Momma, the Flames are coming home with a win
Calgary rebounds from embarrassing loss to Vegas with two points in Arizona
FLAMES 5, COYOTES 2
GLENDALE, ARIZ. It was an interesting predicament the Calgary Flames were in Thursday.
They were squaring off against the worst team in the NHL (albeit, a team that had won four straight) some 24 hours after an embarrassing 7-3 loss to the best team in the NHL and were on the outside looking in at a potential playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Their coach was fired up and their general manager furious at their play over the last few games.
Not to mention their mothers were in the stands for the second straight game.
How did they respond? Well, Diane McDowell, Jane Gaudreau, Cathy Monahan, Rose Mary Jankowski and Chantal Tkachuk’s “mom dancing ” said it all as their sons each scored in a 5-2 victory over the Coyotes to snap a three-game losing skid.
“My mom (McDowell) was through the moon, excited for this whole trip,” said Sam Bennett, who had a goal and an assist playing on the Flames’ top line. “It was a disappointing one (Wednesday) and I’m glad we were able to get the win for them tonight. I’m sure she was excited that I scored. She told me before the trip that she wanted me to score.”
Meanwhile Deb Gillies watched as her son Jon bounced back from a rough opening minute — the Flames have now allowed the first goal in the last eight games — to backstop Calgary to a victory as the 24-year-old took the torch from David Rittich in the second half of the back-to-back.
Gillies stopped 35 of 37 shots for his second NHL win and first victory this season.
“He was a little nervous in the beginning, but he settled right in,” Gulutzan said. “What I like about him is that he’s a big guy and isn’t afraid to challenge. He’s not overly aggressive in his movements. He makes the game look easy. You like those kind of guys”
But things were rocky off the hop as Derek Stepan’s marker 57 seconds into the game came after Oliver Ekman-Larsson sent a shot his way and he capitalized on the rebound.
Micheal Ferland missed the third period despite dropping the gloves with Zac Rinaldo in the second.
The fight was retribution for Rinaldo’s questionably timed — and very much targeted — hit on Matt Stajan in the first period. The 34-year-old had been looking to accept a pass in the offensive zone from Troy Brouwer. When he missed, he looked up and saw Rinaldo, who hit him shoulder to shoulder.
Stajan hit the ice (which likely made his mom Nada cringe in their luxury suite) but he was back on the ice to start the second period.
“I thought it was a little late, but that hit — and our guys weren’t happy about the hit, especially a veteran guy of ours,” Gulutzan said. “You saw the response from Ferly and our players got physical and we scored right after.
“I think our guys rallied around that hit and it ended up being good for us.”
As for Ferland, Gulutzan indicated it was an injury he suffered versus the Nashville Predators and the Flames took him out of the game for precautionary reasons.
Meanwhile, Gaudreau took a stick to the chops — Bennett’s stick, to boot — right off the opening faceoff.
“I’m sure (Jane)’s stomach was in knots after I got hit in the face,” Gaudreau said. “I was happy to find the net for her. Obviously she’s a big supporter for me. It was great (having the moms) on the trip. I don’t get to see her much during the season, so it was nice having her on the trip.”
The Flames treated their moms to 2-1 and 3-1 leads after the first and second periods thanks to markers from Bennett and Gaudreau (in the first) and Sean Monahan on the power play in the second.
It was a standout game for the first line, which had been kept off the scoresheet entirely Wednesday and held without a shot.
Monahan finished with a goal and an assist, while Gaudreau had a goal and two assists. Dougie Hamilton also chipped in with a sweet setup of Monahan’s power-play goal at 8:38 of the second period.
A short-handed goal came from Jankowski on a partial breakaway, a nice battle with Alex Goligoski draped all over him at 5:11 of the third period. Tkachuk would score at the 11:06 mark, but Coyotes blue-liner Kevin Connauton scored a late one with 2:30 remaining, leading the Flames to still have some concern over their goaltending situation.
Netminder Mike Smith made the road trip, but did not skate and is still day to day with a lower-body injury.
The Flames outshot the Coyotes 38-37 in the end, were 1-for-4 on their power plays and 5-for-5 on their penalty kills.
The victory made their moms proud, but was also a breath of fresh air for the Flames’ coaching staff and management.
Their play is far from perfect and the Flames (31-22-9) have some ground to make up, continuing when they host the Colorado Avalanche Saturday (2 p.m. MT, Sportsnet 960 The Fan, Sportsnet West).