Gaudreau, Flames defeat Lightning for fifth straight win

TAMPA -- Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and an assist to help the Calgary Flames to their fifth straight win, 5-1 against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Thursday.
Micheal Ferland and Mark Jankowski each also had a goal and an assist, and Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk scored for the Flames (23-16-4). Mike Smith made 33 saves.

"I thought Smith]*
Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman was helped to the locker room 6:13 into the second period with a
lower-body injury
after he banged knees with Flames forward Garnet Hathaway.
Coach Jon Cooper said there is no timetable on how long Hedman might be out until he's examined Friday, when the Lightning start a six-day break.

"It didn't look very good," Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos said. "Obviously, we're hoping and praying for the best news, but, you know, we'll have to wait and see."
Brayden Point scored for the Lightning (31-10-3), who lost at home for the second time since Nov. 22 (9-2-0). Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed five goals on 24 shots and has given up 15 goals his past three starts.
"So far, the guys are playing well and are trying to do everything to keep the puck out of our net," Vasilevskiy said. "But sometimes games like this are going to happen. You can see in the last couple of games that I've played, tips, bad breaks, bounces, all this stuff, and it ends up in the back of our net."
Ferland gave the Flames a 1-0 lead 29 seconds into the game, beating Vasilevskiy off a pass from Sean Monahan.
Point tied it 1-1 31 seconds into the second period with a shot from above the hash marks that beat Smith high on the stick side.

Gaudreau put the Flames ahead 2-1 at 16:48 of the second when he got to the puck in the right face-off circle and deked around a sprawled Vasilevskiy.
"It seemed like we had a lot of guys contributing with chances and everybody was responsible defensively," Flames center Curtis Lazar said. "We can't get ahead of ourselves. We still know there is a lot of work to be done, and we have two more (games) before the (five-day) break and we want to finish strong."
Bennett scored a power-play goal to make it 3-1 with 1:17 remaining in the second.
"I thought we didn't play poorly in the first two periods," Stamkos said. "[Smith] was really good in net. Probably didn't deserve to be down 3-1 heading into the third.
"It was one of those games where I think sometimes you deserve a little better fate and it doesn't work out. We kind of lost a little life when [Hedman] when down there. The guys are obviously thinking about him."

Jankowski increased the Flames lead to 4-1 at 2:19 of the third period, and Tkachuk scored on a 2-on-1 rush at 8:34 to make it 5-1.
Gaudreau has one goal and nine assists in a five-game point streak.
"I thought that was one of the better third periods we've played with a lead," Smith said. "I think it's always nice when you have the lead, is to go get another goal. We did that tonight and kept building on our lead against a very good team."

Goal of the game

Gaudreau's goal at 16:48 of the second period.

Save of the game

Smith stopping Paquette on a penalty shot at 5:15 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Ferland's goal 29 seconds into the first period.

They said it

"I think we want to go in the break feeling good about where we are at in the standings. Every game is so important now, it's like a playoff mentality for us. Now is the time to make a push and get points in all the games that we can."-- Flames goalie Mike Smith
"Let's just reflect on how our first half has been, let's think about that, and I'm really proud of the way our team has played in the first half. I really am. So, we took one on the chin tonight, and if there was something positive, it came against a Western Conference team. But we have to hope we come back a little bit healthier, hope [defenseman Victor Hedman's lower-body injury is] not a long-term thing, and regroup and let's get fired up for [the] Vegas [Golden Knights] next Thursday." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper

Need to know

Lightning forward Tyler Johnson has a point in 16 of the past 18 games after he had an assist on Point's goal. ... Gaudreau had not scored a goal in the previous 10 games.

What's next

Flames: At the Florida Panthers on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-F, SNF, NHL.TV)
Lightning: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; SUN, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV)