YEAH, BABY!

Talk about putting an exclamation mark on the night.
Prior to the puck drop against the Coyotes Saturday at the Scotiabank Saddledome, the Flames officially clinched a playoff berth when the Oilers beat the Golden Knights in a matinee.
The homeside then went out and put a 9-1 pasting on the Desert Dogs in front an already fired up and frenzied C of Red, excited and amped for the return to postseason play.
In the third period, the crowd chanted 'We Want 10' loudly and often, as they did earlier this season when the Flames put a nine-spot up on the Oilers.

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Calgary trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes before erupting for six goals in the second period - four of them coming early in a span of 2:33 - to blow the game wide open and collect two big points as they battle towards a Pacific Division crown.
It was an emphatic response from a Flames side that fell 6-1 to the Golden Knights Thursday night at the 'Dome.
In the two days since, the players said it was time to get back to their physical, fast and hard-checking game.
Mission accomplished.
Dillon Dube scored a pair - and has three in his last two games - while Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau also talled two. Andrew Mangiapane, Blake Coleman and Elias Lindholm added singles.
Gaudreau finished the night with four points - his 102nd, 103rd, 104th and 105th of the season. Tkachuk and Lindholm also had four points.
Lindholm and Tkachuk are now tied for the team lead in goals with 39 each.
Nikita Zadorov - who turned 27 today - assisted on Mangiapane's tally, his 100th NHL point.
Jacob Markstrom made 25 saves in the victory.
Harri Sateri started the game but allowed those four straight to start the second and left the game with 15 stops, replaced by Karel Vejmelka for the rest of the frame, who ended up with eight saves. Sateri went back in for the third with nine more stops.
The Coyotes opened the scoring 30 seconds into the game, Nick Ritchie tipping in a pass from Jay Beagle on the backhand and then going airborne up-and-over Markstrom.
Markstrom later made a massive stop on a tip attempt by a streaking Nathan Smith past the midway point of the frame to keep the deficit at one.
The Flames top line of Gaudreau, Lindholm and Tkachuk were buzzing in the period - especially in the late stages creating a handful of chances, one from Gaudreau to Lindholm leading to a holding penalty on the Coyotes but the Calgary powerplay couldn't convert.
Dube tied the game up just 38 seconds into the middle stanza off a turnover, snapping one low shortside over Sateri's right pad for his 12th of the season.

A relentless forecheck led to Calgary scoring exactly 38 seconds later, Mangiapane roofing a fadeaway wrister top shelf from the midslot.

The fans had just sat back down before jumping to their feet 1:02 later when Gaudreau made one of his patented no-look-backhand-pass-from-a-ridiculous angle-behind-the-net that Tkachuk put home.

Less than a minute after that, Dube skated in and scored another of the unassisted variety.

With 4:24 left in the period, Coleman scored when he took a rink-wide pass from Mikael Backlund as he skated all alone down the left wing and fired one five-hole.

Lindholm rounded out the second-period half-dozen after a monster shift by both Tkachuk and Gaudreau, who would get helpers on his tally with 1:02 left in the frame.

Gaudreau extended the lead just after a Calgary powerplay expired in the third period, stepping into a slapshot for his 35th of the campaign 2:43 in.

And the goals kept coming.
Tkachuk got his second - at 5:13 - off a tip-in in tight off on passing play with Lindholm and Gaudreau.

Then it was Gaudreau's turn.

BY THE NUMBERS:

Shots: CGY 41, ARI 26
Powerplay:CGY 0-2, ARI 0-2
Hits:CGY , ARI
Face-offs: CGY , ARI
\Scoring chances: CGY 29, ARI 23
\High-danger scoring chances:CGY 12, ARI 13
\According of Natural Stat Trick (5-on-5)*

THE THREE STARS:

ONE-TIMERS:

The Flames held a moment of silence prior to the game to honour former Islanders great Mike Bossy passed away Friday ... Referee Brad Meier officiated his last game Saturday. He was acknowledged with a cheer from the crowd during a first-intermission TV timeout ... This is the third and final matchup this season between these clubs. The Flames won the first two 4-2 ... The Flames are now 11-5-2 against Central Division opponents this season and 26-13-4 against Western Conference opponents ... Johnny Gaudreau is one point away from 600 ... The NLL's Calgary Roughnecks also clinched a playoff berth Saturday night with a big 15-13 win over the Vancouver Warriors on the West Coast.
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THE LINEUP:

Lines
Johnny Gaudreau - Elias Lindholm - Matthew Tkachuk
Andrew Mangiapane - Mikael Backlund - Tyler Toffoli
Dillon Dube - Calle Jarnkrok - Blake Coleman
Milan Lucic - Adam Ruzicka - Trevor Lewis
Pairings
Oliver Kylington - Chris Tanev
Noah Hanifin - Rasmus Andersson
Nikita Zadorov - Erik Gudbranson
Goaltender
Jacob Markstrom- starter
Dan Vladar

UP NEXT:

The Flames head out on a back-to-back road trip, with stops Monday vs. the Blackhawks (6 p.m. MT) and Tuesday against the Predators (6 p.m. MT) . Sportsnet will televise both, while Sportsnet 960 The FAN will host the radio broadcasts. They return home to face the Stars Thursday (7 p.m.).
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