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 Center Matt Stajan and his right winger, David Jones, had a goal and
an assist each and the Flames continued their dominance of the
Devils on Tuesday with a 3-2 win. Their linemate, left winger Joe
Colborne, added a pair of assists.
It was Calgary's sixth-straight win over New Jersey dating back to
Jan. 10, 2012. The Devils have not won in Calgary since a 1-0
overtime victory on Dec. 23, 2007.
"It's nice to get rewarded," Stajan said of his first goal of the
season in his 20th game.
"I feel our line with Jonesy and Colby, we've been reading off each
other really well. The chemistry's there. It has been the four or
five games we've played together. We've been chipping away. We've
been getting some goals and it was nice to get a few tonight."
Defenseman TJ Brodie also scored for Calgary (7-12-1). Replying for
New Jersey (10-7-1) were right wingers Bobby Farnham and Jordin
Tootoo.
Goaltender Karri Ramo made his ninth straight start in goal for
Calgary and is 5-4 during that stretch. He made 18 saves. Goalie
Cory Schneider stopped 27 shots for New Jersey.
The Flames are trying to dig themselves out of a hole that was
created by a horrible 3-7-1 start at home heading into Tuesday. They
host the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.
"That's where the success of a team starts is at home," Flames head
coach Bob Hartley said. "You play well at home and you build
confidence and momentum and there's electricity in your building.
Then you go on the road and you scratch and claw a few wins and
you're back in the picture."
Devils coach John Hynes said the contest was lost with an off night
offensively.
"It wasn't one thing or one part of our game. It was multiple things
where we just didn't connect on certain plays offensively. We lost a
lot of faceoffs and a lot of time that's just readiness. We lost a
lot of stick battles and puck battles and eventually it wound up
costing us," he said.
Brodie beat Schneider over the stick-side shoulder from a sharp
angle to open the scoring at 10:04 of the first period. Left winger
Johnny Gaudreau drew an assist, the first point in five games for
the Flames leading point-getter.
"I was stunned that went in," Schneider said. "It literally hit me
and I turned to watch it go wide. Sometimes it gets caught up in
your jersey and pulls it in. Again, it was one I should have stopped
and thought I stopped."
Stajan made it 2-0 at 13:33 of the opening period when he swiped the
puck into an open net after arriving late to the Devils crease to
find Schneider out of position after a scramble.
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"I thought we had a pretty good start and those two go in and for me
it was tough because it put us behind the eight ball," Schneider
said. "It felt like it gave them some momentum.
"Me putting them down 2-0 is a tough hole for my teammates to climb
out of."
Farnham slid the puck between Ramo's pads from close range at 4:01
of the second to make it 2-1, but Jones got the two-goal lead back
2:08 later when he buried a snapshot from the slot.
"I think our line's going really well and we're doing a good job
defensively and we're being rewarded," Jones said.
"We've just been keying off of each other and creating a lot of
loose pucks off the forecheck and doing a good job defensively as
well."
Tootoo got a power-play goal at 8:06 of the second on a snapshot
from the high slot to pull the Devils within one, but neither team
lit the lamp in the third.
NOTES: New Jersey injuries include LW Tuomo Ruutu (right foot
fracture), C Patrick Elias (right knee) and LW Stefan Matteau
(illness). They scratched D Eric Gelinas. ... Calgary's injured are
C Lance Buoma (broken leg) and G Jonas Hiller (lower body).
Scratched were D Ladislav Smid and LW Mason Raymond. ... Hiller is
nearing a return to the lineup after being sidelined since Oct. 30.
He practiced with the Flames the past two days. ... Devils D David
Schlemko sees similarities between his new team and the Flames, from
whom he played 19 regular season and 11 playoff games in 2014-15.
"We're a young team in here and going through a cliche 'rebuild' or
whatever people want to call it," he said at Tuesday's morning
skate. "We've had a better start than people think. It's a little
early, here in November, to be talking about a playoff run but so
far so good." ... The Devils continue their three-game road trip
through Western Canada against the Edmonton Oilers on Friday. ...
The Flames also host the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.
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