Brian Elliott makes 25 saves in Flames win

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Calgary Flames forward Kris Versteeg thought he would miss the rest of the game after taking an elbow to the chin from Arizona Coyotes forward Jamie McGinn and crashing to the ice in the second period Monday.
Versteeg not only returned, but he scored the game-winning goal in the third period of a 4-2 victory at Gila River Arena.
"My bell was definitely rung, and I pretty much thought I was done," Versteeg said. "The last thing on my mind was scoring when I was down there. But you go in, you collect yourself, do your tests, and once I was OK, I got ready for the third period. The night definitely improved."

WATCH: All Flames vs. Coyotes highlights
Versteeg's goal was Calgary's third of the game on the power play. He finished off a pretty passing play by Johnny Gaudreau, Troy Brouwer and Sean Monahan to put Calgary ahead 3-2 at 12:25 of the third period.
TJ Brodie scored an empty-net goal with one minute remaining to make it 4-2.
Mikael Backlund and Brouwer also scored on the power play for the Flames (17-15-2), who have won seven of their past nine games and have scored at least one man-advantage goal in their past eight.
"Even when the power play didn't score, we had some good looks," Versteeg said. "We had an ugly first period when they came at us hard. We knew we had to bounce back and we built our game as we went on."
Brian Elliott, in his first start since Nov. 28, made 11 of his 25 saves in the first 10 minutes and won for the first time since a 5-2 victory against the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 28.
"It was a weird game. You had a little bit of everything," Elliott said. "I was disappointed in the goals that went in, but the guys did a great job and kept going."

Arizona (11-16-5) had allowed three power-play goals in 45 chances at home this season but paid the price for giving Calgary six man-advantage opportunities.
Christian Dvorak and Ryan White scored for the Coyotes, who were 0-for-5 on the power play, including 1:45 at 5-on-3 in the third period.
"We have to get one there for sure," defenseman Alex Goligoski said. "We weren't able to generate much. We had some rolling pucks that just kind of got everything out of sync. We weren't able to generate that high-quality chance. Another area we've got to work on."
Coyotes goalie Mike Smith made 25 saves.
Arizona outshot Calgary 11-0 over the first 10 minutes and took a 1-0 lead when Elliott's clearing attempt after playing a dump-in was smothered along the boards by Josh Jooris. The puck came to Dvorak, who stuffed it into the empty net at 5:12 for his third goal.
The Flames dominated the rest of the way, holding the Coyotes without a shot for more than 18 minutes into the second period.
Dougie Hamilton took a pass from Matthew Tkachuk and set up Backlund for a redirection goal at 8:10 of the second to tie it 1-1.
Brouwer scored off a Gaudreau pass 20 seconds into the third period to put Calgary up 2-1, but White's shot from the side boards got over Elliott's pad at 9:07 to tie it 2-2.

Goal of the game

Backlund beat Smith for Calgary's first goal on a tic-tac-toe passing play that started with Bennett from behind the net to Hamilton at the bottom of the right faceoff circle to Backlund in front of the net.

Save of the game

Smith robbed Backlund on a one-timer from the front of the net 27 seconds into the second period.

Unsung performance of the game

Monahan won 15 of 24 faceoffs and extended his point streak to an NHL career-high 10 games with the primary assist on Versteeg's game-winner.

Highlight of the game

The Flames penalty kill wrapped up a perfect 5-for-5 night by holding the Coyotes without a shot for 1:45 at 5-on-3 in the third period to preserve their one-goal lead.

They said it

"It was a contested affair. There were some emotions running high and big hits both ways. We don't mind playing those games. Those games can help you. When you win them, they help you come together." -- Flames coach Glen Gulutzan
"It's so frustrating for players and coaches that we haven't been able to sustain anything. When we do get in a situation where a team is pushing back, how do you push them back again? It's frustrating." -- Coyotes coach Dave Tippett

#

Need to know

Gaudreau and Tkachuk each had two assists. Gaudreau has 12 points in seven games since returning from a broken finger. … Coyotes defenseman Michael Stone played his 300th NHL game. … The Flames have scored 13 power-play goals during their eight-game streak with at least one man-advantage goal.

#

What's next

Flames: At the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. CSN-CA, SNW, NHL.TV)
Coyotes: Host the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; FS-A PLUS, SNW, NHL.TV)