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 "We're still a young and developing team," Flames general manager
Brad Treliving said.
The Flames won't be going to the postseason this year, but their
young guns were on display in a 5-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes on
Monday at Gila River Arena.
Rookie center Sam Bennett had a pair of goals, 21-year-old center
Sean Monahan had the game-winner, 25-year-old defenseman T.J. Brodie
added a goal and 26-year-old center Joe Colborne added an
empty-netter as the Flames avoided a five-game sweep at the hands of
the Coyotes.
The Flames also got a boost from AHL call-ups Hunter Shinkaruk Derek
Grant, Emile Poirier and Brett Kulak. Shinkaruk and Grant each
recorded their first NHL point with assists.
"All the kids brought new energy and it was a good road win for us,"
Flames coach Bob Hartley said. "They really picked up the more they
were playing. We were skating well, we were making good decisions
and we were intense."
 Joni Ortio made 22 saves for the Flames. Rookie Anthony Duclair
scored a pair of goals for Arizona, which leads the NHL in goals
(48) and points (125) from rookies this season.
Goalie Louis Domingue had just 16 saves in his first rough outing
since returning to Arizona's backup role on March 12.
"I wasn't great and I wasn't lucky," Domingue said. "When you put
those together it gives you a pretty brutal night."
Bennett gave Calgary a 1-0 lead at 1:53 of the first period. Micheal
Ferland stole the puck from Coyotes defenseman Nicklas Grossmann
along the half wall and fed Bennett in the slot. Domingue had
position on the shot, but his teammate, Jiri Sekac, deflected the
puck back against the grain and inside the near post.
The Coyotes thought they had tied the game early in the second
period when defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson beat Ortio through
traffic, but Martin Hanzal interfered with Ortio by clearly taking
his left leg out from under him as he skated past, thereby negating
the goal.
The Coyotes finally tied the game on a power play at 6:08 of the
second period.
Hanzal was screening Ortio, but slipped to the left of the net to
take a feed from Max Domi. Hanzal one-touched a pass to Anthony
Duclair at the far post for a tap-in goal.
Duclair gave the Coyotes a 2-1 lead when he cleaned up Alex
Tanguay's rebound in front of the net after Hanzal pushed to him. It
was Duclair's 19th goal of the season, tying him with Trevor
Letowski for the second-most goals by a Coyotes rookie.
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"Some nights the puck bounces your way, some nights it doesn't,"
Duclair said.
Bennett matched Duclair with his second goal of the game at 16:41 of
the second period, when he converted his own rebound by flipping it
over Domingue.
Monahan scored his 27th goal of the season on a rebound of Dougie
Hamilton's shot to give Calgary a 3-2 lead with just 29 seconds left
in the second period.
"We had some new guys in the lineup and for some of them it was
their first time ever with us," Monahan said. "It was nice that some
of the older young guys and leaders on the team stepped up and
showed them how to play the game the right way."
NOTES: Flames RW Michael Frolik left the game in the third period
with a lower-body injury and did not return. .. Coyotes D Michael
Stone will miss the rest of the regular season with a left knee
injury suffered Saturday against Philadelphia, coach Dave Tippett
said. Stone was due for an MRI on the knee Monday, at which point
the team would determine the nature and extent of the injury, as
well as a timetable for surgery and recovery. Stone got his left leg
tangled with Flyers LW Michael Raffl in the third period against
Philadelphia. ... Coyotes RW Shane Doan missed Monday's game as he
undergoes league protocols for a concussion. Doan left Saturday's
game in the third period when Flyers D Radko Gudas caught Doan in
the head with a forearm and hip as Doan went to the boards on his
knees. ... Flames LW Johnny Gaudreau missed the game with what the
team termed a nagging upper-body issue. Calgary recalled Hunter
Shinkaruk from Stockton of the AHL to replace him and also recalled
C Derek Grant, RW Emile Poirier and D Brett Kulak. Shinkaruk and
Grant played on the top line with C Sean Monahan.
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