Hamilton scores twice as Flames win sixth straight
CALGARY, Alberta -- Dougie Hamilton scored twice and had an assist during a four-goal second period as the Calgary Flames dumped the Winnipeg Jets 6-2 on Saturday for their sixth straight victory.
Sam Bennett, Mikael Backlund, Lance Bouma and Sean Monahan also scored for the Flames (16-13-2). Joining Hamilton with three points was Backlund, who added two assists and rookie Matthew Tkachuk who contributed three assists.
Chad Johnson made 26 saves for Calgary and has been in goal for the entirety of the Flames streak, which began with his 39-save 3-0 shutout of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 30. He is 9-1 in his last 10 starts.
Johnson was 6:01 from his fourth shutout of the season but Nikola Ehlers beat him over the shoulder on a late power play. Jacob Trouba scored on a long wrister through a crowd with 0.1 seconds remaining.
The Flames scored four goals in a span of 9:23 in the second period on Winnipeg starter Michael Hutchinson, who was strong in making 16 saves in the first period before things fell apart midway through the second. Hutchinson was replaced for the third period by Connor Hellebuyck.
Winnipeg (13-15-3) has lost three straight. The Jets move on to face the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday to finish off their sixth back-to-back series of the season and their 11th game in 19 days.
Bouma scored on the first shot Hellebuyck faced as he outraced two Jets defenders from center ice and chipped a backhand over Hellebuyck at 3:31. Monahan closed out the Flames' scoring on the power play with 3:32 remaining.
Hamilton took a drop pass from Tkachuk and whipped a wrist shot over the glove of Hutchinson to open the scoring at 8:29 of the second period.
Bennett made it 2-0 at 13 minutes. He trailed the play in the Winnipeg zone, took a pass from Johnny Gaudreau and while cruising unattended put a wrist shot past Hutchinson to the glove side.
Hamilton scored again at 15:20 on a slap shot from the point. Backlund scored on the power play, putting puck between Hutchinson's pads from a sharp angle at 17:52.
NOTES: Jets rookie D Josh Morrissey played his first NHL game in his hometown Saturday. "It's something you kind of dream of your whole life. ... Just like a young kid in Winnipeg grows up idolizing the Jets. I was that same kid in Calgary." Morrissey was a minus-1 with two shots on goal in 21:08. ... Winnipeg's injured are D Tyler Myers (lower body), C Nic Petan (lower body), LW Shawn Matthias (lower body) and RW Joel Armia (lower body). ... Winnipeg's healthy scratches were D Mark Stuart and C Alexander Burmistrov ... The Flames lone injury absence was RW Kris Versteeg, who missed his second straight game with an injured hip. ... Calgary's healthy scratches were C Freddie Hamilton and D Tyler Wotherspoon. ... December is proving to be a great month for Flames RW Johnny Gaudreau. He has eight points -- two in each game -- this season and 32 points (22 goals) in 38 total contests over three seasons.