Talbot makes 38 saves, Flames beat Panthers 3-0
SUNRISE, Fla. — Cam Talbot made 38 saves, Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and an assist, and the Calgary Flames beat the Florida Panthers 3-0 Sunday.
TJ Brodie and Milan Lucic also scored for the Flames, and Mark Giordano had three assists.
“I felt pretty good from the get-go, got a good warm-up in this morning,” Talbot said. “Guys let me see the shots, kept them to the outside for the first little bit. It gets the confidence up early and able to get into a groove.”
The Flames finished 3-1-1 on the five-game road trip.
“We played a real, real good road period, maybe our best one of the whole trip in order to end it off,” coach Geoff Ward said. “Good response by our guys and a well-earned win.”
Sam Montembault stopped 25 shots for the Panthers, who have tied a franchise record with seven straight home losses. The Panthers are 5-11-2 since the All-Star break.
Gaudreau gave the Flames a 1-0 lead on his power-play goal at 6:21 of the first. Gaudreau’s shot from the left circle beat Montembeault on the glove side.
The Flames went ahead 2-0 when Derek Ryan passed from behind the net to Lucic in front, who banked it off the post and in at 3:10 of the second.
Calgary stretched its lead to 3-0 on Brodie’s shot from just inside the blue line 1:09 into the third.
“At the end, we didn’t have a push. That’s unacceptable,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. “We just have to regroup right now.”
The home crowd began to boo in the closing minutes of the second period and also at the end of the game.
“Obviously disappointed, we’ve put ourselves in a really tough spot,” Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. “Let’s find a way to bring some excitement in our team game and get the building going in our favor.”
Gaudreau was awarded a penalty shot with 7:43 left in the first after being hooked by MacKenzie Weegar, but Montembeault blocked it.
NOTES: Flames C Elias Lindholm recorded his 200th career assist on the goal by Gaudreau. … Panthers G Sergei Bobrovsky tweaked something in his lower-body in warm-ups and was replaced by Montembeault. “I don’t think it was serious, we’ll see,” Quenneville said. … The Panthers are 4 for 35 on the power play over their last 13 games.
