Bennett, Monahan power Flames past Coyotes

GLENDALE, Ariz. --The Calgary Flames were missing leading scorer Johnny Gaudreau on Monday, but rookie Sam Bennett and Sean Monahan provided more than enough offense to overcome the loss.
Bennett scored two goals, Monahan had a goal and two assists, and Joni Ortio made 22 saves to help the Flames to a 5-2 win against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena.

With Gaudreau sidelined by an upper-body injury and several other regulars out, Calgary called up four players from Stockton of the American Hockey League for the game: defenseman Brett Kulak and forwards Derek Grant, Emile Poirier and Hunter Shinkaruk. Grant and Shinkaruk each got his first NHL point on an assist.
"All the kids coming up brought a lot of new energy. I really liked their third periods," Flames coach Bob Hartley said. "That was our best period. We were skating well, we made smart decisions and we were intense. I was proud of the entire group."

Monahan, who has six goals and 11 points in the past eight games, scored the game-winner on the power play in the final minute of the second period, and the Flames (32-38-6) avoided a five-game season sweep at the hands of the Coyotes.
Joe Colborne had an assist on Bennett's second goal and scored into the empty net with 1:42 left to complete the scoring.
Bennett ended an 18-game goal drought when he opened the scoring in the first period.
"It can be frustrating at times when you're not scoring, but you have to battle through and keep playing," said Bennett, who has 17 goals. "When you finally do get a bounce, it's a great feeling and builds your confidence."

Calgary forward Michael Frolik left in the third period with a lower-body injury. Hartley said he didn't think the injury was serious and Frolik was held out as a precaution.
Rookie Anthony Duclair has 19 goals after he scored two on the power play in the second period for Arizona (34-35-7), which had a three-game winning streak end.
"I don't think we were ready. Right from the get-go, we weren't playing our best hockey," Duclair said. "We tried to play catch up, we even got a lead, but it definitely wasn't our best effort."
Louis Domingue made 16 saves for the Coyotes, who played without forward Shane Doan and defenseman Michael Stone.

Bennett scored his first goal at 1:53 of the first period. Micheal Ferland won a puck battle with Nicklas Grossmann along the Arizona boards and centered a pass to Bennett. Coyotes forward Jiri Sekac got enough of Bennett's stick to change the speed and direction of the shot, and the puck slid by Domingue.
"Louis didn't play very well in the first couple of periods," Arizona coach Dave Tippett said. "Not a lot of push, we didn't have the zip we needed. Disappointing, especially when we have been going pretty good lately (six wins in the previous eight games)."
The Coyotes had an apparent power-play goal by Oliver Ekman-Larsson wiped out in the first minute of the second period when Martin Hanzal made contact with Ortio just before the shot.
After Frolik was called for hooking Arizona's Jordan Martinook at 5:42, the Coyotes capitalized against the Flames' 30th-ranked penalty kill.

Max Domi passed down to Hanzal at the goal line. Hanzal sent a pass across the crease and under Ortio's stick to Duclair, who completed the tic-tac-toe play with a one-timer at 6:08 to make it 1-1.
Seven minutes later, Martinook drew a hooking call on Matt Stajan, and the Coyotes again converted with the man-advantage.
Alex Tanguay put a pass on Duclair's stick in the slot for a deflection to the net. The puck hit Hanzal but came right back to Duclair, who scored at 13:42 for his third multigoal game of the season and a 2-1 Arizona lead.
The Flames, who had one shot to that point in the period, closed with a flourish.
Colborne worked himself open behind the Arizona net and fed Bennett for a quick shot from the right circle. Domingue made the save, but Bennett kept coming and knocked in the rebound at 16:41 to tie it 2-2.

When Arizona's Kevin Connauton was called for holding Lance Bouma's stick in the final minute, Calgary's power play needed 12 seconds to take the lead.
A one-timer by Dougie Hamilton hit Arizona's Klas Dahlbeck in front and slid right to Monahan in the right circle. He had lots to room to score his 27th goal and put the Flames up 3-2 with 29 seconds left in the period.
"They got us on those two power-play goals, but we never quit and came back," Hartley said.
The Flames made it 4-2 on the power play in the third period. TJ Brodie's pass intended for Shinkaruk deflected off Arizona's Connor Murphy and past Domingue at 11:13 for Brodie's fifth goal.