Johnny Gaudreau's heroics helped the Calgary Flames rally to another victory Wednesday while keeping them firmly in the race to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The rookie forward scored twice as part of five unanswered goals by the Flames en route to a 6-3 win against the Anaheim Ducks. The victory stretched Calgary's point streak to five straight games (4-0-1).
Gaudreau had a goal waved off 39 seconds after forward Matt Stajan opened the scoring for the Flames but scored the equalizer at 15:25 of the first period when he received a pass from forward Josh Jooris and connected on a backhand that went off each post before going over the line. Gaudreau's second goal came on the power play at 13:59 of the second when he finished a give-and-go with defenseman Dennis Wideman.
"Everyone's stepping up here, whether it's a defenseman or a forward, first line or fourth line," Gaudreau said. "It's great to see that too when we're coming down the playoff stretch here. It's going to help us in the long run."
Gaudreau's fourth multigoal game extended his point streak to a career-high five games (3-3-6). He is the first Flames rookie to score 50 points since Jarome Iginla in 1996-97.
"It's pretty special for me to be part of something like that. Jarome Iginla, I grew up watching him," Gaudreau said. "He's been so successful. It's exciting to be a part of something like that. I always dreamed about playing in the NHL. I'm pretty fortunately to be playing with [Jiri Hudler] and [Sean Monahan], who have really helped me out here all season long."
The third-place Flames (37-25-5) have 79 points, one behind the Vancouver Canucks in the Pacific Division and two ahead of the Los Angeles Kings.
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