Colin White scored twice while goaltender Matt Murray stopped 29 shots to lead the host Ottawa Senators to a 6-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.
Drake Batherson, Erik Gudbranson, Connor Brown and Erik Brannstrom lit the lamp as the Senators ran their winning streak to a season-high three games.
The Flames, who got a goal from Milan Lucic, have just one victory in their past six outings (1-4-1).
The teams will meet again Saturday afternoon, the second of four consecutive clashes between them.
The Senators wisely jumped all over a lethargic Flames team that lost an overtime game in Toronto the night, scoring a pair of goals 102 seconds apart before the midway point of the opening period.
Batherson scored for the fourth consecutive game, burying a rebound after Tim Stutzle’s shot was stopped during an odd-man rush at the 7:45 mark.
Soon after, Gudbranson doubled the lead. After a poor turnover by Calgary’s defenders, the puck came to Gudbranson in the slot, and his wrist shot from the top of the circle found the mark.
Lucic gave the Flames a bit of life when he scored his fifth goal of the season 101 seconds into the second period, but the Senators kept the pedal down and pulled away.
Brown restored the two-goal edge less than three minutes later when he intercepted a Lucic pass, drove the net and converted a backhand shot.
Brannstrom made it a 4-1 lead when he sent a shot from outside the blue line that somehow eluded Flames starting goaltender David Rittich at 7:24 of the middle frame.
Soon after, Rittich — the victim of four goals on 20 shots against — was pulled in favor of Artyom Zagidulin, a 25-year-old Russian who made his NHL debut. Zagidulin, who finished with nine saves on 11 shots, received no more support than the starter at either end of the ice.
White produced a couple of third-period goals to round out the scoring. He netted his first five minutes into the final period when he joined a rush and gained the puck deep in the zone before slipping a shot under the sprawling goalie.
With 5:14 remaining, White was left alone in the slot and made no mistake with the golden chance that came, netting his fourth goal of the season.
–Field Level Media
