Hockey

Hanifin has a goal and an assist to lead Flames past Maple Leafs

Led by Noah Hanifin's goal and an assist, the Calgary Flames erupted for four goals in the second period on Thursday in a 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, extending Calgary's winning streak to five games.

Calgary has won 5 consecutive games at home

Calgary Flames' Oliver Kylington, centre, celebrates his goal with teammates during second period NHL hockey action against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Calgary on Thursday. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

Led by Noah Hanifin's goal and assist, the Calgary Flames scored four times in the second period Thursday night for a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs that extended their winning streak to five games.

Andrew Mangiapane, Oliver Kylington, Elias Lindholm and Rasmus Andersson also scored for the Flames (25-13-6), who are heating up on home ice in particular. They've won five consecutive games at the Scotiabank Saddledome, outscoring the opposition 24-4.

Calgary, which has played the fewest home games in the NHL, has five remaining on a seven-game homestand.

"We've got to build up the swagger and I think this was a good start," Andersson said. "A few other guys have talked about this being a real tough place to come play and that's what we've just got to keep doing for teams that come in, and make it a really tough and long night for the opponents."

Rasmus Sandin and Michael Bunting scored for Toronto (30-11-3), which had won six straight. The Maple Leafs opened a three-game road trip.

Mitch Marner had his eight-game goal and point streaks snapped. He had piled up 19 points during that span (10 goals, nine assists).

"Obviously, we've been doing a lot of good things. We've been winning a lot of hockey games," Toronto captain John Tavares said. "These are the games and the opportunities and challenges that we have to really embrace and have to have growth and push through and find a way."

Jacob Markstrom made his 11th straight start in net for Calgary. Coming off a 6-0 shutout of Vegas on Wednesday, he was excellent once again in making 46 stops to improve to 19-10-5.

One of Markstrom's 18 saves in a scoreless first period was a superb pad stop on Marner after he was set up neatly at the top of the crease on a centering pass from Morgan Rielly.

All-Star Jack Campbell, making his first start since Feb. 1, was credited with 21 stops for the Maple Leafs. His record fell to 21-7-3.

"It's a long year. There's going to be games like this, games we feel good and disappointed with the result," Campbell said. "But you learn from it and be ready to go the next game, so that's what we're going to do."

Three defensemen scored for Calgary, which broke the game open with three goals in less than three minutes during the second period.

"Once we get the first one, it felt like we're rolling and we're rolling and we're rolling," Andersson said. "They take a timeout after the third one and we go out and score the fourth one and then the fifth one."

Auston Matthews had an assist for Toronto, extending his point streak to six games (six goals, seven assists).

Add some “good” to your morning and evening.

Get up to speed on what's happening in sports. Delivered weekdays.

...

The next issue of The Buzzer will soon be in your inbox.

Discover all CBC newsletters in the Subscription Centre.opens new window

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Google Terms of Service apply.