Flames send Red Wings to third straight loss

CALGARY -- Mark Giordano and Derek Ryan each had a goal and an assist for the Calgary Flames in a 5-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday.

Andrew Mangiapane, Elias Lindholm and Sam Bennett scored, and Sean Monahan had two assists for the Flames (4-3-1), who have won consecutive games for the first time this season. David Rittich made 27 saves.
"We know guys like Monahan] and Johnny [Gaudreau], you know they're going to break out and get a bunch here in the next little bit," Giordano said. "It was nice to see our other guys step up and get some confidence going too."
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Darren Helm scored and Jimmy Howard made 31 saves for the Red Wings (3-4-0), who have been outscored 15-4 in a three-game losing streak.
"The season has ebbs and flows, but obviously losing three [in a row] now we've got to make sure that each of us look in the mirror at how we can be better," Detroit forward Justin Abdelkader said. "We're having a tough time scoring and we've got to make sure we're keeping pucks out of our net and we're playing as a unit of five."
Mangiapane tipped Giordano's point shot past Howard to make it 1-0 at 11:01 of the first period. The goal came 2:10 after Rittich stretched out his right pad to stop Andreas Athanasiou, who took a long pass from Danny DeKeyser and beat the Calgary defense down the ice.
"I'm trying my best and I'm trying to get guys confidence," Rittich said. "If I'm going to make some big saves, maybe they're going to score. It happened today, and I'm happy for that."
Lindholm scored on the power play to put Calgary up 2-0 at 9:45 of the second period.

Helm scored 28 seconds after Lindholm. Rittich got a piece of Anthony Mantha's breakaway attempt, and Helm knocked the loose puck over the goal line to cut the lead to 2-1 at 10:13.
Bennett made it 3-1 at 3:29 of the third period when Milan Lucic forced a turnover behind the net on the forecheck and passed to Bennett at the edge of the crease. It was the first point with the Flames for Lucic, who was acquired in a trade from the Edmonton Oilers for James Neal on July 16.
"For both of us, at times, it's been frustrating here to start the year because we've been working hard, but nothing's really been going our way," Lucic said. "It's good to get one there and a big goal to start off the third period."
Filip Hronek's clearing attempt deflected off Athanasiou and behind Howard to give the Flames a 4-1 lead at 4:57. Ryan was credited with the goal, his first of the season.
"Kind of an ugly one, but it feels good," Ryan said. "It feels good either way. You always want to get that first one out of the way. Definitely nice to get that."

Lindholm left the game at 5:12 because of an undisclosed injury after he was slashed by Helm, who was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct. Lindholm was called for interference against Helm.
Giordano scored on the power play to make it 5-1 at 8:47.
"When you lose the specialty-teams battle, you're going to lose a lot of games," Abdelkader said. "We have to make sure we're winning those battles, winning battles 5-on-4, 5-on-5, everywhere, stick battles, 1-on-1 battles. It's early in the season, but we've got to make sure that's our calling card."

They said it

"I didn't think we were tight in the second, I thought we were fine in the first and fine in the third, and I think in the third it came down to us having the puck more and that's how we want to play." -- Flames coach Bill Peters
"When they scored the third goal we didn't react very well to that. I thought they came out and had a couple good shifts though previous to that in the third. Started to change momentum. It only affects you if you let it. Obviously that goal is a bit of a kick. It's a nothing play that ends up in our net. We've got to dig in better than that. We've got to have more guys going than we have right now." -- Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill

Need to know

Lindholm leads the Flames with five goals. …The Flames are 5-0-0 at home, and 8-0-1 overall, when Mangiapane scores in his NHL career. Mangiapane left the game in the second period with an undisclosed injury. … Mantha has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in 10 games. … DeKeyser returned to the lineup for the Red Wings after missing a 5-1 loss at the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday because of an upper-body injury.

What's next

Red Wings: At the Edmonton Oilers on Friday (9 p.m. ET; SN1, FS-D, NHL.TV).
Flames: At the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-W, CITY, SN1, SN360, CBC, NHL.TV).