Post-Game: Flames ride strong second to win in Jersey

Most people don’t like visiting Newark, but the Calgary Flames have had success there in recent years. They continued their steady play on Thursday night with a 3-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils. They rode a strong goaltending performance by David Rittich and more strong offensive efforts from their top line to their third consecutive win and inched a little bit closer to a prospective playoff berth.

Neither side scored in the first period, though the Flames started relatively slowly and then woke up later in the period. shots were 12-8 Flames and scoring chances were 11-6 Flames.

The Flames’ efforts were rewarded in the second. Early on, Sean Monahan batted a rebound off a Dougie Hamilton point shot past Keith Kinkaid to make it 1-0 Calgary.

The lead didn’t last too long, though, as 3:07 later Hamilton coughed up the puck in front of the net and Taylor Hall got a couple cracks at the puck. He scored on his own rebound to make it 1-1. But seven minutes later, the Flames retook the lead (and never gave it back). Johnny Gaudreau had his pocket picked by Jesper Bratt, who led a two-on-one rush. Travis Hamonic defended it and the puck rapidly went back the other way, with Gaudreau beating Kinkaid on a breakaway to make it 2-1.

Before the period ended, Monahan extended the lead. He took a pass inside the Devils’ blueline and drove their net. His initial shot was saved by Kinkaid, but the rebound ricocheted back to Monahan and he beat Kinkaid short-side to make it 3-1.

Shots were 11-9 New Jersey, but scoring chances were 15-11 Flames.

The Devils were all over the Flames in the third, as the visitors seemed content to hang back and conserve their energy. They were out-shot 12-1 and out-chanced 10-2 by the Devils. Pavel Zacha scored on a nice net-front redirect off a nice pass from below the red line by Brian Boyle to make it 3-2 – Mark Giordano and Michael Stone got caught out of position and over-played the pass. But that’s as close as the Devils got.

Goals and goaltending are two big things that can help a team win. The Flames’ offensive players did a great job getting David Rittich some run support and they buried more of their chances than the Devils did. But Rittich was sharper than Kinkaid, particularly early in the game and throughout the third period.

Let’s go with Monahan, who had another game-winner and another multi-goal game.

Gaudreau’s go-ahead goal to make it 2-1 came immediately after a two-on-one rush that ended due to some pressure by Hamonic. If Hamonic misplays that rush, suddenly the Devils are up and have momentum. But some good defense and some good transition passing swung the game to the Flames for good.

Monahan’s game-winning goal is (a) his 10th of the season and (b) his 29th of his career. Since he entered the NHL in 2013, only Alex Ovechkin, Max Pacioretty and Brayden Schenn have more game-winners.

The Flames now have 64 points with 28 games remaining. They need 31 points over their remaining schedule – the equivalent of a 15-12-1 record to hit the 95 point mark that’ll probably be the playoff cut-off.

The Flames (28-18-8) head across the Hudson River tomorrow as they play the New York Rangers in the third game of their lengthy road trip.