Monahan, Gaudreau lead Flames to victory
Getting ready to play the Flames, the New Jersey Devils knew they had to stop Calgary’s top line of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Michael Ferland if they wanted to win.
They didn’t, and they didn’t.
Gaudreau scored the goahead goal and set up Monahan’s second of the game, and the Flames won their third straight with a 3-2 decision Thursday night in Newark, N. J.
“We’re good friends off the ice and we’ve been playing together for four years now,” Gaudreau said of Monahan after the Flames improved to 15-5-5 on the road. “The chemistry keeps building and building, and it’s a lot of fun to play with him. He’s a leader and we’ve been fortunate because there’s been less than 20 to 30 games in my career where I haven’t played with him.”
The linemates weren’t the only big contributors for Calgary.
Backup David Rittich made 30 saves, giving Mike Smith a rare night off. He was at his best in the third period when New Jersey held a 12-1 shot advantage.
“It’s huge that he has a game like this,” said Monahan, who has five goals in his current four-game goal scoring streak. “Smitty has been great for us all year, he’s been the backbone of this group, so having Ritter come in and give Smitty a break, that gives our team a ton of confidence.”
Taylor Hall and Pavel Zacha scored for New Jersey, which lost its second straight and sixth of nine. Keith Kinkaid made 22 saves.
“One of the biggest things we had to do tonight was shut down their top guys,” said Hall, who tallied his 20th of the season. “Their top line is dangerous and they don’t need many chances to get one past you. We didn’t do that. We made it hard on ourselves.”
LIGHTNING 5, CANUCKS 2 » Nikita Kucherov stopped an 11- game goal drought, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves for his NHL-best 32nd victory, and host Tampa Bay beat Vancouver. Yanni Gourde, Adam Erne, Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman also scored for the Lightning.
STARS 4, BLACKHAWKS 2 » Tyler Seguin scored twice, Ben Bishop made 37 saves and visiting Dallas beat fad- ing Chicago for its fourth straight win. Tyler Pitlick connected with 4.5 seconds left in second period and Stephen Johns also scored for the Stars, who strengthened their hold on the top wild card in the Western Conference and remained one point behind thirdplace St. Louis in the Central Division. Chicago lost its fourth straight overall and sixth straight at home.
COYOTES 4, WILD 3 (OT) » Clayton Keller scored Arizona’s fourth straight goal at 3:55 of overtime to give the Coyotes a comeback victory in St. Paul, Minn. Nick Cousins scored twice for Arizona. His second goal tied it with 18.3 seconds remaining in regulation after Arizona pulled goalie Antti Raanta for an extra attacker.
SABRES 4, ISLANDERS 3 » Sam Reinhart poked in a rebound with 4:14 left, and host Buffalo beat New York after squandering a threegoal lead. Jack Eichel and Evan Rodrigues each had a goal and an assist for Buffalo, and Ryan O’Reilly also scored. Buffalo salvaged the finale of a five-game homestand after going 0-3-1 in its previous four games. SENATORS 4,
PREDATORS 3 (OT) » Mike Hoffman scored 3:01 into overtime, lifting host Ottawa past Nashville. Chris Di Domenico, Max McCormick and Magnus Paajarvi also scored to help the Senators win for the fourth time in five games. Craig Anderson made 35 saves for his 15th win of the season. P.K. Subban scored twice for the Predators.
BLUES 6, AVALANCHE 1» Brayden Schenn scored twice and Vince Dunn had a career-high three assists to lead host St. Louis. Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist, and Ivan Barbashev, Kyle Brodziak and Alex Pietrangelo also scored. The Blues scored more than four goals for the first time since Dec. 9.
FLYERS 5, CANADIENS 3 » Travis Konecny scored twice and Claude Giroux had a goal and two assists to help Philadelphia win at home.
RANGERS WAIVE SMITH ON BIRTHDAY » 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.