Gaudreau reaches 100 points, Flames defeat Kraken to pad Pacific lead

CALGARY -- Johnny Gaudreau had two assists to surpass 100 points on the season, and the Calgary Flames rallied for a 5-3 win against the Seattle Kraken at Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday.

Matthew Tkachuk had a hat trick, and Noah Hanifin had a goal and an assist for the Flames (45-19-9), who have won five in a row. Dan Vladar made seven saves in the third period after replacing Jacob Markstrom, who allowed three goals on 15 shots. Calgary extended its lead to nine points over the second-place Edmonton Oilers in the Pacific Division after the Oilers lost to the Minnesota Wild 5-1 earlier Tuesday.
"We didn't play very well in the first two periods," Gaudreau said. "It's hard to play against teams, sometimes, when they're not in the playoffs, and they play so freely, and it was tough for us in the first two periods, but we battled back in the third."
Matty Beniers, the No. 2 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, had an assist in 17:10 of ice time in his NHL debut, and Chris Driedger made 26 saves for the Kraken (23-44-6), who were swept by the Flames in their first home-and-home series in history.
"I was excited about how it went," Beniers said. "I was playing with two great players [linemates Ryan Donato and Jordan Eberle]. They made it pretty easy on me. I thought we did a good job tonight. Just tough. You want to come out with that win."

Calgary trailed 3-1 but scored four times in the third period.
Tkachuk trimmed Seattle's lead to 3-2 at 3:10 with a power-play goal. Gaudreau become the ninth Flames player and first since Theo Fleury in 1992-93 to reach 100 points in a single season with an assist on the goal. He has 34 goals and 67 assists in 73 games.
"I know us as linemates and teammates would be lying to you if we said we weren't trying to get it for him and thinking about it for most of the last couple of games when he's sitting at 99," Tkachuk said. "It's pretty cool to be linked to that with him, so that's very cool for me and it just speaks to the year he's having, and we're not done yet."
Andrew Mangiapane tied it 3-3 at 5:33 with his first goal in 13 games, and Hanifin put Calgary up 4-3 at 14:10 with a one-timer on the power play.
"It doesn't matter who you're playing or what's the best team or a team that's out of the playoffs," Tkachuk said. "We feel we're a very solid team and we're never out of a game. We don't want to put ourselves in that position, but I can't really think of many times other than maybe in Dallas where we came from behind and ended up winning the game (4-3 on Feb. 1)."
Tkachuk completed his second NHL hat trick when he scored into an empty net with 43 seconds remaining for the 5-3 final.
"We took too many penalties, obviously, but I don't think necessarily it was our own fault," Donato said. "At the same time, I think we were just competing and emotions ran high. … I think we just get ready and come back for next game."

Beniers got his first NHL point when he set up Donato for a one-timer from the left face-off circle to put Seattle up 1-0 at 14:13 of the first period. It was Donato's NHL-high 15th goal of the season.
"I'm most impressed with his poise in all senses, not just on the ice," Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. "On the ice, his hockey sense and his ability to know and understand what's around him on the ice showed to be excellent tonight. He looked comfortable in traffic. That's a big challenge on night No. 1. I'm sure he's as disappointed as everybody is in not being able to get the win tonight, but he played a good hockey game on night No. 1."
Tkachuk tied it 1-1 at 16:51 when he tipped Hanifin's wrist shot from the point.
Victor Rask made it 2-1 at 3:06 of the second period when he one-timed a pass from Yanni Gourde from behind the net and Adam Larsson extended the lead to 3-1 at 17:10 with a shot along the ice.
"I'm pretty happy with the way we fought back there in the third," Gaudreau said. "We haven't had too many comeback wins this year, so it's nice to get that one. Obviously, it was a big one for us."
NOTES:Gaudreau is the fourth NHL player to top 100 points this season behind Connor McDavid (108) Jonathan Huberdeau (105) and Leon Draisaitl (102) and the second United States-born player in the past 25 years to reach the milestone (Patrick Kane, 110, 2018-19; 106, 2015-16). … Tkachuk has an NHL career-high 37 goals and 92 points this season and has 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) in his past 12 games. ... Calgary is 2-12-2 when trailing after two periods this season. ... Hanifin has seven points (one goal, six assists) in the past four games. … Flames forward Calle Jarnkrok was minus-2 with two shots in 12:14 after missing five games with a non-COVID-19 illness. … Beniers agreed to a three-year, entry-level contract Sunday. … Donato scored 14 goals with the Minnesota Wild in 2019-20. … Calgary swept the season series 4-0-0.