Lightning score seven, hand Flames sixth straight loss

CALGARY -- The Calgary Flames lost their sixth straight game, 7-4 to the Tampa Bay Lightning at Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday.
Micheal Ferland, Mikael Backlund, Sean Monahan and Matt Stajan scored for the Flames (25-18-8), who are 0-2-4 following a seven-game winning streak. Mike Smith stopped 21 of 27 shots before being replaced by David Rittich in the third period.

"It might be a little bit of a funk, but we're right there in the mix," Smith said. "Obviously disappointed. Frustration can set in, but it's a long season still, a lot of games left and we're close in the standings. There's no time to dwell on it and get down in here. We have to stick together and push forward."
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Alex Killorn had two goals and two assists, Cory Conacher had two goals, Matthew Peca had one goal and two assists, and Braydon Coburn and Steven Stamkos scored for the Lightning (35-13-3), who have won four of their past five games (4-1-0). Andrei Vasilevskiy made 42 saves.

"As the game went along -- and it wasn't perfect by any means -- we got some fluky goals, if you want to call them, but maybe we were being rewarded for the effort we were putting in early in the game," Stamkos said.
Calgary, which was 17-1-2 this season and 50-1-3 over the past two seasons when leading after two periods, allowed Tampa Bay to score four unanswered goals in the third period.
Killorn scored on a backhand 12 seconds in to tie it 4-4, and Conacher shot by Smith from the bottom of the face-off circle at 5:16 to make it 5-4. Stamkos finished a pass by Chris Kunitz at 6:22 to put the Lightning up 6-4.
"It was disappointing to let your teammates down like that and lay an egg, so to speak," Smith said. "Just too many bad goals. It's plain and simple. You can deal with one a game, maybe, but right now the importance of these games and where we are in the standings, that's the most frustrating part."

Rittich replaced Smith, and Conacher scored from below the goal line to make it 7-4 at 8:26.
"It's funny, a game like that, score four in the third and you're borderline disappointed on how the period went," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "We ended up giving up 19 shots and a plethora of scoring chances, and it was all after we went up 7-4. That's when we have to be better. That was the only disappointment in this."
The Flames took a 1-0 lead at 7:16 of the first period when Ferland one-timed a shot by Vasilevskiy on the power play. Coburn tied it 1-1 at 13:34 with his first goal since April 9, 2017, a span of 44 games.
Killorn scored on the power play to put Tampa Bay up 2-1 at 2:04 of the second period, and Backlund tied it 2-2 at 3:38. Monahan shot by Vasilevskiy's glove on a breakaway to put Calgary up 3-2 at 5:25.
Stajan scored his second goal of the season to extend the lead 4-2 at 14:27, but Peca scored on a shot between Smith's legs 22 seconds later to cut the lead to 4-3. Killorn assisted on the goal for his 200th NHL point.

"Everything was going right for us and then it switched," Stajan said. "Now we've got to work for every little bit. It's a mindset. We're in a funk right now. We get reminded every day. We know it. Each individual has to find a way to bring a little bit more."

Goal of the game

Conacher's goal at 5:16 of the third period.

Save of the game

Vasilevskiy stopping Dougie Hamilton at 15:35 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Stamkos' goal at 6:22 of the third period.

They said it

"If you're going to win in this league you need a little depth scoring. You can't have the same guys doing it every night. When some of the guys that are used to scoring a lot go a little bit cold, or cold for their expectations, you need other guys to step up." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper
"We've got a good group in this dressing room and if we stick together we're going to be okay. Tonight, obviously, [stinks]. To lose any game is not a good feeling, but especially the way we did tonight. We have to step up here and find a way to get through this together." -- Flames forward Sean Monahan

Need to know

The Lightning lead the NHL with 73 points. … The Flames have scored first in five of their six losses. … Stamkos has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past four games. … Lightning forward Brayden Point has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in the past nine games. … Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk has 14 points (nine goals, five assists) in the past 13 games.

What's next

Lightning: At the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SUN, NHL.TV)
Flames: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; SN, NBCSCH, NHL.TV)