Johnny Gaudreau keyed a fast start for Calgary, and Jacob Markstrom closed it out.
Gaudreau, Dillon Dube and Blake Coleman scored in the first period, and Calgary beat Chicago 5-2 on Monday night in Chicago.
The Flames clinched a playoff spot on Saturday, and then celebrated with a 9-1 victory over Arizona. They traveled all day on Sunday, yet still had enough to hold off a struggling Chicago team.
“It’s a hard game to play,” coach Darryl Sutter said. “It’s a game where the kids on the other side are going to come out and try and show their worth, and they did.”
WATCH | Flames sprint past lowly Chicago:
The high-scoring winger is now up to 107 points after he and the Pacific Division leaders came away with a 5-2 victory. 0:59
Markstrom made 22 saves as Calgary (47-20-9) won for the seventh time in eight games. Gaudreau and Oliver Kylington tacked on long empty-netters for the Pacific Division leaders in the final 1:32.
“The guys battled to the end, the whole third period,” Markstrom said.
Chicago (25-40-11) lost for the 10th time in 11 games. Tyler Johnson and Alec Regula scored, and Kevin Lankinen made 30 stops.
“I didn’t mind our effort. It wasn’t a 5-2 game for us,” interim Chicago coach Derek King said. “The first period we were sleepy, spotted them a couple of goals. After that we were all right.”
Chicago played without Mackenzie Entwistle after the forward departed in the first period with a right shoulder injury. King said Entwistle will not travel with the team on its three-game road trip.
Flames’ early lead too much for Chicago
Chicago was down 3-1 when Regula’s long shot from the top of the left circle appeared to go off Markstrom and into the net 12:54 into the second period. It was the first career point for the defenceman in his 13th NHL game.
But that was it for Chicago against Markstrom and Co. Markstrom made a glove save on Reese Johnson with 4:09 left in the third, and the two empty-netters put it away for Calgary.
Markstrom “kept us in the game. Made some huge saves,” Gaudreau said, “like he’s done all year.”
Gaudreau then made it 2-0 when he circled the offensive zone before finding a wide-open shot in the right circle, beating a screened Lankinen high on the goaltender’s stick side at 6:23.
It was Gaudreau’s career-best 37th goal and his 600th point. He had two goals and two assists during Saturday night’s 9-1 victory against Arizona.
Gaudreau nearly picked up another point when he set up Calle Jarnkrok with about eight minutes left, but Lankinen made a great right pad stop.
Coleman’s 16th goal on a well-placed tip at 14:41 lifted Calgary to a 3-1 lead after one. The Flames outshot Chicago 14-6 in the opening period.
“They’re a really good team,” Regula said. “We had good moments, had bad moments.”
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