In the oddest game on the NHL schedule Thursday night, the Flames defeated the Ottawa Senators, 7-3, to improve to 11-11-2, and then fired their head coach, Geoff Ward.
Darryl Sutter was hired as his replacement.
As for the game, Dillon Dube scored his first NHL hat trick in the win.
“Feels good, but anything at this time with our division right now, I think winning is everything and that that makes it feel even better,” Dube said. “If you lost the game and get that, it doesn’t mean anything. To get the win with it feels really good.”
David Rittich made 29 saves for the victory.
Josh Norris, Ryan Dzingel and Artem Anisimov scored for the Senators.
“Unfortunate start, but we stuck with it and we got a goal there, and all of a sudden it’s 2-1,” Norris said. “Then you’re just playing hockey and not thinking about the score. Then, obviously, the game kind of got a little bit out of hand, and we were just chasing it.”
Ottawa dropped to 8-17-1.
“I think just overall top to bottom we didn’t come ready to play tonight, and it showed in our play,” Ottawa’s Erik Gudbranson said. “We’ve got a lot more to give than that. We’ve got to refocus and come out and have a good game to follow this up, because those are tough ones to be a part of.”
Brett Ritchie, Dube and Sean Monahan gave the Flames 3-0 in the first period.
“We’ve just got to play fast with the puck and play in their zone,” Calgary’s Matthew Tkachuk said. “Anytime you come out of there with a three-goal lead after the first, we’ll take that.”
Tkachuk assisted on all three Dube goals.
“He said he’s gonna go look for me, for sure, and I appreciate it,” Dube said. “I think we always want to play the right way and to have it work out that way … but he’s such a smart player that he was able to make that cross pass, and I was trying to get open for him, but tons of credit to him and [linemate Elias Lindholm] tonight.”
Josh Leivo pushed the lead to three goals and 4-1 lead after 20 minutes.
Derek Ryan completed the scoring for the Flames when he made the final strike and the 7-3 final. 
Matt Murray got the start and got the hook in the first intermission after surrendering four goals on just 11 shots.
Joey Daccord made 15 saves in the role of mop up.
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