The sweep of the NHL from Wednesday night starts in Calgary where the Flames derailed the Florida Panthers express train in a 6-0 drubbing.
Sam Bennett, a rookie, scored four times for the Flames in the rout.
“I think it’s big for my confidence,” Bennett said. “I knew I felt confident playing in this league and now I think I took another step in the right direction. It’ll just keep building on my confidence.”
Johnny Gaudreau and Mason Raymond also scored for the Flames who scored four goals in the first period including a hat trick for Bennett.
Jonas Hiller stopped all 15 shots he faced for the win.
“I think we didn’t play our best hockey the last few home games especially,” Hiller said. “Tonight, it was one of our best efforts for 60 minutes. We didn’t give them really anything for the whole game. I think if we play that way, it doesn’t matter who we have in net, we’ll always have a chance to win.”
Bennett is the youngest player in Flames history to record a hat trick.
“It’s pretty cool,” Bennett said. “I didn’t even know that until someone brought it up. I guess it is a pretty great accomplishment that I’m really proud of.”
After a 12-game win streak, the Panthers have now lost two straight, 0-1-1.
“You can say what you want about (the 12-game winning streak),” Florida defenseman Erik Gudbranson said. “I think potentially there was a little bit of arrogance to our game towards the end of that streak. At the end of the day, the only thing I can say is we got our butts handed to us tonight. It was well-deserved. We earned every minute of it.
“I think, at the end of the day, it’s a good thing. I don’t think anybody’s really felt really good about our game over the past four, five games, so we needed a good spanking like that.”
Al Montoya came into the game in relief of Roberto Luongo, who yielded four goals on 15 shots in the first period flurry.
In Toronto, Boone Jenner, Alexander Wennberg and Brandon Dubinsky scored for the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 3-1 win over the Maple Leafs.
Joonas Korpisalo picked up the win on the strength of 41 saves and missed shutout by just under two and half minutes.
“Of course getting the shutout is always in the back of your head, but it’s not the most important thing,” Korpisalo said. “The big thing was the win today. I don’t care about the shutout that much.”
Brad Boyes scored for the Leafs late to cut their deficit to 2-1 but Dubinsky scored an empty-netter.
“Their goalie did a good job,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “We had some good tips and good opportunities, but we got behind and you can’t get behind.”
James Reimer made 19 saves in the loss.
“I thought we played a much better game tonight,” Dubinsky said. “I thought our details were a lot better and our work ethic was a lot better. There was a big disparity on the shot clock, but we had a two-goal lead for most of the game and they were pushing hard. They have a good team over there, but for the most part I liked the way we battled and competed.
“I am really proud of the way [Korpisalo] stepped up tonight. He was outstanding. It seemed like he saw everything. Anytime there was traffic he was right there and there were not many rebounds. He looked poised back there, like a seasoned vet.”
The Jackets improved to 16-25-4 while the Leafs fell to 16-18-7.
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