Monahan scores 2 as Flames beat Devils
NEWARK, N.J. — Johnny Gaudreau scored the go-ahead goal and set up linemate Sean Monahan’s second of the game, and the Calgary Flames won their third straight, 3-2 over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night.
Backup David Rittich made 30 saves, giving Mike Smith a rare night off and helping the Flames improve to 15-5-5 on the road.
Taylor Hall and Pavel Zacha scored for New Jersey, which lost its second straight and sixth of nine. Keith Kinkaid made 22 saves.
Calgary, which was outshot 12-1 in the final 20 minutes, got all of its goals in the second period.
After Monahan and Hall exchanged goals in the opening 7:23, Gaudreau put the Flames ahead after getting away with a trip on Nico Hischier as Hall and Jesper Bratt skated up the ice on a 2-on-1.
Instead of shooting, Hall’s pass to Bratt was off target and the puck went around the boards. Michael Ferland collected it, found Gaudreau at the Devils’ blue line and the New Jersey native beat Kinkaid with a backhander on a breakaway at 14:33 for a 2-1 lead.
Gaudreau was alone because Hischier was upset with the non-call and lost the man he was supposed to cover.
Monahan stretched the lead to 3-1 with 1:55 left in the period. After taking a pass from Gaudreau, his initial shot from the left circle hit the goalpost, went into the air and bounced off the helmet of defenseman Andy Greene. Monahan collected the puck low in the right circle and scored his 27th goal and fifth in the last four games. Travis Konecny scored twice and Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist to help Philadelphia beat Montreal at home. Jakub Voracek and Ivan Provorov also scored, and Shayne Gostisbehere had three assists for the Flyers. Sam Reinhart poked in a rebound with 4:14 left as Buffalo edged New York at home after squandering a three-goal lead. Jack Eichel and Evan Rodrigues each had a goal and an assist for Buffalo, and Ryan O’Reilly also scored. John Tavares, Anders Lee and Ross Johnston scored for New York. Nikita Kucherov stopped an 11-game goal drought, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves for his NHL-best 32nd victory, and Tampa Bay beat Vancouver at home. Yanni Gourde, Adam Erne, Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman also scored for the Lightning.
Mike Hoffman gave Ottawa the home victory, scoring in overtime, after Nashville’s P.K. Subban tied it with 4:38 left in the third. Brayden Schenn scored twice and Vince Dunn had a career-high three assists to help St. Louis beat Colorado at home.
Clayton Keller scored Arizona’s fourth straight goal at 3:55 of overtime to give the Coyotes a road victory over Minnesota. Tyler Seguin scored twice, Ben Bishop made 37 saves and Dallas beat Chicago on the road for its fourth straight win.
The New York Rangers waived defenseman Brendan Smith, less than eight months after re-signing him to a fouryear, $17 million contract. The move came on Smith’s 29th birthday. He has one goal and seven assists in 44 games this season.