-1 lead.

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Lightning 3 special team goals, end 4-game skid, top Flames

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Game # 66
 
Flames Hockey Forum 3 Lightning Hockey Forum 4
 
 

By
Associated Press
Updated: 20 hours ago
 

TAMPA, Fla. -- Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat scored on the power play and Yanni Gourde added a short-handed goal as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Calgary Flames 4-3 Saturday to snap a season-high four-game losing streak.

 

Alex Killorn scored his 24th goal of the season to help the Lightning win for the first time since an 11-game winning streak. Andrei Vasilevskiy ended a three-game losing streak with 18 saves.

 

"We knew coming into this game that we wanted to have a great effort and win that game," Gourde said. "It felt really good to come out with the `W' tonight."

 

The victory came soon after the Lightning announced team captain Steven Stamkos will undergo surgery for a core muscle injury and was expected to miss the rest of the regular season and potentially the first round of the playoffs.

 

Tampa Bay is second in the Atlantic Division and the playoffs are scheduled to begin the week of April 6.

 

Andrew Mangiapane, Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm scored for Calgary, which had a three-game point streak come to an end. David Rittich finished with 30 saves.

 

"Overall we didn't play 60 good minutes to win a game against one of the best in the league," Lindholm said. "We had some moments, a couple of minutes here and there, but it wasn't good enough.'

 

Killorn made it 4-2, taking a feed from Blake Coleman to come in alone from the circles in and pull the puck to his backhand and tuck a shot inside the post at 14:57 of the second period.

 

"Coleman finds me and I just take it to the net and make a play," Killorn said. "I think they were in the middle of a change so I got some open space there."

 

Tampa Bay opened the scoring as Johnson sat in the middle slot to tip Mikhail Sergachev's shot past Rittich at 13:52 for Tampa Bay's first power play goal at home since Jan. 7 against Vancouver.

 

The Lightning had just six power play goals since Jan. 2 before Saturday.

 

"We emphasized that we wanted to keep things a little bit more simple and shoot the puck and that's really all it was," Johnson said. "Sometimes it's not always the prettiest of plays that are the most effective."

 

Palat scored Tampa Bay's second power play goal of the game at 7:05 of the second period, settling a pass from Kucherov in the right circle before getting off a wrist shot that deflected off defenseman Derek Forbort for a 2-0 lead.

 

Gourde made it 3-0 with a shorthanded goal, his second of the season and fifth of his career, with a shot from the right circle at 11:50.

 

The goal came 54 seconds after Barclay Goodrow was turned aside on a shorthanded breakaway.

 

The Flames answered with two goals 52 seconds apart to pull to within one.

 

Mangiapane raced in down the left wing side and fired a slap shot that went through Vasilevsiy on the short side at 13:12.

 

Lindholm followed that up with a slap shot from the top of the right circle that grazed the stick of Palat and beat Vasilevskiy.

 

Monahan scored on the power play with 2:49 left for the Flames.

 

"We had stretches of puck in their zone, but not nearly enough," Calgary forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "We've just got to put this one aside right now because we've got a back-to-back.

 

I don't think any of us are happy with our game today but the good thing is we're going to come back tomorrow and we'll be desperate to get two points."

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Talbot makes 38 saves, Flames beat Panthers 3-0

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Game # 67
 
Flames Hockey Forum 3 Panthers Hockey Forum 0
 
 

By
Associated Press
Updated: 10 hours ago
 

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Cam Talbot made 38 saves, Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and an assist, and the Calgary Flames beat the Florida Panthers 3-0 Sunday.

 

TJ Brodie and Milan Lucic also scored for the Flames, and Mark Giordano had three assists.

 

“I felt pretty good from the get-go, got a good warm-up in this morning," Talbot said. "Guys let me see the shots, kept them to the outside for the first little bit.

 

It gets the confidence up early and able to get into a groove.”

 

The Flames finished 3-1-1 on the five-game road trip.

 

"We played a real, real good road period, maybe our best one of the whole trip in order to end it off," coach Geoff Ward said. "Good response by our guys and a well-earned win.”

 

Sam Montembault stopped 25 shots for the Panthers, who have tied a franchise record with seven straight home losses. The Panthers are 5-11-2 since the All-Star break.

 

Gaudreau gave the Flames a 1-0 lead on his power-play goal at 6:21 of the first. Gaudreau’s shot from the left circle beat Montembeault on the glove side.

 

The Flames went ahead 2-0 when Derek Ryan passed from behind the net to Lucic in front, who banked it off the post and in at 3:10 of the second.

 

Calgary stretched its lead to 3-0 on Brodie’s shot from just inside the blue line 1:09 into the third.

 

“At the end, we didn’t have a push. That’s unacceptable,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. “We just have to regroup right now.”

 

The home crowd began to boo in the closing minutes of the second period and also at the end of the game.

 

“Obviously disappointed, we’ve put ourselves in a really tough spot," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said.

 

"Let’s find a way to bring some excitement in our team game and get the building going in our favor.”

