The Calgary Flames need wins. The Toronto Maple Leafs seem to be allergic to them, but their allergy is getting them closer to a great draft pick. Both teams got what they needed tonight at the Scotiabank Saddledome, where Calgary played a strong first period and then put it in cruise control the rest of the way for a 6-3 victory over the visiting Maple Leafs.

The Flames are one step closer to their first playoff appearance since 2009.

The Flames got off to a great start tonight. They out-shot and out-hustled the Leafs throughout the majority of the first period. They opened the scoring about five minutes in. With the team already buzzing, a sequence of chances for Jiri Hudler, Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau ended with Gaudreau sniping home a rebound to make it 1-0. Drew Shore followed up with his first goal as a Calgary Flame about two minutes later to double the lead. With Brandon Bollig in the box for interference, the Leafs cut the lead to one via a tip-in goal from Richard Panik to make it 2-1. Then Lance Bouma got tossed out of the game. Long story short, he went in for a hit on Brandon Kozun and things went wonky, and it’s unclear if it was a knee-on-knee or not. The Leafs got a five-minute power-play. Calgary scored two short-handed goals on that power-play.

That’s the game right there.

Mikael Backlund stole the puck at the blueline and scored on a 2-on-0 break-out with Joe Colborne to make it 3-1. Then Sean Monahan was sprung on a late-PP breakaway by T.J. Brodie and scored to make it 4-1 late in the first. Shots were 14-6 for the Flames. Yes, despite being short-handed continuously for five minutes.

Monahan scored again early in the second to make it 5-1. David Booth scored on a power-play a few minutes later to make it 5-2, but Jiri Hudler’s power-play marker mid-way through the period made it 6-2 and basically removed all hope for the Leafs. The Flames were largely coasting in the second and were out-shot 15-6 by the Leafs.

Shots were 8-7 Calgary in the third. David Booth scored a goal to make it 6-3. The Leafs ran out of gas. The Flames were conserving theirs for tomorrow’s game in Denver.

When the game was up for grabs in the first period, they just took it. The Flames were better in the first half of the period. When the Leafs had the chance to get back into it with the Bouma major, they were sloppy on their power-play and the Flames made them pay for it. Twice.

The Flames had a lead for the majority of the game, played a smart game against a lesser team, and outside of Bouma’s ejection (and a slight string of penalty trouble), they didn’t get themselves into trouble.

Sean Monahan scored twice, including the eventual game-winner, played 20+ minutes, won a majority of his face-offs and took a lot of the penalty-killing time with Bouma gone from the game early. Monahan continues to be a huge part of Calgary’s success and has been a superb anchor for the top line.

The Flames won the game! They got two points! They sit at 38-25-5 through 68 games and have 81 points. They are back in action tomorrow night in Denver, when they face the Colorado Avalanche. Puck drop is at 8pm MT on the CBC and Sportsnet 960 The Fan.