Calgary Flames bring winning ways home, extend streak to six straight

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Jacob Markstrom had just delivered yet another shutout, his third goose-egg in a span of four starts.

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The Calgary Flames’ puck-stopping stalwart wasn’t about to brag about his stingy stat-line.

Seated next to him, centre Sean Monahan had just busted out of an early season slump with a goal and an assist during Saturday’s 4-0 blanking of the Philadelphia Flyers at the Saddledome.

Despite skating as fourth-line centre, Monahan wasn’t about to grumble about his current slot on the depth chart.

“It’s never frustrating when you’re winning games,” Monahan said. “I think we have a good team. I mean, we just won six in a row. We’re still not satisfied with what we’re doing, but we’re on the right page right now.

“We’re winning games — I have no complaints.”

Nor should he.

All too often in recent memory, when it comes time to carve jack-o-lanterns and hand out sweets to the trick-or-treaters, the standings have already been a spooky sight for the Flames.

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This, however, is a very happy Halloween for the local hockey heroes.

Fresh off a perfect road trip, the Flames continued to roll with Saturday’s shutout victory against the Flyers, a sixth straight triumph for Darryl Sutter’s squad.

This hard-working crew capped their October slate with a 6-1-1 record. While it’s a smaller sample size than usual, their .813 point percentage is the best in franchise history for the opening month of a new campaign.

“We haven’t done much yet. It’s a lot of games left,” said Markstrom, a brick wall for the past week and change and now the only netminder in Calgary’s club lore to earn three shutouts in a four-start stretch. “Come springtime, we need to be our best team and play our best hockey. But it’s a good start. We put ourselves in a good position so far, but I don’t think no one is happy. Everybody that was here last year remembers the sour taste of that season. It was no fun at all, especially not winning hockey games.

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“So I think everybody is hungry. We want to play good, and I think our system is more down to a tee now that Darryl had a full training camp as our head coach. I think everybody is buying in, but we have to keep going and keep working away.”

Added Monahan, singing a similar tune: “It’s only eight games into the season. We haven’t really proven anything or done anything yet.”

The coach will certainly appreciate those sort of comments.

While the Flames never found themselves trailing as they posted a perfect mark on their recent five-game getaway, Sutter had been less than impressed with what he witnessed from basically everyone not named Markstrom during Thursday’s last stop in Pittsburgh. Asked a softball question on Saturday morning about the components of the road recipe that his team needed to bring back home, the skipper scowled and offered only, “play better tonight than we did in the last game.”

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This performance — the start of a five-game homestand — will be more to his liking.

The hosts were relentless on the forecheck, stingy in their own zone and made the most of their man-advantage opportunities, potting a pair on the power play.

After a 45-save shutout in Pittsburgh, Markstrom faced only 20 shots in this  Hockey Night in Canada  clash against the Flyers. That included just four in the first half of the game.

“The other night was more physical, but mentally you were in it. You got a lot of shots and you could see a lot of pucks and you get to feel the puck,” Markstrom said. “Tonight was more mental, to stay really focused and don’t get derailed and watch our guys play a great game in front of me. You know, I don’t mind it all, but it’s just a little bit more important to stay focused even when the puck is not in my end.”

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Markstrom isn’t the only one who didn’t mind this show.

An announced crowd of 15,139 also roared their approval.

And …

“We were pretty good,” assessed Sutter, typically the toughest critic. “These guys went through a lot — that’s eight games in 15 days with a lot of time-zones and a lot of late nights and a lot of travel. So it has to be a team game to win.”

It was.

Monahan snapped out of his offensive funk — at least, that will be the hope — with his marker in Saturday’s middle stanza. Power-play quarterback Rasmus Andersson made a terrific pass to feed his pal for the redirect.

Monahan was a factor on the Flames’ second of the night too, earning a secondary assist on a tic-tac-toe sequence that ended with Elias Lindholm setting up Matthew Tkachuk for a no-doubter.

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Mikael Backlund sealed the result with a late empty-netter, and Johnny Gaudreau added another after Carter Hart returned to the visiting crease.

AROUND THE BOARDS 

The Flames never won more than three in a row last season. This current spree doubles that … Markstrom has stopped 126 of the last 127 shots he faced. Whoa. That’s a .992 save percentage over his past four starts, which includes shutouts in Detroit, Pittsburgh and Saturday’s donut at the Saddledome. He did allow one measly marker at Madison Square Garden in New York. “He’s playing really well. He’s a huge part of our team,” Monahan praised. “He had another great game tonight and we have 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 is a quality chance, Marky is standing on his head.” … Flames rearguard Noah Hanifin returned to action against the Flyers after missing one game due to an upper-body injury … That wasn’t the only change on the back end, with defenceman Nikita Zadorov knocking the dust off his skates after watching five straight as a scratch. Zadorov didn’t come cheap — he cost a third-round pick via trade in the summer and carries a US$3.75-million cap hit — and although the 26-year-old thumper was initially pegged to skate in a top-four role, he hasn’t found a fit so far. Asked after morning skate if Zadorov’s absence was injury-related or if he’s been more pleased with other blue-line options, Sutter replied: “There’s a competition with those guys. If you play well, you play. If you don’t, you don’t.” … With Zadorov getting his shot, Juuso Valimaki was a spectator for the first time this fall.

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OFF THE GLASS

Explaining that he much preferred when the rink was rocking, the Flames honoured the late Ken King with a pre-game ‘moment of applause.’ King, who was the longtime president and CEO of Calgary Sports & Entertainment Corp., passed away on March 11, 2020 … How did Flames’ first-round pick Matthew Coronato introduce himself in his debut weekend with the NCAA’s Harvard Crimson? The 18-year-old scored a shortie Friday on his first collegiate shift — swiping the puck with a smooth stick check at his own blue-line and eventually burying on a breakaway — and finished the evening with two goals and a pair of assists to lead the Crimson to a 9-3 rout of the Dartmouth Big Green. The freshman right-winger followed up Saturday with another highlight-reel tally and a helper in a 7-3 victory over the Bentley Falcons … After four appearances at AHL Stockton, forward prospect Ryan Francis has been returned to the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs. The 19-year-old Francis piled up 16 goals and 50 points in 32 outings in the junior ranks last season. With the Sea Dogs slated to host the 2022 Memorial Cup, he should be assured some big-game experience in the spring … Next up for the Flames is Tuesday’s tilt with the Nashville Predators at the Saddledome (7 p.m., Sportsnet 360/Sportsnet 960 The Fan).

wgilbertson@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/WesGilbertson