Nazem Kadri scored a goal for the third straight game, and Dustin Wolf snapped his three-game losing streak as the host Calgary Flames defeated the struggling Florida Panthers 3-0 on Saturday night.
The Panthers have lost two straight games — both by shutouts.
Coleman and Mikael Backlund scored the other goals for Calgary.
Backlund, who also had an assist, nearly had another goal. However, that tally was wiped out when video review showed that Backlund used a slight kicking motion to knock the puck into the net.
Wolf made 32 saves for his second shutout of the season. He improved his record to 9-5-1, and one of his biggest saves came with 15:05 left in the third as he used his right pad to stop a Sam Bennett breakaway.
The Panthers rested starting goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Backup Spencer Knight made 24 saves, but his record fell to 5-5-1.
Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad didn’t score a goal as he was unlucky, hitting the right post twice.
It was that kind of night for the Panthers, who were without captain/center Aleksander Barkov (illness).
Calgary opened the scoring with 11:03 left in the first as Kadri stole the puck from defenseman Dmitry Kulikov before skating in alone against Knight. Kadri put a great move on Knight for the relatively easy goal.
The Flames extended their lead to 2-0 with just 55 seconds left in the second period. Matt Coronato set up the goal with his pass to Coleman, who scored from the left circle.
Calgary made it 3-0 with 13:43 left in the third. Backlund, shooting from the left circle, whistled a puck past Knight’s glove. That was Backlund’s first goal in 15 games.
Florida’s roster on Saturday featured three former Flames: Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk and AJ Greer, who turned 27 on Saturday.
But it was a happier day for the three former Panthers who now play for Calgary: Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar and Ryan Lomberg.
–Field Level Media