Rittich makes 41 saves, Flames top Panthers for sixth straight win

SUNRISE, Fla. -- David Rittich made 41 saves, and Sean Monahan had a goal and an assist to help the Calgary Flames to their season-best sixth win in a row, 4-2 against the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center on Friday.
Rittich was making his fifth start of the season after Mike Smith made 33 saves in a 5-1 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. Rittich is 4-1-1 with a 2.03 goals-against average in six games.

"Our goalie was great tonight," Flames defenseman Mark Giordano said. "Goaltending has been the story for us all season."
WATCH: [All Flames vs. Panthers highlights]
Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau scored, and Mikael Backlund had an empty-net goal and two assists for Calgary (24-16-4).
"You just have to stay steady (with winning streaks)," Flames coach Glen Gulutzan said. "You can't get wound up and think about them. We're going to push this group, and it's a group that responds and has great character."
Evgenii Dadonov scored two goals for the Panthers (18-19-6), who lost for the fourth time in five games (1-3-1). James Reimer made 25 saves in his 16th consecutive start.

The Panthers had 43 shots, the 12th time this season they had 40 or more. They are 2-7-3 in those games.
"I thought we did a lot of good things," Florida defenseman Keith Yandle said. "In the offensive zone, we did a lot of good things. In the D-zone, we did good things. When we did make mistakes, they capitalized. They found a way to score their goals. It's a tough one to swallow right now. It would have been nice to get the win going into the break."
The Panthers don't play again until Friday.
With Florida on the power play after Rittich was called for tripping at 19:40 of the first period, Dadonov gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead 27 seconds into the second when he one-timed Jonathan Huberdeau's pass in the slot for his first goal in 20 games.
"He's been good for a while and he's just been snakebitten, and it's nice to see him get the bounces tonight," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. "I think he's going to take off after this game offensively."
Monahan tied it 1-1 33 seconds later when he one-timed Dougie Hamilton's backhand pass in the high slot at 1:00. Monahan has four goals and six assists in a six-game point streak.

Tkachuk gave Calgary a 2-1 lead at 10:38 with a backhand after Reimer made a save on Travis Hamonic's shot from the top of the right face-off circle.
Gaudreau made it 3-1 with a power-play goal at 16:15 with a slap shot from the left circle. He has two goals and nine assists during a six-game point streak.
Dadonov cut the Flames lead to 3-2 with his second goal of the night at 13:03 of the third period. He scored with a quick shot after getting to a loose puck to the left of Rittich.
Backlund scored at 19:14 to make it 4-2 after Rittich made three saves in the previous 56 seconds.
"I came in tonight knowing we won five in a row, and I wanted to keep it going," Rittich said. "I just tried to show my best and give the guys a chance to win, and we did it."

Goal of the game

Gaudreau's goal at 16:15 of the second period.

Saves of the game

Rittich's left-pad save against Huberdeau at 11:57 of the first period and stick save on Dadonov on the rebound.

Highlight of the game

Rittich's save on Vincent Trocheck at 18:20 of the third period.

They said it

"I thought they gutted it out on a back-to-back. You're going to get something when your guys are starting to drive the bus. We're starting to push each other even on the bench, which is a good thing." -- Flames coach Glen Gulutzan
"I thought we had good looks throughout the game. It's one of those you kind of have to look, find ways to see how we lost that game. I thought [goalie James Reimer] played good. Their goalie (David Rittich) played good. We just didn't bury our chances." -- Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle

Need to know

The Flames are 49-0-2 when entering the third period with a lead over the past two seasons. … Calgary's six-game winning streak is the longest in the NHL. … Trocheck led all Panthers with 25:55 of ice time. … Dadonov led all players in shots on goal (eight) and missed shots (four).

What's next

Flames: At the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; FS-CR, SNW, NHL.TV)
Panthers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; SN360, TVA Sports, FS-F, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV)