By Canadian Press

Flames start road trip with 4-2 win over Red Wings

Feb 23, 2020 | 7:52 PM

DETROIT — Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan scored in the first period, and the Calgary Flames started their road trip with a win, beating the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 on Sunday night.

Andrew Mangiapane scored Calgary’s last two goals, one of which came into an empty net at the end. Dylan Larkin had both goals for Detroit.

The Flames are in a tight race for the final post-season spots in the Western Conference, and the five-game trip they began Sunday could be crucial. This matchup — against a Detroit team with by far the NHL’s worst record — wasn’t terribly intimidating, and initially it looked like it might be an easy night for Calgary.

Gaudreau was alone in the left circle when he beat goalie Jonathan Bernier with a slap shot to make it 1-0. Monahan scored on a rebound 77 seconds later.

Larkin, however, got behind Calgary defenceman Michael Stone and beat goalie David Rittich to make it 2-1 later in the first period.

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The Red Wings stayed within a goal until the final minute of the second. That’s when a slapper by Noah Hanifin appeared to carom in off the leg of Mangiapane with 10.6 seconds remaining.

With Detroit’s goalie pulled, Larkin made it 3-2 with 2 minutes remaining in the third when his wrist shot from the blue line sailed through traffic and past Rittich. Mangiapane sealed the win for Calgary with 11.8 seconds to play.

The Flames pulled into a tie for the first wild card in the West with Arizona. Those two teams are one point ahead of Winnipeg, which lost at Buffalo on Sunday.

Detroit is 3-15-1 in its last 19 games. The Red Wings scratched forward Andreas Athanasiou and defenceman Mike Green, fueling speculation that at least one of them could be dealt before Monday’s trade deadline.

NOTES: Calgary F Matthew Tkachuk had his eight-game point streak snapped.

UP NEXT

Flames: At Boston on Tuesday night.

Red Wings: Host New Jersey on Tuesday night.

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More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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Follow Noah Trister at https://twitter.com/noahtrister

Noah Trister, The Associated Press