Make It Four Straight

On a milestone night, Andrew Mangiapane made sure to give himself - and most importantly the C of Red - something to remember the occasion by.

And he helped collect a big two points in the process.

Playing in his 400th game, the winger scored a deft tally, turning former teammate Cam Talbot inside out to score his 12th goal goal of the season and draw his side even at 1-1 in the second period Tuesday night against the visiting Kings at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

He was named the game's first star.

Blake Coleman (second star) would also tally in the second stanza, Yegor Sharangovich (third star) would get the game-winner and captain Mikael Backlund would add an empty-netter for good measure - his 198th career tally - as the Flames kept up pace in the wild-card hunt with a 4-2 win over Los Angeles, their fourth straight victory.

The Flames finished the month of February with a 7-3 record, and have won eight of their last 11.

Jacob Markstrom got the start, making 20 saves as Calgary outshot the visitors 37-22. He also got an assist on Mangiapane's goal, his fifth helper of the year.

The win evened up the season series with the Kings at a game apiece, Calgary losing 5-3 in Cali back on Dec. 23. The two teams - battling for playoff position in the Pacific Division - meet two more times this campaign.

The Flames outshot the visitors 10-3 in the first period, but were 0-2 with the man advantage. They had some good looks in the stanza, two notable ones coming courtesy of Mangiapane and Jakob Pelletier.

Mangiapane came close to opening the scoring with a doorstep tip of a Noah Hanifin point shot. Pelletier, meanwhile, was Johnny-on-the-spot when a turnover bounced in the air and landed at his feet in the slot where he was all alone but – as with Mangiapane – Talbot was there to make a big stop.

Markstrom, while not busy, made a terrific save on former Flame and longtime-King-now-back-with-his-old-club Trevor Lewis, who darted across the crease with a backhand but the Calgary ‘tender fell on his offering, eventually laid out on his stomach with the puck under him.

Phillip Danault opened the scoring at 12:08 of the second period, stepping into a laser of a slapshot on a rush that beat Markstrom high glove side, post in.

But Mangiapane would answer back a scant 48 seconds after, taking a long-distance outlet pass from Hanifin and splitting the Kings D, before going backhand/forehand to put it home.

Following a wild goalmouth scramble in the Flames end where Markstrom put on a gymnastics clinic to keep the puck out, Calgary went down the ice and tallied again just under a minute later.

With Pierre-Luc Dubois draped on his back on the doorstep, Coleman backhanded a bouncing puck into the net on the rebound of a shot by Huberdeau at 13:52.

Sharangovich's winner was a thing of beauty, as he wired a wrister high glove-side at 12:09 after hitting the zone at a full gallop, shooting so fast the puck was in the net before the Kings' tender even began to raise his mitt.

The Lineup:

Forwards

Connor Zary - Nazem Kadri - Martin Pospisil

Jonathan Huberdeau - Yegor Sharangovich - Dryden Hunt

Andrew Mangiapane - Mikael Backlund - Blake Coleman

Jakob Pelletier - Kevin Rooney - Walker Duehr

Defence

Noah Hanifin - Chris Tanev

MacKenzie Weegar - Rasmus Andersson

Oliver Kylington - Brayden Pachal

Goaltender

Jacob Markstrom - starter

Dan Vladar

Andrei Kuzmenko remained out due to illness

They Said It:

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 37, LAK 22

Powerplay: CGY X0-3, LAK 0-3

Faceoffs: CGY 50.9%, LAK 49.1%

Blocked Shots: CGY 15, LAK 22

Hits: CGY 29, LAK 19

5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 17, LAK 16

5-on-5 High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 7, LAK 9

Up Next:

The Flames host the Penguins on Saturday at 8 p.m., the night the club will retire the jersey of legendary netminder Miikka Kiprusoff. Click for tickets