Gaudreau has four assists, Flames end Panthers' point streak at nine

CALGARY --The Florida Panthers had a nine-game point streak end with a 5-1 loss to the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday.

Johnny Gaudreau had four assists, Sean Monahan scored twice, and Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and two assists for the Flames (18-11-6), who ended a four-game losing streak. Jacob Markstrom made 28 saves.
"It's difficult sometimes when you're going through skids like that to wake up and come practice, but after a big win like that, the guys are excited...we're always excited to come to the rink, but there's kind of a different attitude when you're winning games," Gaudreau said. "When you beat a team like that, obviously we still have work to do, but it's a good stepping stone for us and we keep pushing and keep getting better every day and go from there."
Sam Bennett scored, and Spencer Knight made 26 saves for the Panthers (26-8-5), who had won four in a row and eight of nine (8-0-1).
"I mean, as nice as it would be to go 82-0, you have ups and downs throughout the season, so it's just about how you respond," Florida forward Ryan Lomberg said. "I think as a group we're putting that one behind us. We'll watch the video, put it behind us, and then onto the next one."

Rasmus Andersson put Calgary up 1-0 at 4:36 of the first period on the power play with his first goal of the season, and Blake Coleman made it 2-0 at 11:36 when he banked in a shot off the inside of Knight's right pad.
"Just probably didn't really come prepared to play here early," Panthers coach Andrew Brunette said. "That's on me. We weren't prepared to pay the price tonight. It's going to happen, games like this. We had some opportunities to get our game back. It didn't happen tonight."
Bennett cut the lead to 2-1 at 12:36 of the second period after tapping in a centering pass from below the goal line by Mason Marchment. He has scored seven points (five goals, two assists) during a three-game point streak, and has seven goals in his past five games.
The forward was playing his first game against Calgary since being traded to Florida on April 12. Bennett was selected with the No. 4 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft by the Flames, and scored 140 points (67 goals, 73 assists) in 402 games from 2014-2021.
Monahan put Calgary up 3-1 at 16:03 when he tipped Gaudreau's wrist shot from the point by Knight three seconds into a power play. Gaudreau has six points (one goal, five assists) in a three-game point streak.
"I thought we just controlled most of the game in each period," Tkachuk said. "I thought we won the first period, I thought we had a good start. Weathered the storm a little bit in the second period, got a late power-play goal, which set us up for the third, which was huge."

Tkachuk made it 4-1 at 3:47 of the third period when he deflected a centering pass by Elias Lindholm over Knight's shoulder on a rush started by Gaudreau, and Monahan extended the lead to 5-1 at 6:43 when he deked Knight after taking a centering pass from Gaudreau.
"When the puck goes in you get some more confidence in your game," Monahan said. "You want to continue that and obviously I want to produce and I've got to keep working at that."
Florida forward Patric Hornqvist left the game at 11:12 of the second period with an upper-body injury. He will be re-evaluated Wednesday.
NOTES:Gaudreau matched an NHL career-high with four assists in one game. He also had four assists in a 6-5 win against the Nashville Predators on Feb. 21, 2017. ... Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau had an eight-game point streak end (five goals, 15 assists). It was the longest active streak in the NHL. ... Flames forward Andrew Mangiapane needs one point for 100 in the NHL after assisting on Coleman's first period goal. ... Tkachuk has scored six points (three goals, three assists) in a three-game point streak, and 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in his past eight games.