The Calgary Flames held on to top the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 on Monday night. Matvei Gridin scored two goals and an assist as Calgary won its fourth straight.
William Nylander brought the Maple Leafs within a goal 6:06 into the third, Jack Roslovic forking the puck onto the Calgary’s native stick with a one-handed pass through a maze of bodies. The home team responded with two empty-netters near the end of the game to close it out.
Captain Mikael Backlund scored to move into a fifth-place tie with Johnny Gaudreau for all-time points as a Calgary Flame.
Joel Farabee and Martin Pospisil had a goal and an assist each while Matt Coronato and Simon Nemec added two helpers.
Easton Cowan also scored for the Maple Leafs.
Calgary’s Devin Cooley made 26 saves and received credit for an assist. Toronto’s Sergei Bobrovsky had 29 saves on 32 shots.
Gridin opened the scoring 10:05 into the game, driving into the offensive zone on the outside and launching the puck over the shoulder of Bobrovsky from a tight angle.
Backlund made it 2-0 1:45 later when Cowan coughed up the puck in his own end. Coronato played the puck through the slot and onto the tape of the Calgary captain, who was returning from a two-game injury absence.
Just 25 seconds into the middle frame, Zayne Parekh played a long stretch pass up to Gridin, who wristed it past Bobrovsky once again to put the Flames up three on the power play.
Troy Stecher sent a slap pass to Cowan speeding towards goal. The 21-year-old sophomore outmuscled Aydar Suniev and tipped the puck into the net moments before colliding with an outstretched Cooley 12:54 into the second period.
Farabee put the game away with an empty-netter with 1:25 remaining. Pospisil added another empty-net goal with 39 seconds left.
Maple Leafs winger Kirill Marchenko left the game with a lower-body injury after an awkward fall early in the second period.
The game marked the Maple Leafs’ final regular-season appearance at the Scotiabank Saddledome.