Gaudreau shines as Flames burn Kings

CALGARY — Johnny Gaudreau showed off a little bit of everything in his arsenal to lead the Calgary Flames to a 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday.

Gaudreau set up goals by Sean Monahan and Michael Stone to give the Flames an early lead, then scored the second of two Calgary goals 50 seconds apart early in the second period.

“For us, here in our own building, we wanted to get off to an early lead and play with the lead throughout the game,” said Gaudreau, who leads the Flames in scoring with 52 points (16 goals, 36 assists) in 62 games.

“We came out flying, had a couple big goals there, and played with the lead the rest of the game. It was a huge win for us.”

Monahan also finished with a goal and two assists for the Flames (41-27-4), while goalie Brian Elliott made 19 saves to record his 11th straight win to tie a club record set by Mike Vernon in 1988-89.

“I think any time you’re mentioned in the same sentence as a guy like Mike Vernon, it’s an accomplishment,” said Elliott, who has gone 15-1-1 dating back to Jan. 26. “It’s pretty cool to be able to have done that but, for right now, it’s the two points we got and they didn’t.”

Michael Stone, Mark Giordano and Kris Versteeg also scored for the Flames, who moved into third spot in the NHL’s Pacific Division past the Edmonton Oilers (38-24-9).