Johnny Gaudreau and Andrew Mangiapane each scored twice to lead the visiting Calgary Flames to a 5-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.
Matthew Tkachuk collected one goal and two assists, Christopher Tanev had two assists and Gaudreau added a helper in the win. Goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves to earn his league-leading fifth shutout of the season. Calgary’s last five victories have come via shutout.
Dustin Tokarski stopped 18 of 23 shots through two periods for the slumping Sabres, who have just two wins in the past nine games, before Aaron Dell took the net for the third period. Dell made 10 saves before his team was booed off the ice.
The Flames, who went into the night with only one win in the past five games, stormed out of the gates. Gaudreau opened the scoring just past the midway point of the first period by lifting a top-corner shot on a partial breakaway. The Flames have outscored opponents 19-7 in the first period this season and have scored first in all five games during their current road trip.
A four-goal second period turned the game into a rout. Mangiapane doubled the lead 1:42 into the middle frame when he lifted a backhander from the slot.
Tkachuk scored at the 13:58 mark with an on-the-mark wrist shot from the right circle for his eighth goal of the campaign.
Mangiapane’s second of the game 61 seconds after — a tap-in tally set up by Mikael Backlund during a two-on-one rush — made it a 4-0 affair. Mangiapane’s 12th goal of the season was also his league-leading 11th on the road. It was his third multi-goal game of the season.
Gaudreau converted a cross-crease pass from Sean Monahan for a power-play goal 36 seconds later, giving him six goals this season.
The visitors focused on ensuring Markstrom collected his 13th career shutout in the final frame.
–Field Level Media
