CALGARY — Elias Lindholm scored the game-winner late in the third period, then added an empty netter, to lead the Calgary Flames to 3-1 victory on Saturday night over the Ottawa Senators.
It’s the second win in as many games for interim head coach, Geoff Ward, who took over behind the bench on Wednesday night for Calgary’s 3-2 overtime win in Buffalo.
On Friday, head coach Bill Peters resigned, amid allegations of racial slurs and physical abuse of players in previous jobs. Peters’ resignation comes after a lengthy process that included investigations by the Flames and the NHL.
Dillon Dube also scored for Calgary (13-12-4). The Flames improve to 3-0-1 in their last four games.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau had his team-leading 14th goal for Ottawa (11-15-1), which has lost four straight. The Senators have managed just four goals during that span.
Ottawa’s five-game road trip continues on Tuesday in Vancouver.
Making his sixth consecutive start and league-high 23rd start for the season, David Rittich made 26 stops to improve to 12-7-4.
Marcus Hogberg had 24 saves for Ottawa in his first start of the season and fifth of his career.
The Senators’ third round pick in 2013, Hogberg is up from Belleville (AHL) while Craig Anderson (lower body) is sidelined. Anderson is not expected to be out long, but Hogberg gets some game action with Anders Nilsson having played Friday night in Ottawa’s 7-2 loss in Minnesota.
Lindholm’s 13th goal of the season came less than a minute after Pageau had tied it.
Sean Monahan backhanded the puck high in the air and over defenceman Ron Hainsey, who put his arm up, but couldn’t reach it. As it landed behind him, Lindholm was right there and from in-tight, he quickly fired the puck over the shoulder of Hogberg.
Pageau ruined Rittich’s bid for a shutout at 14:49 when he burst down the right side and fired a puck over the Czech goaltender’s shoulder.
Forced to pull the goalie while on a penalty kill, Lindholm rounded out the scoring with his 14th goal of the season.
The Flames opened the scoring late in the first period. Artem Anisimov won a defensive zone face-off against Milan Lucic, but in pulling it back on his backhand, the puck glanced off the skate of Anthony Duclair and went right to Dube, who kicked the puck from his skate to his stick and sent a backhand past Hogberg.
Notes
Monahan played in career game No. 500… Calgary D Travis Hamonic (lower body) and RW Austin Czarnik (lower body) are back practising with the team and both are expected back soon. They’ve missed six and 17 games respectively. The Flames are not back in action until Thursday when the Buffalo Sabres visit.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 30, 2019.
Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press