Friday, January 16, 2015
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Flames fly past Coyotes in third period

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[January 16, 2015]  GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Calgary Flames entered Thursday's game against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena with a plus-22 goal differential in the third period this season. Arizona owned a minus-27 mark.

When the game went to the final frame tied, it was pretty easy to guess which team would come out on top.

Right winger David Jones banged in a rebound of defenseman T.J. Brodie's initial shot at the 4:51 mark of the third period, and the Flames rolled to a 4-1 win over the Coyotes.

It was Calgary's second win in as many games on its five-game road trip. The Flames also are 4-0-0 against Arizona this season.

"In the third period, we had our legs a little bit better and kind of controlled the puck at our blue line better and created some offense that way," said Jones, who ended an eight-game scoring drought. "We had guys going in all night. It was just a matter of getting a shot like that. The puck kind of just sat there for us."

The Flames (23-18-3) took advantage of some poor defensive zone coverage by the Coyotes (16-23-4) on the game-winning goal.
 


Calgary center Sean Monahan found himself all alone in front for a whack at Brodie's shot, but when he missed, the rebound caromed into the slot and Calgary had options. Both Jones and left winger Lance Bouma were wide open on the play, with Coyotes defenseman Michael Stone a step slow, wings Lucas Lessio and Martin Erat out of position and center Antoine Vermette trailing the play.

"That's people not doing their job," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "Lessio and Erat are both puck-watching, Stone is slow to get back, and Vermette is late getting back."

Calgary center Mikael Backlund opened the scoring 1:03 into the second period when his shot from the right circle grazed Arizona defenseman Keith Yandle's shin pad before eluding Coyotes goalie Mike Smith's glove. Backlund missed 29 games due to abdominal surgery this season, but he has a goal in four straight games and six points since returning on Jan. 7 against Detroit.

Flames rookie left winger Johnny Gaudreau had an assist on the goal to give him 33 points in 43 games, but coach Bob Hartley still was not satisfied with his team's offensive push.

"We wanted to put more pucks at the net," Hartley said. "I believe we had like 12 shots after 40 minutes. That's not going to win you many games.

"We were playing solid defensively, but we were not generating a lot, so we had a good talk in the (locker room) and the boys responded."

Coyotes right winger Mikkel Boedker tied the game with a highlight-reel goal at the 12:36 mark of the second period.

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Boedker corralled a loose puck in the slot, did a full circle down low and then back into the high slot to evade the check of Flames defenseman Raphael Diaz, then beat Calgary goalie Joni Ortio high to the stick side for his fifth goal in four games.

"It's not worth talking about one person when you're losing or you're winning," said Boedker when asked about the goal. "It just happens to fall on my stick right now and go in the back of the net, but we're a team, and it's a team-first mentality."

Calgary defenseman Mark Giordano scored through a screen with 4:02 remaining in the game, and Monahan added an empty-netter to close out the scoring.

Ortio made 27 saves for Calgary. He has stopped 60 of 61 shots in his last two games.

"Orts gave us another great game," Hartley said. "He had many saves where he had to battle through traffic and he had great focus."

Smith stopped 21 shots.

NOTES: The Coyotes traded backup G Devan Dubnyk to Minnesota on Wednesday for a 2015 third-round pick. ... Recalled D Philip Samuelsson made his Coyotes debut, and C Martin Hanzal (upper body) returned to the lineup after missing the last four games. ... With Dubnyk gone, the Coyotes recalled G Mike Lee from Gwinnett (Georgia) of the ECHL. ... RW Shane Doan (leg) and D Brandon Gormley (lower body) missed the game. ... The Flames recalled C Drew Shore from Adirondack of the AHL. Shore was acquired in a trade with the Florida Panthers last week in exchange for C Corban Knight. ... Up-and-coming Flames LW Johnny Gaudreau has trademarked "Johnny Hockey" at patent offices in Canada and the United States. The applications need approval. Gaudreau, 21, has 32 points in 42 games. He was invited to the NHL's All-Star weekend and will compete in the skills competition.

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