Flames gain in wild card with win against Sabres

BUFFALO -- David Rittich made 25 saves, and the Calgary Flames gained in the wild-card race in the Western Conference with a 5-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Wednesday.
Mark Giordano, Mark Jankowski, and Sam Bennett each had a goal and an assist for the Flames (33-25-10), who ended a four-game losing streak (0-3-1). Calgary is one point behind the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the West.

"It was big for our team to get off to a good start early… and to not let up," Jankowski said. "I think if we had got a couple we could've laid back a little bit and maybe gave them a chance to get back in the game and we didn't do that. We stayed on them and pressed hard throughout the whole game."
WATCH: [All Flames vs. Sabres highlights\]
Casey Nelson scored for the Sabres (21-35-11), who have lost two of three games.
"It's about preparation and being a good pro," Buffalo coach Phil Housley said. "The learning curve of this team is measuring your consistency, game in, game out. You can say it was an off night, I don't agree. We had a little too much cheat, not enough compete, [and] losing puck battles all around."
Bennett gave Calgary a 1-0 lead at 5:35 of the first period when he got to the puck in front after Jankowski's pass went off Sabres goalie Chad Johnson's skate.
Jankowski made it 2-0 at 8:35 with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle.

"I thought they [Bennett-Jankowski-Garnet Hathaway line] had great jump in the first," Flames coach Glen Gulutzan said. "I thought they did a really good job. You know, our bottom lines have played, if you look at the last three, four games, have played real hard, and it was good tonight that they got us going on the score sheet."
Giordano scored five minutes into the second period to make it 3-0 when his slap shot deflected off Sabres forward Jason Pominville and between Johnson's pads.
Sean Monahan scored at 6:01 to make it 4-0 on a one-timer off a pass from Johnny Gaudreau. Robin Lehner replaced Johnson, who made 18 saves, following the goal. Lehner made 18 saves.
Dougie Hamilton made it 5-0 at 18:39 with a power-play goal when he got to the puck after Giordano's shot was blocked in front.

"We had to keep working and not get cute with the puck," Hamilton said. "We just had to keep working and make sure we were playing for each other and making the right plays and we did a good job of that."
Nelson scored with 18 seconds left in the third period to make it 5-1.
"I don't really care about the shutout. How we get the two points, that's more important right now," Rittich said. "So, we need every single point, every game, and we got two today. It's great for us."

Goal of the game

Monahan's goal at 6:01 of the second period.

Save of the game

Rittich's save on Sam Reinhart at 15:54 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Bennett's goal at 5:35 of the first period.

They said it

"We all know, and we've talked about this before, our team, when they get confident they can get on a real good run. We've done it before. We did it last year, we've done it this year. Every little step is a big step for us." -- Flames coach Glen Gulutzan
"It's difficult to swallow. I mean, I thought we had good preparation. I thought we had good preparation, we talked about their desperation. You know, they're saying these are their playoff lives, these next two games on the road, and I don't think we respected that." -- Sabres coach Phil Housley

Need to know

It was Calgary's first win in Buffalo since Dec. 14, 2013, and first regulation win since March 15, 1996. … Pominville has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past seven games. … Gaudreau played in his 300th NHL game.

What's next

Flames: At the Ottawa Senators on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN5, RDS, SNW, NHL.TV)
Sabres:At the Ottawa Senators on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, MSG-B, NHL.TV)