In Pittsburgh, the Calgary Flames continued to burn their way through the east.
On Thursday night, Jacob Markstrom made 45 saves for Calgary in a 4-0 shelling of the Penguins.
“First of all, we have a long flight. It always [stinks] to travel after a loss,” Markstrom said. “Then to end the trip on a good note, it’s a great road trip instead of just a good one. I thought that was really important. That’s a big win and something to build on.”
Johnny Gaudreau scored his first of the season in the opening period and Calgary added three more in a breakout third period.
“[Markstrom] was really good tonight,” Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan said. “You have to give him credit. He made a lot of big saves. We had a number of high-quality chances throughout the course of the game that we couldn’t convert. … When you play goalies that are top-tier goalies, you have to make it hard on them.”
Gaudreau had nine assists before the goal.
“He’s had a lot of really good opportunities every game this road trip,” Flames head coach Darryl Sutter said. “A player like that, it’s going to [start going in] if he keeps getting them. He has a shot mentality, and he’s taking those shots.”
After a scoreless middle frame, the Flames broke it open in the third period.
“[Markstrom] saved our bacon one too many times. Not only this game, but throughout the entire road trip,” Gaudreau said. “So it’s two shutouts on the road trip. Obviously, one of the best goalies I’ve ever played with. So it’s great to see him doing well back there. He faced a lot of shots tonight but stuck with it.”
Blake Coleman put the Flames up 2-0.
Dillon Dube and Milan Lucic closed out the scoring making 4-0 before the 16th minute of the frame.
Casey DeSmith made 31 saves for the Pens in the loss.
“I think we had some chances, just would definitely like to get one or two there, for sure,” the Penguins’ Jake Guentzel said. “I think we’ve just got to stick with working on the little things. Make sure we’re moving and not stagnant out there.”
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