First-period goals by Dylan Larkin and Simon Edvinsson held up as the visiting Detroit Red Wings ran their winning streak to five games with a 3-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Saturday.
Andrew Copp also scored for the Red Wings, who are within a single point of the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot.
Goaltender Cam Talbot sparkled with a 33-save performance.
Detroit’s turnaround has coincided since the hiring of coach Todd McLellan. The Red Wings lost in his debut but have since gone on a 13-3-1 run to elbow into the tight playoff chase.
Nazem Kadri replied for the Flames, who have lost three of four outings but still sit in the Western Conference’s second wild-card position. Goalie Dustin Wolf stopped 22 shots.
Larkin opened the scoring at 8:27 with his second tally in as many outings. Christian Fischer won a battle in the corner and slipped a pass to the slot for Larkin, who quickly snapped a shot home for his team-leading 23rd goal of the season.
Edvinsson doubled the lead with 45.1 seconds remaining in the opening frame, burying a shot from the left faceoff dot to finish a dominant shift against Calgary’s fourth line.
Kadri finally solved Talbot with a power-play goal at 8:34 of the third period. With the traffic headed to the front of the net, Kadri ripped a shot through the maze of skaters and under Talbot’s glove.
Calgary continued to push but Talbot held the fort in a strong goaltending battle before Copp’s empty-net goal with 54 seconds remaining in regulation iced the clash.
The game marked the Calgary debuts for forwards Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost, who were acquired on Thursday in a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers. Both were held off the scoresheet.
–Field Level Media
