The Calgary Flames flickered to a faint shadow caster on Monday night. The Toronto Maple Leafs hung a 5-3 loss on the Flames.
Calgary is 2-9-0 in their last 11 games.
Jack Campbell made 26 saves in the win.
“There’s nights when we really don’t have that skill, you’re not going to have it every night, but we play the right way, we find ways to win, and then other nights we’re just completely buzzing and our talent’s pretty impressive up front and on the back end,” Campbell said. “It’s just really fun to be a part of. We still have a lot of work to do. It’s a fun time, and we’re just going to try to keep getting better.”
He is now 9-0-0, tying a franchise record for win streaks.
“You don’t get those wins without everybody,” Campbell said. “Tonight, we got a huge contribution from the power play and kind of put the game away. We’ve just been building our game all year. It’s really coming full circle here. I’m liking the boys’ effort and we’re just trying to get better every night. The record’s a huge honor to be tied or whatnot, but it’s just all about winning.”
Mikael Backlund had two goals for the Flames.
“We’re not scoring and we’re not giving up a whole lot, but when we do, it feels like it’s in the net,” Backlund said. “We’re just giving up too big of chances when we do give chances. I feel like there’s a lot of close games. We do keep it tight but just didn’t score enough. When we give up chances, they’re usually big ones and they’re usually in the net. It’s just a bad cycle. It has been for a while. We have to stop it.”
Auston Matthews struck for two goals in the Leafs win.
“It wasn’t a pretty one by any means, but it was a nice one to get our power play back on track and obviously a big goal in the game,” Matthews said.
Toronto is 7-01 in their eight games.
John Tavares had a single marker for the Maple Leafs.
Backlund’s second goal of the game tied the match 3-3.
Jason Spezza and Matthews had given the Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead before the Flames responded.
Andrew Mangiapane cut the lead to 2-1.
Wayne Simmonds also scored for Toronto.
Jacob Markstrom made 25 saves in the loss.
“It’s tough. We battled,” Backlund said. “We find a way to tie the game, and then they come back and beat us by two anyways. It’s really hard. It’s frustrating. It’s happened not just tonight. It’s happened to us too much lately. We’ve got to find a way to turn it around.”
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