(SportsNetwork.com) – The Calgary Flames will try to stay hot on Monday night
with a fifth straight win over Carolina as they visit the Hurricanes and PNC
Arena.
The Hurricanes picked up their fourth victory in five games on Saturday with a
6-4 decision over the Florida Panthers. Johnny Gaudreau and Mark Giordano each
had a goal and two assists, while Lance Bouma provided the go-ahead goal.
Gaudreau notched a career-high three points, while Giordano has tallied four
goals and seven assists over a six-game point streak. The defenseman has
multiple points in four straight.
David Jones, Jiri Hudler and Sean Monahan also scored.
“That’s a big win for us,” Bouma said. “That’s something we talked about
before the game is that we needed this one. It’s nice to come in here and get
that for sure. We stuck with it all night long, and after we were down we
didn’t get too low.”
Jonas Hiller earned the win in relief by stopping all nine shots he faced.
Karri Ramo was pulled in the second period after giving up four goals on 22
shots.
Hiller will get the start tonight for the finale of a five-game road trip and
is 4-1-0 with a 1.58 goals against average and .946 save percentage in five
career starts against the Hurricanes. That includes a 5-0 victory at home on
Oct. 23, with Hiller making 16 saves.
Monahan scored twice, while Bouma, Matt Stajan and Dennis Wideman lit the lamp
once each.
Cam Ward allowed all five goals on 24 shots for the Hurricanes as he fell to
2-3-0 with a 4.06 GAA and .858 save percentage in six career meetings with the
Flames.
Ward may get the start again tonight after Anton Khudobin made 35 saves in
Saturday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals. Khudobin yielded the
game-winning goal with 14 seconds on the clock after kicking away Alex
Ovechkin’s initial shot as Nicklas Backstrom buried home the rebound.
“I tried to focus on the first shot. The rebound was unlucky, I would say,”
Khudobin said. “It’s just a tough loss.”
Riley Nash, Eric Staal and Elias Lindholm tallied for the Hurricanes, whose
four-game win streak came to a halt.
Lindholm has five goals and seven points over a five-game point streak.
The Hurricanes have not beaten the Flames since a 6-5 shootout decision at
home on Jan. 11, 2011.
Calgary, which has won eight of the last 10 meetings overall, is likely to
have forward Devin Setoguchi in the lineup tonight after he left Saturday’s
win in the second period with an upper-body injury.
