The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)

Flames burning up the standings

- WES GILBERTSON

DENVER — Earlier in the day, Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon seemed convinced that the Calgary Flames would soon be climbing in the standings.

“They have such a good team,” MacKinnon said prior to Monday's faceoff with the Flames. “It's only a matter of time before they get rolling again.”

News flash, Nathan. The Flames are already rolling.

Thanks to Monday's 5-4 overtime triumph in the Mile High City, the crew from Calgary has now won five in a row under interim head coach Geoff Ward.

They have collected at least a point in seven straight, with a 6-0-1 mark over that span.

And they finally beat the Avalanche, avoiding a season sweep against the speedy squad that had administer­ed an openingrou­nd playoff upset last spring.

MacKinnon & Co. had been cruising, too, before the Flames halted their six-game win spree.

“I think that's exactly how the game should have ended — going to OT,” said Flames winger Matthew Tkachuk, who reached the 200-point plateau in Monday's victory. “I thought both teams played well for stretches.”

Despite a rash of injuries, the Avalanche have been playing well all season, hanging around near the top of the Western Conference standings.

The Flames are finally looking like the contender they believe they can be.

Tkachuk, Derek Ryan, Andrew Mangiapane and Michael Frolik scored in regulation against the Avs and although the out-of-town team frittered away a two-goal lead in the third, Sean Monahan sniped the overtime winner.

Credit to rookie Dillon Dube for a slick toe-drag at his own blue-line in sudden death and for springing Monahan on a partial breakaway.

Moments earlier, credit captain Mark Giordano for a potential game-saving poke check on MacKinnon.

Credit them all, actually, for what was an impressive effort.

“It's a well-earned win by us,” Ward said. “I think it just reinforces the confidence the guys have in each other. It reinforces the trust you need to have in your teammates. And now it springboar­ds us forward a little bit. So it's nice to see them getting rewarded for hard work. But as we've talked about a lot in the last couple of days, when you work hard and you play with structure, then your skill gets to show. And now our skill is starting to show.”

The two teams were scoreless after 40 minutes, but the Flames pulled ahead by a pair early in the third, with Mangiapane going shelf just 12 seconds into the period for the go-ahead goal and then a rare snipe by the fourth line — a sequence started by Mark Jankowski's flip pass in the neutral zone and capped by Tobias Rieder's backhand feed to Frolik on a two-on-one. (With the assist, Jankowski finally has his first point of the season.)

MacKinnon sparked the Avs' comeback with a superb individual effort. He retrieved the puck on the forecheck, then escaped from Travis Hamonic's watch and sizzled a short-side shot past David Rittich.

Joonas Donskoi picked the top corner on an offensive rush to even things up with about nine minutes remaining, but the Flames refused to roll over.

“I don't think we panicked at all,” said Monahan, who extended his point streak to a half-dozen dates. “Those are the type of games you have to enjoy and you have to find ways to win. That's how you grow as a team. Everybody stepped up and played a role. And you can tell by the score-sheet — there's a lot of different guys on there.”

“These are big points for us,” added Dube, who has six points over his past four games and made the most of his first overtime shift at the NHL level. “Coming into this building, it's not an easy place to play. So it was really good for our group to handle some adversity and come out with the win.”

Monday's overtime victory boosts the Flames to a 16-12-4 record. They wrapped up this two-games-in-two-nights roadie with Tuesday's clash against the Arizona Coyotes.

BETTMAN BREAKS SILENCE

Finally weighing in Monday on the Bill Peters saga, NHL commission­er Gary Bettman praised the Flames for their “timely, profession­al and appropriat­e” response to explosive allegation­s against their former bench boss.

Speaking at the board-ofgovernor­s meetings in Pebble Beach, Calif., Bettman announced mandatory annual training for all coaches and management types on diversity and inclusion, promised “severe discipline” against any club that doesn't disclose any incidents of abuse to the league and revealed plans for a hotline or other platform for potential whistleblo­wers.

Peters, accused of directing a racial slur at a player in the minors about a decade ago and of kicking another during his tenure with the Carolina Hurricanes, resigned as Calgary's skipper on Nov. 29.

“While none of Bill Peters' inappropri­ate conduct occurred on the Flames' watch, they undertook the important effort to try to understand what happened 10 years ago and thereafter,” Bettman said. “Once Calgary could satisfy itself as to what transpired, they achieved an appropriat­e result and I commend the Calgary organizati­on and in particular, (general manager) Brad Treliving, for their efforts and cooperatio­n.

“I think it is pretty fair to say that from now on when a club is hiring a coach, the due diligence a team conducts will go to levels never seen before. And that is a good thing.”

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 ?? ISAIAH J. DOWNING • USA TODAY SPORTS ?? Calgary Flames goaltender David Rittich makes a save against Colorado Avalanche’s Gabriel Landeskog during NHL action on Monday.
ISAIAH J. DOWNING • USA TODAY SPORTS Calgary Flames goaltender David Rittich makes a save against Colorado Avalanche’s Gabriel Landeskog during NHL action on Monday.

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