CALGARY, Alberta (AP) Sean Monahan had a goal and an assist and Jacob Markstrom made 20 saves as the Calgary Flames blanked the Philadelphia Flyers 4-0 Saturday night for their sixth straight win.
Matthew Tkachuk, Johnny Gaudreau and Mikael Backlund (empty net) also scored for Calgary (6-1-1).
The Flames were coming off a five-game road trip in which they never trailed and won all games by a combined score of 21-7.
Coming off a 45-save shutout over Pittsburgh on Thursday, Markstrom earned his third shutout in his last four starts. The 31-year-old Swede improved to 4-1-1 with a .957 save percentage.
Carter Hart made 32 saves for Philadelphia (4-2-1). Claude Giroux was held pointless for the first time this season and his six-game point streak ended. The Flyers dropped the final game of their Western Canada road trip after picking up wins in Edmonton and Vancouver.
After a tight-checking, scoreless first period in which Calgary outshot Philadelphia 8-4, the Flames turned it up in the second and had the Flyers continuously trapped in their own end.
The relentless pressure led to the Flyers taking two minor penalties - both infractions drawn by Tkachuk - and the second one, an interference penalty on Rasmus Ristolainen, proved costly as Monahan redirected a centering pass from Rasmus Andersson. The goal at 9:07 came on the 12th consecutive shot to open the second period.
It was the first goal of the season for Monahan.
The score remained 1-0 until Tkachuk gave the Flames some insurance at 8:30 of the third period, making it 2-0 on Calgary's second power-play goal of the game, neatly converting a slick passing sequence with Elias Lindholm and Monahan.
After Backlund scored into an empty net, Gaudreau added his second of the season with two minutes remaining, beating Hart inside the goal post.
It was a dominant performance defensively from the Flames. The Flyers entered the game averaging more than four goals per game.
NOTES: Calgary defenseman Noah Hanifin (upper body) returned after missing one game. Also back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the entire road trip was Nikita Zadorov. Juuso Valimaki came out of the Flames lineup. ... The Flames haven't trailed since their season-opening loss to Edmonton. ... The Flyers fell to 0-2-0 when giving up the first goal. They are 4-0-1 when scoring first. ... Sean Couturier's four-game point streak (4-3-7) came to an end.
UP NEXT
Philadelphia: Host Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday.
Calgary: Host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday in the second game of a five-game homestand.
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