National Hockey League
Arizona 2, Calgary 1
When: 9:00 PM ET, Thursday, January 7, 2016
Where: Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Alberta
Referees: Francis Charron, Justin St. Pierre
Linesmen: Steve Barton, Mark Wheler
Attendance: 19272

CALGARY, Alberta -- A long wrist shot from defenseman Stefan Elliott allowed the Arizona Coyotes to end a long drought at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

The defenseman's tiebreaking goal 1:47 into the third period gave the Coyotes a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames.

Arizona hadn't won in Calgary since Feb. 23, 2012, a span of eight games.

Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson also scored for the Coyotes (20-16-4). Right winger Anthony Duclair recorded two assists.

Left winger Johnny Gaudreau scored for the Flames (19-19-2).

Center Martin Hanzal returned to the Coyotes' lineup to fill a big hole. He had missed seven games with a lower-body injury.

"He's a big body out there," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett. "You don't realize how much you miss him until he comes back. He solidifies our center ice, so it's certainly good to have him back."

Hanzal centered Duclair and left winger Tobias Rieder on a line that looked very compatible.

"It's nice to see (Duclair and Rieder) playing well when I get back, but I think as a team we played a really strong game," Hanzal said. "We had a such a good road trip, and the last games of a trip, are hard and we played really well."

After completing a 2-0-1 trip to Western Canada, second-place Arizona moves three points up on third-place Vancouver Canucks and four ahead of fourth-place Calgary in the Pacific Division.

"We created a lot of chances and hung around the game until we could find a way to win, and (goaltender Louis) Domingue was good," Tippett said.

"We answered their power-play goal in the first. It was a tight game, and I'm happy for our guys."

The Coyotes picked up five of six points on the trip behind Domingue, who is unbeaten in regulation time in his past seven starts and has allowed four goals during that time.

He made 25 saves, while Calgary goalie Karri Ramo stopped 31 shots.

"We've been scoring huge goals in the third period for a while, and in meaningful games it's going to be important to be a third-period team," Domingue said.

"We played so good tonight. We kept them in their zone for most of the third, so it made it easy on me."

Unlike Tippett, Flames coach Bob Hartley was not happy. His postgame media session was short and to the point.

"I'm very disappointed because those are the games where you need to compete to win battles. We didn't have everyone tonight, plain and simple. You can't win when you have five, six guys going. It's sad, but we were just not good enough," he said.

Gaudreau opened the scoring on the power play at 14:37. He took a cross-ice pass from center Sean Monahan and buried a one-timer over a diving Domingue.

After a hot December that earned him the NHL's first star for the month, the slippery Gaudreau cooled off to start the new year and had not registered a point in four previous games this month.

The Coyotes gave the Flames very few openings, captain Mark Giordano said.

"They play that tight-checking style; they're a good road team that works hard," the defenseman said. "I just felt like we didn't make enough clean plays. We had looks, we had chances to make plays, and we just didn't do it all night. For some reason, we were a little bit out of synch, and we did have some chances, but fell short at the end."

Ekman-Larsson tied the game at 18:11 of the first period, also on the power play, with a soft goal. His slow wrist shot made it all the way to Ramo along the ice through a handful of players, and Ramo let it get by as well and into the net.

NOTES: Calgary C Jiri Hudler, who has 20 points in 35 games, missed his second consecutive contest because of a groin injury, and he is expected to be off skates for the next week. "We have no target dates yet on his return," Flames coach Bob Hartley said. ... Also injured for Calgary is RW Michael Frolik (upper body). ... The Flames' healthy scratches were D Ladislav Smid and LW Brandon Bollig. ... The Coyotes' injured list includes G Mike Smith (abdominal), C Joe Vitale (fractured orbital bone) and D Zbynek Michalek (upper body). ... Arizona's scratches were RW Steve Downie and LW John Scott. ... The Coyotes assigned rookie C Laurent Dauphine to AHL Springfield.
Top Game Performances
 
Arizona   Calgary
Anthony Duclair 2 Points Johnny Gaudreau 1
Oliver Ekman-Larsson 1 Goals Johnny Gaudreau 1
Anthony Duclair 2 Assists Mark Giordano 1
Oliver Ekman-Larsson 1 Power Play Goals Johnny Gaudreau 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Louis Domingue .962 Save Percentage Karri Ramo .939
Louis Domingue 25 Saves Karri Ramo 31
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Arizona 33 2 1-3 2-3 6 35
Calgary 26 1 1-3 2-3 6 24
Upcoming Games
  • Calgary will play their next game at home against San Jose. The Flames have a W/L % of .526 after a win and .429 after a loss.
  • Arizona will play their next game at home against Nashville. The Coyotes have a W/L % of .474 after a win and .524 after a loss.