Mangiapane, Flames defeat Devils for fourth straight victory on road trip

NEWARK, N.J. --Andrew Mangiapane scored two of four goals in the first period, and the Calgary Flames won their fourth straight game to start a five-game road trip, 5-3 against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Tuesday.

Mangiapane has scored 12 goals in his past 10 NHL games dating to last season, seven in six games this season and six during a four-game goal streak.
"Players here are just kind of finding me," Mangiapane said. "It's definitely nice. Obviously, it is more important to get the two points."

Elias Lindholm had a goal and an assist, and Dan Vladar made 27 saves for the Flames (4-1-1), who won 3-0 at the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday, 4-3 in overtime at the Washington Capitals on Saturday and 5-1 at the New York Rangers on Monday.
"We're learning a lot to play the right way," Calgary coach Darryl Sutter said. "We have good players and they've been here for a while. It's a big adjustment process, learning how to play the right way and do it consistently. This team works really hard and is playing together and playing things right."
Pavel Zacha scored two goals, Dawson Mercer had a goal and an assist and Scott Wedgewood made 20 saves in relief for the Devils (3-2-0). Nico Daws allowed three goals on seven shots before being pulled at 12:10 of the first period.
"We lost wall battles, puck battles, our 50-50 battles weren't good (in the first period)," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "A lot of our pain was self-inflicted. [Calgary's] will was just greater than ours, so let's call it for what it was. They got to pucks quicker, they won the battles on the wall and they deserved to get the lead."

Milan Lucic gave the Flames a 1-0 lead on a breakaway at 6:35 of the first.
"We capitalized on an early opportunity," Lucic said. "It's always nice to get the first one, especially on the back-to-back. I think that's been a key to our success the last five games, we've been able to get that."
Mangiapane made it 2-0 on an unassisted goal from the slot at 10:08.
Wedgewood replaced Daws after Lindholm scored on a deflection from the slot for a power-play goal at 12:10 to make it 3-0.
"We didn't compete the first couple of shifts, and teams like that can kind of convert it to goals," Zacha said. "We left our goalie there without any help. It's just something we have to get rid of, work on to get better next game."

Mangiapane scored his second of the game 46 seconds later when he went backhand-to-forehand on a breakaway at 12:56 to give the Flames a 4-0 lead.
"We had a good start," Mangiapane said. "We knew we needed to come out strong and get our legs underneath us. We scored on some early opportunities, and I think that was the difference in the game."
Zacha scored an unassisted goal after stealing a clearing attempt by Vladar in the bottom of the right face-off circle at 7:01 of the second period to make it 4-1.
Matthew Tkachuk gave the Flames a 5-1 lead with a power-play goal at 11:18 of the third.
Mercer made it 5-2 at 11:51, and Zacha scored a power-play goal with Wedgewood pulled for a 6-on-4 advantage at 17:01 for the 5-3 final.
"I think the compete, our speed, puck management, all the little details are on us to be better at the start of the game," Mercer said. "Calgary took advantage of that. I think as the game went on, we got better. In the third we really showed the type of team we are, but we've got to bring that all three periods of every game."
NOTES: The Devils played their third straight game without center Jack Hughes, who is on injured reserve because of a dislocated left shoulder. He will be reevaluated next week. … Mangiapane (seven) and Lindholm (seven) tied the Flames record for the most goals in the first six games of a season (Gary Roberts, 1991-92). ... Forward Johnny Gaudreau had one assist and needs one to tie Kent Nilsson (333) for eighth in Flames history. ... Calgary forward Blake Coleman, who played his first four NHL seasons with New Jersey and won the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021, was honored with a video tribute in the first period. ... Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton played a game-high 24:23 and had two assists, four shots on goal and two blocked shots.