Flames keep Isles in check

In Uniondale, the Calgary Flames’ Mikael Backlund broke a 1-1 tie early in the third period to send the Flames to a 3-1 win over the Islanders.

“[Backlund’s] playing real well right now,” Flames head coach Bill Peters said. “It’s not just the points; he’s playing the game the right way. He was dominant tonight on face-offs (7-for-9), I thought. He was real good. He’s stepped up his game, and it’s good to see.”

Rasmus Andersson scored for the Flames in win on Long Island – file photo by Lewis Bleiman

It was the sixth straight win for the Flames who now have a five-point lkead over second place San Jose Sharks in the Pacific Division.

Matthew Tkachuk and Rasmus Andersson also scored for the Flames.

“[Elias Lindholm] did a great job of snapping it over to me quick,” Tkachuk said. “I think they left me by myself. It was just kind of an instinctual play that I thought he was going to pokecheck it like most goalies do, so I was trying to get it around the stick blade. Luckily, it went in.”

Mike Smith made 26 saves to get the win.

“I think our guys came in and got refocused after the [second period] in a 1-1 game on the road,” Peters said. “I liked a lot of things we did 5-on-5. At the end of the day, we found a way.”

Josh Bailey scored the Isles only goal.

“It’s a long season, you’re going to have your highs and lows,” Bailey said. “I think mentally, we just have to stay even keel, and for the most part we’ve done that. I think we’ve obviously talked about certain areas that we can be better at. But even when we’re on top of our game, we’re still talking about areas we can improve upon too. It’s always about getting better and I’m sure we’ll talk about it again tomorrow.”

The Isles are now tied with the Washington Capitals for the lead in the Metro Division after the Caps defeated the Ottawa Senators, 7-2.

[WATCH: All Flames vs. Islanders highlights]

Robin Lehner made 24 saves in the loss.

“It’s tough, because I think it was a good game,” Lehner said. “I think it could have easily been 2-1, 3-1 us in the second period. We had a couple of open nets, but it didn’t go in, and we played hard together.

“I think it was a tight game; it could have gone either way. Especially here at home, it usually goes our way. Of course, it [stinks]. For me, it felt like I played a really, really good game, and then I let in a [bad] goal. That goal, it doesn’t happen often and it kind of took the power out of our team a little bit. I take responsibility for that.”