Johnny Gaudreau scored twice in a three-point game to lead the visiting Calgary Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Monday.
Elias Lindholm also scored for the Flames (41-19-9, 91 points), who snapped a three-game losing skid (0-2-1). First-place Calgary increased its lead over second-place Los Angeles in the Pacific Division to five points.
Goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves, standing tall while the Flames were short-handed for most of the final two minutes.
Adrian Kempe notched both goals on assists from Anze Kopitar for the Kings (38-24-10, 86 points). Cal Petersen stopped 30 shots.
Trailing 2-1 after the opening period, the Flames began their comeback with Lindholm's marker at 13:03 of the middle frame. While the attention of the defenders was on Gaudreau as he had the puck behind the net, Lindholm found an opening in the slot and buried a one-timer for his 35th of the season.
Gaudreau notched his second of the night, and 34th of the campaign, 65 seconds later. Ryan Carpenter gained the puck on the forecheck and slipped a pass into the slot to Gaudreau, who neatly lifted a backhander to pot the game-winner.
From there, the Flames shut the door, notably while short-handed three times in the third period, capping an entertaining, back-and-forth game.
Gaudreau opened the scoring just 10 seconds into the affair -- the fourth-fastest goal from the start of a game in franchise history. Petersen stopped a dump-in and cleared the puck to the corner, but Gaudreau got to it first and sent the puck to the front of the net, and it banked into the net off the feet of the startled goaltender.
Kempe replied with a pair of first-period goals. Kopitar fed a cross-ice pass that Kempe converted from the bottom of the right circle at 13:56 to tie the score.
Kempe notched his second of the night, and 31st of the season, with 53.6 seconds remaining in the period by wiring a long wrist shot during a five-on-three power-play chance to put the hosts ahead 2-1.
Kempe had a golden chance to complete a hat trick and tie the game in the final minutes, but Markstrom made a clutch save.
--Field Level Media
Calgary | Los Angeles | |
Johnny Gaudreau 3 | Points | Adrian Kempe 2 |
Johnny Gaudreau 2 | Goals | Adrian Kempe 2 |
Johnny Gaudreau 1 | Assists | Anze Kopitar 2 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Adrian Kempe 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Jacob Markstrom .931 | Save Percentage | Cal Petersen .909 |
Jacob Markstrom 27 | Saves | Cal Petersen 30 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Calgary | 33 | 3 | 0-2 | 5-6 | 16 | 32 |
Los Angeles | 29 | 2 | 1-6 | 2-2 | 8 | 23 |