STAY HOT, ELIAS

For years, Elias Lindholm was praised, applauded, even idolized for his innate blend of playmaking and defensive acumen.
But what about that shot?
Those hands?
If it wasn't already, it's clear, now, he's become an elite marksman, too.
With another three goals to record his second career hat-trick, Lindholm led the Flames to a 4-3 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday, and is now a step closer to etching his name in the franchise record book.

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Only one other player in Flames lore has had a longer run of goals to begin a season. But at this rate, Gary Roberts' five-game stretch in the 1989-90 season looks to be in peril.
No. 28 is running that hot.
Andrew Mangiapane had the Flames' other tally, and Dan Vladar - playing in his first regular-season tilt with the club - posted 22 saves in the victory.
Lindholm scored a pair in regulation and then the winner, 2:46 into overtime, off a lovely dish on a 2-on-1 with Johnny Gaudreau.
With the win, the Flames improve to a perfect 2-0-0 on the road trip, and 2-1-1 overall this season.
The Caps got the first great chance of the game less than 100 seconds in, as Evgeny Kuznetsov intercepted the puck in the neutral zone, split the D and scooted in alone, but his quick, blocker-side bid caught iron.
The homeside kept the pressure on and forced the Flames into a sloppy line change. A too-many-men penalty ensued, but the PK turned in a huge effort and kept the high-powered Caps offence at bay.
From there, the Flames went on the attack, recording four of the next five shots on goal, and earning a powerplay of their own when former Flame Garnet Hathaway was tagged for roughing.
The visitors made him pay, with the second unit doing the damage.
Noah Hanifin sailed a shot through from the point, handcuffing a partially screened Vitek Vanecek. With the rebound sitting loose in the blue paint, Mangiapane swooped in and chopped home his third of the year, putting the Flames up 1-0 at 9:27.

Then, with the ice firmly tilted in Calgary's favour, Lindholm found the net for the fourth time in as many games this year to double the lead less than two minutes later.
Gaudreau - on the prowl for Point No. 500 - corralled a bouncing puck at the side of the net, before spotting his wide-open linemate at the top of the right circle.
Lindholm, as he has done so many times before, unleashed a quick shot and buried it far side.

But if you thought that was nice - what No. 28 did next will take your breath away.
With the Flames on the penalty kill, Lindholm chased the Washington puck carrier back into his own zone, then showed some incredible strength by stripping the puck away, galloping in alone, and out-waiting the goalie before flipping it - bar down - for his fifth in four games this year.

Shots on goal favoured the Flames 14-8 after one. Ilya Samsonov tagged in for Vanecek after the sophomore puck-stopper was victimized for all three goals.
The Capitals trimmed the deficit early in the second when Kuznetsov made amends for his earlier miss. The short-handed marker came on the heels of a Flames turnover, allowing the skilled forward to take the puck in alone and beat Vladar - barely - through the wickets.
Moments after Gaudreau clanked a shot off the base of the far post, the Caps made it a one-goal game.
A defensive breakdown allowed Martin Fehervary to bring the puck into the middle off the rush and snipe home his first-career goal.
Alex Ovechkin evened the score at 18:03 as he capitalized on a turnover and barreled down the left side, picking the short side on Vladar to inch closer to Wayne Gretzky's all-time goal record.
With 735 career goals, Ovechkin is now 159 back of The Great One.
The Caps turned up the heat and out-shot the Flames 8-4 in the middle frame.
Both teams had their chances in the third, but the goalies were the story, preserving the deadlock until overtime when the Gaudreau-Lindholm connection took over once again.

THEY SAID IT:

Gaudreau on reaching 500 points:
"It's sweet. Obviously special, my family's here. It was an important game for us. Started off this road trip 2-0, so it was a good team effort and big goal by Lindy there in OT."
Gaudreau on Lindholm's short-handed beauty:
"Pretty much everything (impressed me). Big blocked shot (on) Ovechkin, won the draw, got the puck out, he beat the defenceman up the ice. he sent the defenceman back to the gym … undressed the goalie, then went bar down."
Lindholm on his hat-trick:
"It's always fun to play with a playmaker like (Gaudreau). For me, try to find open areas and if I'm open, I know he'll find me there and it's my job to try and put them in. And right now, it seems to go in."
Vladar on chats with Ovechkin:
"I think he was trying to get in my head. He said the whole game, 'I'm shooting glove, I'm shooting glove.' But he kept shooting blocker. He's one of the best players of all time and I have a lot of respect for him, but it was good to beat his team today. He was trying to get in my head, but I was laughing, I thought it was funny."
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NICE WORKS, GENTS:

BY THE NUMBERS:

Shots: CGY 28 - WSH 25
Powerplay: CGY 1-3 - WSH 0-4
Hits: CGY 25 - WSH 23
Faceoffs: CGY 51% - WSH 49%
\Scoring chances: CGY 18 - WSH 20
\High-danger scoring chances: CGY 4 - WSH 9
*Courtesy of Natural Stat Trick

ONE-TIMERS:

With a pair of helpers, Gaudreau now has 500 points in his NHL career. In 523 games, the fourth-round pick (104th overall) in 2011 has 170 goals and 330 assists. He leads all Flames in scoring since the 2013-14 season, and is the sixth player in franchise history to reach the mark. Kent Nilsson (372 games), Joe Nieuwendyk (473), Theo Fleury (475), Guy Chouinard (479) and Al MacInnis (522) are the others.

This was the 100th all-time meeting between the Flames and Capitals and franchises, with the good guys improving to 46-39-13-2, with 353 goals for, and 317 goals-against, dating back to Nov. 12, 1974 (a 2-2 tie between the Caps and Atlanta Flames). … These teams won't meet again until March 8, 2022 at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

THE LINEUP:

Forwards
Johnny Gaudreau - Elias Lindholm - Matthew Tkachuk
Blake Coleman - Mikael Backlund - Tyler Pitlick
Andrew Mangiapane - Dillon Dube - Brett Ritchie
Milan Lucic - Sean Monahan - Trevor Lewis
Defence
Oliver Kylington - Chris Tanev
Noah Hanifin - Rasmus Andersson
Juuso Valimaki - Erik Gudbranson

Goaltenders
Dan Vladar - Starter
Jacob Markstrom

UP NEXT:

The Flames will continue this five-game road swing with a stop in the Big Apple to face the Rangers on Monday. Puck drop is at 5 p.m. MT and you can catch it live on Sportsnet West/Sportsnet 960 THE FAN.