Mikael Backlund gives Flames sixth straight win

CALGARY -- Mikael Backlund scored with 1:04 remaining in overtime to give the Calgary Flames their sixth straight win, 3-2 against the Detroit Red Wings at Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday.
Backlund skated down on a 2-on-1 with Mark Giordano and shot short side past Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek.

"Both me and Giordano] took off and [Michael Frolik] made a good play to me," Backlund said. "I saw [Giordano], but I thought the [defenseman] would come back so I figured I would try to shoot it."
**WATCH: [All Red Wings vs. Flames highlights**
Kris Versteeg and Matthew Tkachuk also scored, and Brian Elliott made 35 saves for the Flames (35-26-4), who matched their season-high of six consecutive wins set from Nov. 30-Dec. 10.
Calgary, which holds the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, is 11-2-1 in the past 14 games.

"A lot of belief, a lot of confidence and swagger with this group right now," Backlund said. "We're playing some good hockey."
The Red Wings tied the game with 1.8 seconds remaining on a goal by Tomas Tatar.
"I thought we played well. We battled," Tatar said. "We want to win as many games as we [can]. We wanted two points tonight but we got one. I think we played pretty good and we have to play the same way tomorrow."

Darren Helm also scored, and Mrazek made 28 saves for the Red Wings (25-26-11), who have split the first two games of a five-game road trip that continues at the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, FS-D, NHL.TV).
"We want to win every game," Detroit forward Anthony Mantha said. "For sure, it gives us a big point in our chase to help the playoff run. We wanted that second point as soon as we started the overtime. We thought we had a good chance tonight. I think we played a pretty good game, a lot of shots on net. We need to build off of that for tomorrow night."
Helm put Detroit up 1-0 at 6:55 of the first period, but Versteeg tied the game at 8:19. Versteeg scored on a one-timer four seconds into a power play on a draw won by Sean Monahan. The assist gave Monahan 100 in his NHL career, and 200 points.
Tkachuk gave the Flames a 2-1 lead with an unassisted goal at 13:07.

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Goal of the game

Tkachuk picked off Niklas Kronwall's cross-slot pass before deking Mrazek. "[Kronwall] gave me the head fake up ice and I had a feeling he was just going to try to bait me into that so he could throw it to his d-partner," Tkachuk said.

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Save of the game

Elliott made a glove save on Ryan Sproul's one-timer 13 seconds before Backlund's winner. "I looked over at the bench and the bench was going crazy," Backlund said. "Everyone in the rink was excited. It was a big save at the right time."

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Highlight of the game

Frolik picked up a rebound off Elliott and sent a stretch pass up to Backlund, who beat Mrazek with a slap shot from just inside the faceoff circle. "He's known as 'Mikael Selke' around here right now," Tkachuk said. "For all the guys who love the Eastern Conference players, they should pay more attention to [Backlund]."

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Unsung performance of the game

Giordano blocked a shot from Helm in the slot 4:04 into the third period, one of three he had in the game. "You saw [Giordano] take one almost in the throat there blocking a shot," Elliott said. "That was a big Grade-A scoring chance that they didn't get. Things like that, especially from our leader, shows that everybody down the lineup is doing the same thing."

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They said it

"Our group has shown a lot of resiliency and you have to build that belief … You are what you repeatedly do, as long as you keep trying to build confidence." -- Flames coach Glen Gulutzan
"This is when it's tough-time, character comes through. We have great character so let's let that shine through tomorrow night." -- Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill

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Need to know

Elliott is 9-1-1 with a 2.18 goals-against average and .925 save percentage in his past 11 games. ... Tkachuk has 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in his past 11 games. ... Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg has one goal and seven assists during a five-game point streak, and 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in his past 13 games. ... Red Wings forward Mitch Callahan, 25, played his second NHL game, and first since March 25, 2014. He had two shots in 6:24.

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What's next

Red Wings: At the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, FS-D, NHL.TV)
Flames: Host the New York Islanders on Sunday (4 p.m. ET; SNW, SNF, MSG+, NHL.TV)