Mikael Backlund scored a key third-period goal for his 600th point, and John Beecher had two goals, as the visiting Calgary Flames held on for a 5-4 win over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night in Newark, N.J.
Backlund, who has played his entire 18-year career in Calgary, scored 4:10 into the third for his milestone point that made it a 5-2 game in favor of Calgary, which also got goals from ex-Devils Kevin Bahl and Yegor Sharangovich.
Backlund’s score proved vital as Jack Hughes notched a goal around the midway point of the third and brother Luke scored via a 6-on-4 scenario in the final seconds for the Devils, who have lost two straight after winning four in a row.
Beecher, meanwhile, had just one goal in 30 games entering this contest for the Flames, who snapped a four-game road skid.
Calgary opened the scoring 5:04 into the contest. Via a 2-on-1, Beecher kept the puck and beat New Jersey’s Jacob Markstrom (24 saves). The Flames made it 2-0 with 5:46 remaining in the opening period as Bahl’s one-timer through traffic appeared to redirect off the stick of New Jersey’s Paul Cotter and in.
The Devils got a goal back with 3:46 left in the first. Off a turnover, Maxim Tsyplakov’s shot deflected off Calgary’s Yan Kuznetsov and past Dustin Wolf (28 saves).
After the Flames’ Joel Hanley inadvertently hit Jack Hughes in the face with his stick, the Devils earned a four-minute power play that carried over into the second period. But, it was Beecher who put in his own rebound off the skate of Markstrom for Calgary’s 11th short-handed goal at 54 seconds into the middle frame.
However, with one second remaining on that Devils’ power play, Luke Hughes worked his way through the Calgary defense with the puck and near the net, where Nemec chipped it in for a 3-2 game.
The Flames regained their two-goal edge with 3:12 left in the second. Off a Jack Hughes’ turnover, Calgary worked a 2-on-1, where Ryan Strome sent the puck to Sharangovich, who went forehand-backhand to beat Markstrom.
