Flames' offence comes alive against Senators to end 5-game winless skid at home

Home ice hasn't been much of an advantage of late, but the Calgary Flames hope their decisive win on Sunday night will turn things around.

Calgary came into the game having scored just eight goals over that 0-4-1 stretch, including just two in the last three games.

"Big win for us. We've got to collect points as much as we can here down the stretch," said Nazem Kadri, who had a pair of primary assists. "Overall, I think just the whole 60 minutes was pretty positive for us. We made a lot of great plays and hopefully it's something we can build on."

Kadri and linemate Jonathan Huberdeau, both in a slump, combined for a pair of goals.

WATCH | Lindholm scores 200th career goal:

Lindholm's 200th career goal is the winner as Flames shut down Senators

2 years ago

Duration 0:49

Elias Lindholm's first period goal turned out to be the winner as Calgary dealt Ottawa a 5-1 loss Sunday.

"We're supposed to produce. It's going to help the team if we do," said Huberdeau, who had a goal and an assist. "If we get on the scoresheet, we can get some wins. So until the end of the year, it's going to be a big push for us."

Down 2-0 after the first period, Ottawa cut the deficit in half at 5:55 of the second capitalizing on a misplay between Markstrom and Mikael Backlund.

From behind the net, Markstrom passed the puck to Backlund, who in attempting to shoot the puck around the back of the net hit Markstrom's pad instead. The puck bounced right to Stutzle who scored his 32nd goal into the vacated net.

It took only 68 seconds for Calgary to restore its two-goal cushion with Kadri firing a rising shot toward the net that Huberdeau deflected out of mid-air and past Kevin Mandolese.

"That's a big goal. That goal maybe changed the momentum, they might have come back," said Huberdeau.

Rasmus Andersson also had a goal and an assist for Calgary (30-24-13), while Noah Hanifin and Trevor Lewis also scored. Backlund chipped in with two assists.

The Flames remain six points back of the Winnipeg Jets — who won 3-2 in Tampa Bay on Sunday — for the second wild-card playoff berth in the NHL's Western Conference.

"We just gotta keep going," said Andersson. "We've got to focus on ourselves and get every point we can get. There's 16 games left and we've got to battle night in and night out. This is a game we can build off."

'It's definitely really frustrating right now'

Ottawa (33-29-4), which has lost three of its first four on a five-game road trip, are six points out of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, which is occupied by the New York Islanders.

"We didn't play our worst game but everything didn't go the way we wanted it to," said Stutzle. "The last two games aren't the way we want to play. You just have to turn the page. But it's definitely really frustrating right now."

Adding to the challenge for Ottawa is they also have to pass the Florida Panthers and Washington Capitals, who are between them and the Islanders.

Markstrom was excellent in his sixth straight start to improve to 18-18-8.

Mandolese, in his third career start, finished with 34 stops. He falls to 1-2-0. The 22-year-old is up with the NHL club due to injuries to Cam Talbot and Anton Forsberg.

"It's 2-0 and you're trailing in the game. We score, we get a gift, and then the next shift they score," said Senators coach D.J. Smith. "The biggest shifts are the ones after goals, end of periods. Today we just weren't sharp enough."

Flames' offence explodes

The Flames went ahead 4-1 at 13:08 of the second when Huberdeau and Kadri combined to set up Hanifin jumping up into the rush and he zipped a perfect shot inside the far goalpost.

It was an eventful first period in which the Flames had a goal called back on an offside review and hit three goalposts or crossbars.

But they still took a 2-0 lead on Andersson's short-handed goal and Lindholm's power-play marker.

Markstrom kept it 2-0 making two clutch saves a minute apart robbing Julien Gauthier on a breakaway and Drake Batherson when he also got in alone, both chances coming off of Flames turnovers.

"When he plays like he did tonight, he's a top three goalie in the league and we're gonna need him to be that good every night," Andersson said.

Ottawa lost left-winger Mathieu Joseph to a lower-body injury in the first period. Going down awkwardly on a play in which Toffoli was penalized for cross-checking, Joseph, in obvious pain, punched the boards immediately after before being helped off the ice.

The visitors also lost defenceman Thomas Chabot early in the third.