Brayden Pachal had a goal and two assists on Sunday night as the Calgary Flames' hot streak at home continued with a 4-1 victory over the Utah Mammoth.
Matt Coronato, Connor Zary and Mikael Backlund also scored for Calgary (33-38-9), which is 7-0-1 in its last eight at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Lawson Crouse scored for Utah (42-32-6), which has lost two straight on the heels of a five-game winning streak.
The playoff-bound Mammoth hold down the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference. They have a three-point lead on the Los Angeles Kings, who have a game in hand.
Dustin Wolf made 28 saves for the win. He improved to 23-28-3. Vitek Vanecek, who had 19 stops, took the loss, falling to 5-12-3.
With both teams playing the second game of back-to-backs, it was Calgary that came out flying with Coronato giving the Flames a 1-0 lead at 7:06 of the first period. When Vanecek misplayed the puck behind his net after colliding with defenceman Ian Cole, Coronato grabbed the loose puck and tucked it into the vacated net.
After a dominant first period in which Calgary took a 2-0 lead and outshot the visitors 14-4, Utah played a better second period, but was unable to solve Wolf.
Among his stops was a key glove save on MacKenzie Weegar when the former Flames defenceman broke in from the blueline all alone. Shortly after, JJ Peterka broke free on a breakaway, but Wolf kicked out a pad to deny him.
Takeaways
Mammoth: After piling up 29 goals during its five-game win streak, Utah has been held to two goals over its two losses since. While Clayton Keller had an assist to extend his point streak to eight games (four goals, 13 assists), Dylan Guenther (six goals, seven assists) and Mikhail Sergachev (zero goals, 12 assists) had their seven-game point streaks come to an end.
Flames: Coronato's goal, which extended his point streak to five games (one goal, four assists), was his 100th NHL point. Rookie left-winger Aydar Suniev had an assist for his first NHL point. With his 60th career win, Wolf is the third goalie in franchise history to hit that milestone before age 25. The others were Trevor Kidd (72) and Mike Vernon (68).
Key Moment
During the first TV timeout, Weegar was welcomed back with a tribute on the scoreboard that sparked a loud ovation for the popular former Flame who was dealt to Utah at the trade deadline. Just 28 seconds after play resumed, Coronato made it 1-0 and 1:21 after that, Zary made it 2-0.
Key Stat
Olli Maatta had an assist, giving him 14 points (two goals, 12 assists) in 19 games since joining the Flames as part of the return in the Weegar deal. In 22 games he played this season with Utah, Maatta had no goals and just one assist.
Up Next
Mammoth: Host the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.
Flames: The Colorado Avalanche are the visitors on Tuesday.
