Panthers shut out by Flames, lose seventh straight at home

SUNRISE, Fla. --Cam Talbot made 38 saves, and the Calgary Flames handed the Florida Panthers their seventh consecutive home loss with a 3-0 victory at BB&T Center on Sunday.

It was the second shutout this season for Talbot.
"He's been good for us all year," Flames coach Geoff Ward said. "Anytime we need a big game out of him, he's given it to us. He was awesome again tonight. Our guys have confidence in him. He's earned the confidence of our players by the way that he's played. His starts this year, he's given us a chance to win every night that he's been in there, and that's all you can ask from your starting goaltender."
WATCH: [All Flames vs. Panthers highlights]
Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and an assist, and Mark Giordano had three assists for the Flames (34-26-7), who had lost two straight and moved one point ahead of the Vancouver Canucks for third place in the Pacific Division.

Sam Montembeault made 25 saves for the Panthers (33-26-7), whose seven-game home losing streak (0-6-1) is tied for the longest in their history (Feb. 26-March 24, 2003).
"We've left some huge points, and (we need) to get something each and every time we're here," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. "Obviously disappointed. We've put ourselves in a really tough spot. Let's find a way to bring some excitement in our team game, get the building going in our favor."
Florida, which has lost three straight and is 1-4-1 in its past six, is five points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division.
"We just maybe took for granted how difficult it is to win in the second half of the year," Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. "I've always liked to look at it as a completely different league in the second half. It's not as easy to score goals. It's a much tighter game. We haven't found a way to crack that code yet and we really need to here soon."
Gaudreau, whose grandfather died Saturday, gave Calgary a 1-0 lead 6:21 of the first period with a power-play goal, scoring from the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Elias Lindholm.

"It was kind of a tough day, but it was nice to find the net there for him in the first," Gaudreau said. "He watched a lot of my games and he was always a big supporter of me and my brother playing hockey, so it was a special time to find the net there."
Gaudreau had the chance to increase the lead on a penalty shot at 12:17, but Montembeault stopped his five-hole attempt.
Milan Lucic made it 2-0 at 3:10 of the second period with a one-timer off a backhand pass from Derek Grant after two Panthers players chased Grant behind the net and left Lucic alone in front.
TJ Brodie extended the lead to 3-0 at 1:09 of the third period with a one-timer from the point through traffic.

"I thought it was a good effort by our guys at the end of a tough road trip (3-1-1 on five-game trip)," Ward said. "I really liked the third period. I thought it was our best period of the night. The guys did a good job of being able to find ways to stretch the lead in the hockey game and I thought in the third period we didn't give them very much. We played a real, real good road period, maybe our best one of the whole trip in order to end it off. Good response by our guys and a well-earned win."

They said it

"I think we just have to bring our road game home. Keep it simple. Get pucks in, get pucks out, put pucks on net and jam away. That's kind of how our games have gone. Special teams came up big in our wins as well. If we can get all that stuff and bring it all home, then we'll be successful there, too." -- Flames goalie Cam Talbot
"I think there's time to remedy it. We have to put ourselves in position to win one game and get some momentum and go from there. We have to look at the big picture and narrow it down. We have some tough games coming. We've left some points and a lot of gravy on the table. We created it, it's up to us to fix it." -- Panthers coach Joel Quenneville

Need to know

Montembeault got the start after Sergei Bobrovsky sustained a lower-body injury in warmups. Quenneville said he didn't think the injury was serious. … Lindholm's assist was his 200th in the NHL. … Flames forward Mikael Backlund had his six-game point streak end. … Panthers forward Mike Hoffman had his seven-game point streak end. … Florida was shut out for the third time this season, each coming after the All-Star break.

What's next

Flames: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday (8:30 p.m. ET; SN360, SNE, SNO, SNW, FS-O, NHL.TV)
Panthers:Host the Boston Bruins on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, SNE, SNO, SNP, FS-F, NESN, NHL.TV)