Toffoli, Lindholm post 3 points each to help Flames edge Kings in high-scoring affair
Calgary wins 2nd straight on heels of 7-game losing streak
After losing 100-point wingers Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk in the off-season, it has taken a while for Calgary centre Elias Lindholm to find chemistry with new linemates, but it is finally starting to come together.
Lindholm and Tyler Toffoli led the way with a goal and two assists each on Monday as the Flames struck for four goals in the first period and then withstood a furious late push from the visiting Los Angeles Kings to hang on for a 6-5 victory.
"He's one of the best players in the league and just fortunate to be playing with him," Toffoli said of Lindholm. "The past week or two I think he's really took his game to the next level and it's been fun to play with him."
Adam Ruzicka, 23, who joined the line after Jonathan Huberdeau went down with an injury, has also fit in nicely.
"It feels good," Lindholm said. "We're having fun, making plays and scoring some goals. Obviously, Adam's come in and he's a good player. He's still a young kid, but he's been playing well."
Ruzicka's strong play of late — a goal and an assist on Monday giving him five points in his last four games — helped him keep his spot on the No. 1 line, even after Huberdeau's return on Monday.
WATCH l Lindholm bags goal, 2 assists for Flames:
"They moved the puck around really well, the three of them together. Adam did a good job of using his size and going to the net," said Flames assistant coach Ryan Huska. "Certain guys have raised their level and we needed to find a way to win games, and Elias has been one of them and so has Tyler."
A story line entering the game was how head coach Darryl Sutter had revamped his other three lines to accommodate Huberdeau's return after a three-game absence.
The changes worked with Calgary getting an even-strength goal from each line in storming out to a 4-2 lead after 20 minutes.
"That's what we need. We need everybody going. Rolling four lines, three sets of D," Toffoli said. "When we play that way, we come in waves and that's how we're built and that's how we're successful."
Huberdeau, Andrew Mangiapane and Brett Ritchie also scored for Calgary (7-6-2), which has won consecutive games after snapping a seven-game winless skid.
Arthur Kaliyev with a pair, Kevin Fiala, Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe supplied the offence for Los Angeles (10-7-1).
The Kings' had their four-game winning streak came to an end.
Jacob Markstrom gets the win to improve to 6-3-2, with 24 stops including a sprawling stop off Kopitar from 10 feet out when he ended up all alone with 22 seconds remaining.
WATCH l Markstrom clutch with late save on Kings captain Kopitar:
Jonathan Quick, with 23 saves, took the loss to fall to 6-5-1.
With just one goal in his first 11 games, Huberdeau opened the scoring at 3:49, taking a pass from Rasmus Andersson and ripping a shot past Quick.
"It was good. I mean, obviously, to get a goal. It had been a while," said Huberdeau, who played alongside Mikael Backlund and Trevor Lewis. "We kept things simple. We had some scoring chances. In the first period, we were always in their zone. We worked to cycle the pucks. I loved playing with these guys."
After the Kings struck twice in 78 seconds to grab its first lead, back roared the Flames with Mangiapane and Ritchie responding 42 seconds apart to retake the lead. Before the first period ended, Toffoli one-timed a pass from Lindholm past Quick on a two-on to make it a two-goal cushion.
"We played one of our worst games defensively," said Kings centre Phillip Danault. "We gave up too many rushes. We did that to ourselves. We lost the game in the first period. We weren't sharp enough mentally."
The Kings got third period goals from Kopitar at 8:57 and Kempe, with the goalie pulled, at 18:41, but the rally would come up one goal shy.
"We played some pretty shoddy hockey today," said Los Angeles head coach Todd McLellan. "We had guys missing line changes, passes through the neutral zone, we had an icing call with two seconds left, missed face-off coverages. To me, I think that the physical part of the game was potentially there early, but the mental part didn't exist at all."
