Calgary Flames slip back into playoff position with win over Colorado

By Barry Payne The Canadian Press

Posted February 25, 2018 8:39 am EST

Updated February 25, 2018 9:24 am EST

1 min read

This article is more than 6 years old and some information may not be up to date.

Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov, of Russia, looks back at the net as the Calgary Flames score during second period NHL hockey action in Calgary, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh.

Mikael Backlund had a goal and two assists to lead the Calgary Flames to a 5-1 home win over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday afternoon. Troy Brouwer added a goal and an assist for the Flames (32-22-9), who moved past the idle St. Louis Blues into the final Western Conference wild-card spot.

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Michael Frolik, Mark Giordano and Sean Monahan also scored for Calgary while Matthew Tkachuk added two assists. Rookie Jon Gillies made 28 saves for his second straight win.

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Nathan MacKinnon had the lone goal for Colorado , which finished its three-game road trip with a 1-1-1 record. Semyon Varlamov stopped 24 shots in his fourth straight start.

Calgary took an early lead 18 seconds into the game when Frolik took a pass from Backlund in the slot and fired a shot past Varlamov.
Just past the five-minute mark of the first period Gillies stopped a shot by MacKinnon then slid across his net to get his left pad on Tyson Barrie’s rebound attempt.