 

Gaudreau was awarded a penalty shot with 7:43 left in the first after being hooked by MacKenzie Weegar, but Montembeault blocked it.

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Brodie's goal late in OT lifts Flames past Blue Jackets 3-2

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Game # 68
 
Flames Hockey Forum 3 Blue Jackets Hockey Forum 2 OT
 
 

By
Associated Press
Updated: 6 hours ago
 

CALGARY, Alberta -- T.J. Brodie scored with 11 seconds remaining in overtime as the Calgary Flames rallied from a two-goal deficit and beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 on Wednesday night.

 

Blue Jackets goaltender Joonas Korpisalo had lost his stick and was unable to get a glove on Brodie's wrist shot from the high slot.

 

Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk also scored for Calgary. Cam Talbot made 20 saves and improved to 8-3-1 since Jan. 1.

 

Calgary (35-26-7) continued to cling to third place in the Pacific Division, just ahead of five teams jockeying for Western Conference wild-card berths.

 

"We're desperate right now," Flames captain Mark Giordano said. "We know where we are in the standings.

 

Every night is huge. Your nights off, you see teams winning around you. When you play you've got to make it count.

 

"The effort was there all night. Sometimes it doesn't look as good from up top because the other team is doing a pretty good job out there too.

 

Devin Shore and Gustav Nyquist scored first-period goals for Columbus. Korpisalo stopped 34 shots.

 

At the start of a five-game homestand, the Flames improved their record at the Saddledome to 14-13-4.

 

"I think there's been such an emphasis being talked about how we can't play at home ... how we're terrible at home," Calgary head coach Geoff Ward said. "That's all we've been hearing around home for awhile now.

 

"Probably the fact we were able to break through and do what we did tonight, it can be more of a confidence builder for us than maybe in a different situation when the emphasis wasn't so much on how bad we are at home."

 

Lindholm kicked off Calgary's comeback at 11:14 of the third period.

 

With Talbot pulled for an extra attacker, Tkachuk scored a tying goal at 18:17.

 

The injury-riddled Blue Jackets have forwards Cam Atkinson (ankle) and Brandon Dubinsky (wrist), defensemen Seth Jones (ankle) and Dean Kukan (knee), winger Josh Anderson (shoulder) and rookie centre Alex Texier (back) on injured reserve.

 

Forwards Oliver Bjorkstrand (ankle) and Nathan Gerbe (groin) are also sidelined, while goaltender Matiss Merzlikins is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

 

Columbus defenseman Ryan Murray played just his second game Wednesday since breaking his hand in December.

 

"Don't even start talking about injuries," Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella said. "This has nothing to do with it.

 

"We've been doing this for three months and we have found a way to win games. We need to continue to stay with it.

 

"We need to get some guys that I think can bring more offense to do that more consistently without sacrificing some of the things we need to do above the puck."

 

With Talbot pulled for an extra attacker, Flames captain Mark Giordano threaded a shot through traffic for Tkachuk to re-direct home.

 

Lindholm pulled the hosts within a goal midway through the third.

 

His linemate Andrew Mangiapane harassed defenseman Zach Werenski behind the Columbus net and forced a turnover for Lindholm to exploit.

 

The Flames fanned on scoring opportunities in the second period.

 

Calgary's Tobias Rieder missed the net on a breakaway, Korpisalo stoned Mikael Backlund from close range and Lindholm couldn't corral a bouncing rebound on a shot by Johnny Gaudreau.

 

Columbus turned Calgary's neutral zone turnover into an odd-man rush with Nyquist converting a feed from Nick Foligno at 11:20 of the opening period.

 

Shore scored his first goal as a Blue Jacket. He was acquired from Anaheim at the trade deadline on Feb. 24. The winger squeezed a wrist shot from the face-off circle under Talbot's right arm at 8:56.

 

Tkachuk was hobbled blocking a shot at the four-minute mark. He remained in the game, but skated uncomfortably at times.

 

"It's important for us to come and take care of business here at home, which we haven't done as of late, but hopefully we can turn it around," Tkachuk said. "This is a big month of a lot of home games."

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Matthew Tkachuk sets up Flames in 3-2 victory over Coyotes

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Game # 69
 
Flames Hockey Forum 3 Coyotes Hockey Forum 2
 
 

By
Associated Press
Updated: 13 hours ago
 

CALGARY, Alberta -- Johnny Gaudreau, T.J. Brodie and Mikael Backlund scored, Matthew Tkachuk assisted on all of the goals and the Calgary Flames beat the Arizona Coyotes 3-2 on Friday night.

 

The Flames are 6-3-1 in their last 10. They moved within three points of Pacific Division-leading Vegas and a point behind second-place Edmonton.

 

"We've got to be comfortable in these types of games," Tkachuk said. "This is a playoff-type game, four-pointer.

 

This is what it's going to be coming down the stretch. Happy with our effort, especially in the third."

 

Cam Talbot made 32 saves to win in his 300th NHL start.

