Gaudreau has goal, two assists for Flames in OT victory against Avalanche

Johnny Gaudreau scored 37 seconds into overtime to give the Calgary Flames a 4-3 victory against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena on Saturday.

Gaudreau won it on a breakaway set up by an 80-foot bank pass from Elias Lindholm after Lindholm forced a turnover in Calgary's end.
"I thought we did a pretty good job containing them 3-on-3 when they were in our zone," Gaudreau said. "'Lindy' made a great play. I kind of took off and got behind their forward there and had a little break.
"I kind of made a quick move to my backhand, forehand and shot low glove. I haven't really seen this goalie too, too much. I kind of got a quick shot off and found the back of the net."
Lindholm had two goals and an assist, and Matthew Tkachuk had three assists for the Flames (33-14-7), who have won 13 of the past 15 games. Dan Vladar made 33 saves.
"It's huge. Two good teams," Lindholm said. "Obviously they have a real good record at home, and we know it's going to be a tough one and we came out on top. It was a good test for us and a good game."

Gabriel Landeskog scored his 30th goal of the season for the Avalanche (40-11-5), who lost back-to-back games for the first time since Nov. 3 and Nov. 6.
"They're a really good test for our team, I think that's what our team needs," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "That was playoff-type hockey."
Darcy Kuemper allowed three goals on 15 shots before being replaced 1:27 into the second period by Pavel Francouz, who made 21 saves.
"I didn't feel like Darcy was real sharp," Bednar said. "At that point we needed a little bit of something."
Landeskog scored 42 seconds into the first period to put Colorado up 1-0, converting on a third-chance rebound after Vladar made the initial stops, and Lindholm tied it 1-1 at 2:29 with a one-timer five seconds into a power play on a setup by Tkachuk.
"Right away they scored, and we got one pretty much the shift after," Lindholm said. "It was a solid game. It was a good game."

Andre Burakovsky gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead at 18:18 when he gathered a cross-ice pass from Alex Newhook before shooting over Vladar's glove. It was Burakovsky's fourth goal in five games.
Lindholm tied it 2-2 at 19:24 on a one-timer from Tkachuk after the Avalanche failed to clear the zone. Lindholm has scored in three straight games and leads the NHL with 13 goals since Feb. 1.
"They scored early and then we scored. They scored, we scored," Calgary coach Darryl Sutter said. "Tough team. Tough rink. They do a lot of damage off the rush."
Erik Gudbranson put the Flames ahead 3-2 at 1:27 of the second period when he scored on a slap shot from the point. The goal, his fifth of the season, is an NHL career high and gives him four in his past 10 games after one in his first 44.
Nathan MacKinnon tied it 3-3 at 9:40 on a return pass from Nazem Kadri. The play started when Cale Makar broke up a 2-on-1 rush near his own goal line. MacKinnon has scored six points (five goals, one assist) in a five-game point streak. Makar has 16 assists in an 11-game assist streak, one game behind Joe Sakic for the longest in Avalanche history (Feb. 27-March 24, 1992).
"Good hockey game, for sure," Landeskog said. "Two good teams and it comes down to overtime and comes on a breakaway. Didn't go our way."

NOTES: Colorado forward Tyson Jost left the game after being hit in the face with the puck at 3:01 of the third period and did not return. There was no update. … Makar's 11-game point streak is the second-longest by a defenseman in Avalanche history (Steve Duchesne, 15 games, 1992-93). … Gaudreau tied teammate Sean Monahan for most OT goals in Flames history, with 11. … Gaudreau has scored 565 points to pass Kent Nilsson (562) and Gary Suter (564) and move into fifth place in Flames history. … Lindholm has scored eight points (four goals, four assists) in a four-game point streak. … Flames forward Andrew Mangiapane had his four-game goal streak end (four goals). … Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin played 19:35 and had two assists in his return after missing two games because of an upper-body injury. … Landeskog scored 34 goals in 2018-19. He is the first left wing in Avalanche history with multiple 30-goal seasons.