DENVER — Mikael Backlund scored two of Calgary’s four goals in the second period and also had an assist, and the Flames beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-3 on Tuesday night.
Johnny Gaudreau also had two goals and an assist for the Flames. All of Calgary’s second-period goals deflected off Colorado players.
Brian Elliott had 25 saves for the Flames, who have won nine of 12.
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Gabriel Landeskog had two goals and Jarome Iginla scored for Colorado, which has now lost nine straight at home for the first time since moving to Denver. The Avalanche are 0-8-1 at Pepsi Center since beating the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 on Nov. 15.
Calgary trailed 1-0 after the first period but used the Avalanche to take a 4-2 lead into the third. Backlund scored on shots that went off Colorado defenders, Gaudreau banked a shot off the glass behind the net and off goaltender Calvin Pickard to make it 3-1 and Sam Bennett had a tip that deflected off Carl Soderberg‘s skate.
Gaudreau and Kris Versteeg scored goals in the third period sandwiched around Landeskog’s second of the night.
Colorado’s frustration boiled over after Gaudreau’s second goal. Blake Comeau drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and a game misconduct and was tossed from the game.
With the NHL on break for Christmas, teams didn’t travel for Tuesday’s games until that morning. The Flames were no different. They flew out of Calgary at 7:45 a.m. local time and landed in Denver around 10 a.m. They went straight to Pepsi Center for their morning skate.
NOTES: Pickard finished with 25 saves. … Iginla’s goal was career point 1,282 and moved him past Alex Delvecchio for 34th on the NHL scoring list. … Avalanche G Semyon Varlamov missed his second straight game due to a groin injury. … Flames RW Troy Brouwer was out of the lineup with a hand injury. He will be re-evaluated when the team returns to Calgary.
UP NEXT
Flames: Host Anaheim on Thursday night.
Avalanche: Play at Dallas on Thursday night.