By Allan Kreda
Jacob Markstrom made 37 saves, Connor Zary and Andrew Mangiapane each had a goal and an assist and the Calgary Flames defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-3 on Thursday night for their third straight win.
Mikael Backlund, Kevin Rooney and Andrei Kuzmenko also scored for Calgary, which was coming off a 4-1 win at Boston on Tuesday to start a four-game trip that includes facing the three New York/New Jersey-area teams.
Defenseman Noah Hanifan had two assists for the Flames, whose winning streak comes after a four-game skid.
Ondrej Palat scored twice, Nico Hischier also had a goal and Jesper Bratt had three assists for New Jersey, which was coming off a 5-3 win at home over Colorado on Tuesday.
Palat opened the scoring at 15:39 of the first, completing a 2-on-1 break with Bratt. Hischier also assisted.
Backlund, the Flames’ captain, then tied it with his 11th goal at 18:10 of the first.
Zary put Calgary ahead at 3:53 of the second, nudging a loose puck in the crease past Vitek Vanecek.
Rooney made it 3-1 at 2:55 of the third with his first of the season.
Hischier narrowed the deficit to one goal with a short-handed breakaway score at 4:02 of the third, his 14th goal of the season.
Kuzmenko restored the Flames’ two-goal lead at 9:56 of the third with his 10th goal, and second in two games since joining Calgary in a trade from Vancouver.
Palat scored his second of the game and eighth of the season at 13:48 of the third, and Mangiapane added an empty-net goal to cap the scoring at 18:26.
JACK IS BACK
Devils center Jack Hughes returned to the lineup after missing 11 games with an upper-body injury sustained Jan. 5 in a home win over Chicago. He had four shots on goal.
UP NEXT
Devils: Visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night.
Flames: At the New York Islanders on Saturday.