 

"It felt like a playoff atmosphere," Talbot said. "You can tell that every little play mattered and guys were going to the wall tonight."

 

Taylor Hall had a goal and an assist and Carl Soderberg also scored for Arizona.

 

"We lose games by one," Hall said. "We're right there. We have to find a way to produce something 6-on-5."

 

Soderberg pulled Arizona within a goal at 10:57 of the second period. The Swede dove on a loose puck trickling between Talbot's pads and shoveled it over the goal line.

 

Backlund made it 3-1 at 4:17 on a give-and-go with Andrew Mangiapane. Backlund swept the puck from the high slot into the net's corner on Darcy Kuemper's stick side.

 

Up 3-2, Calgary held Arizona to just five shots in the third period although the Coyotes' Nick Schmaltz whiffed on a golden chance to tie the game. He got the puck behind Talbot, but missed the open net with just over three minutes left in regulation.

 

Talbot then lost his helmet in a collision with Coyotes forward Conor Garland while trying to poke check the puck away from him.

 

"Just a tough bounce off the boards. Of course, it kicks off the net and goes straight onto his stick," Talbot said. "Pure desperation. I feel fine now. The win helps, obviously."

 

The Flames are at home Sunday against the Golden Knights, who lost 4-0 to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.

"Sunday's going to be the biggest one of the year by far," Tkachuk said, "so we're looking forward to it."

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Theodore's scores late, Golden Knights beat Flames 5-3

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Game # 70
 
Flames Hockey Forum  3 Golden Knights Hockey Forum 5
 
 
By
Associated Press
Updated: 16 hours ago

CALGARY, Alberta -- Shea Theodore scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:10 remaining and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Calgary Flames 5-3 Sunday night.

 

On the go-ahead goal, Theodore's shot deflected off Calgary's Andrew Mangiapane's stick and past Rittich into the top corner for his 12th.

 

The Flames tied the score earlier in the third period after trailing 3-0 in the second.

 

"That was big," Theodore said. "When a team ties it up late, if anything you don't want to give anybody in the division points. It was a lucky play, but it was a big play. Sometimes you just throw it to the net and good things happen."

 

Nick Holden had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights, who regained top spot in the Pacific Division over idle Edmonton. Tomas Nosek, Max Pacioretty and Jonathan Marchessault also scored for Vegas.

 

"Points are so tight this time of year, especially with a back-to-back here and then Edmonton (Monday) night," Theodore said. "I think getting some confidence from tonight and building off that is going to be key going down the stretch."

 

Making his third start for Vegas since being acquired from Chicago at the trade deadline, Robin Lehner made 19 saves to improve to 3-0-0 with his new team.

 

"I'm still adjusting a little bit," said Lehner, who improved to 3-0 with his new team. "It was a big two points and we've got to keep building. We battled hard and didn't give them too many chances. They got a break (on the tying goal) and made a pretty good play.

 

It was big, but I thought we played to our structure and battled hard."

 

Marchessault capped the scoring with an empty-netter with 18 seconds left for his 21st.

 

Milan Lucic had a goal and an assist for the Flames, who had won three straight. Dillon Dube and Matthew Tkachuk also scored for Calgary. David Rittich had 27 saves to fall to 0-6-1 in his last seven home starts.

 

"Up until the last few minutes of the game, we did exactly what we needed to do," Lucic said. "It's just a tough tip off our own stick right underneath the bar. I mean, he shoots that 100 times, I guarantee you it's not going in 99 out of 100, so it's just a tough one after working ourselves back into the game after being down 3-0."

 

Trailing 3-0, Lucic got the Flames on the scoreboard as he snapped a shot through Lehner's legs at 8:23 of the second period. It was his eighth.

 

Dube pulled Calgary within one 8:09 later as he beat Lehner over his blocker on the power play for his sixth.

 

Tkachuk tied it with 3 minutes remaining in regulation when he took a pass from Mangiapane before lifting a backhand shot past Lehner.

 

"We battled back from their lead and I think did some good things tonight, so we've got to build on that," Dube said. "There's no time to dwell at this time of the year with how tight it is."

 

Nosek opened the scoring at 5:24 of the first period when he deposited a rebound past Rittich, who stopped the initial shot by Ryan Reaves but couldn't get back into position in his net to deny the follow-up attempt.

 

Vegas then went up 2-0 at 11:49 when Holden took a pass from Nick Cousins and snapped a quick shot past Rittich.

 

Calgary appeared to pull within one with a little more than four minutes to go in the opening period when Mikael Backlund swatted a rebound past Lehner, but the goal was disallowed after replays showed Backlund interfered with the goalie before scoring.

 

"After we had that disallowed interference goal, we stared to get on the forecheck, started to get on the body and started winning more puck battles and I felt that's what we weren't doing in the first 15 minutes of the game," Lucic said.

 

Pacioretty put the Golden Knights up 3-0 with a power-play goal at 3:39 of the second when he one-timed a pass from William Karlsson past Rittich.

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