Markstrom gets third shutout in four starts in Flames win against Flyers

CALGARY --Jacob Markstrom made 20 saves for his third shutout in four games, and the Calgary Flames won 4-0 against the Philadelphia Flyers at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday.

Markstrom hasn't allowed a goal in 134:35 and has made the save on 126 of 127 shots in his past four starts. He had an NHL career-high three shutouts in 43 games last season and is the first goalie in Flames history to have three shutouts in a four-game span.
"He's playing really well," Calgary forward Sean Monahan said. "He's a huge part of our team. He had another great game tonight. We've got to keep it rolling. Our PK has been good. Guys are stepping up blocking shots. We're trying to limit quality chances, and when there's a quality chance 'Marky' is standing on his head."
Monahan scored his first goal of the season for the Flames (6-1-1), who have won six in a row. Calgary last won six straight as part of a seven-game winning streak from Nov. 27-Dec. 12, 2019.
"We haven't done much yet," Markstrom said. "It's a lot of games left. Come springtime, we need to be our best team and play our best hockey. It's a good start. We put ourselves in a good position so far, but I don't think no one is happy and everybody that was here last year remembers the sour taste of that season. It was no fun at all, especially not winning hockey games. I think everybody is hungry and wants to play good."
Carter Hart made 32 saves for the Flyers (4-2-1), who won two of three on their Western Canada road trip.
"I'm not going to take any credit away from them. They're obviously a good hockey team and they're playing well right now, but in the same breath we're playing pretty good as well," Philadelphia forward Travis Konecny said. "Tonight, we just didn't come out and execute the game plan. We were making mistakes. I'm not calling out anybody. I'm starting with myself. It just wasn't a clean game."
Monahan redirected Rasmus Andersson's centering pass into the slot to put Calgary up 1-0 at 9:07 of the second period. The goal, on the power play, was Monahan's first in 14 games dating to April 23.
"It's obviously nice to put one in and good timing to do it too," Monahan said. "It put us up one. We carried on with that."

The Flames had outshot the Flyers 19-4 in the game and 11-0 in the period prior to Monahan's goal.
"It's disappointing when the team puts an effort like that in front of 'Hartsy,' when realistically he's the only reason it ended up the score it was," Konecny said. "He made some unbelievable saves. Obviously we tried to help him as much as we can but tonight we didn't help him at all. He kept us in the game. It's just too bad we couldn't capitalize for him."
Matthew Tkachuk made it 2-0 on the power play when he finished a three-way passing play with Monahan and Elias Lindholm at 8:30 of the third period.

Mikael Backlund scored into an empty net at 16:11 to make it 3-0, and Johnny Gaudreau scored off the rush with 1:59 remaining for the 4-0 final.
"I think our group is hungry," Monahan said. "The coaches have us in a good mindset where you want to start games the right way. … We're starting to learn to play with leads. That's crucial at important times of the season."
NOTES:Markstrom is 4-1-1 with a 1.33 goals-against average and .957 save percentage this season ... Gaudreau has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) during a seven-game point streak. ... Andersson and Lindholm each had two assists. … Flames defenseman Noah Hanifin was plus-1 in 20:01 after missing one game with an upper-body injury. … Calgary defenseman Nikita Zadorov, scratched the previous five games, had one shot and two hits in 14:21. … The Flames have outscored their opponents 25-7 in the streak. … Flyers center Claude Giroux had his six-game point streak to start the season end (four goals, four assists). … Hart made his 100th NHL start.