Markstrom gets ninth shutout in Flames win against Red Wings

CALGARY --Jacob Markstrom made 19 saves for his NHL-leading ninth shutout, and the Calgary Flames defeated the Detroit Red Wings 3-0 at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday.

Markstrom had eight shutouts combined in his first 11 NHL seasons.
"It's definitely a team stat," Markstrom said. "I just try to tell the guys to keep going and keep playing this way. It's fun to be a goalie for this team."
Elias Lindholm and Tyler Toffoli each scored a power-play goal for the Flames (36-15-7), who have won two straight and are 6-1-1 in their past eight.
"You've got to learn how to win close games, too," Calgary coach Darryl Sutter said. "If their goalie would have stood on his head and they had won the game, then it might have been frustrating, but it's not the way the league works."

Thomas Greiss made 40 saves for the Red Wings (24-28-7), who have lost five straight and are 1-6-1 in their past eight (outscored 44-23 during stretch).
"You never get these games back," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. "I don't care what our last little bit has been. You can't not play your A game on a nightly basis, and if you don't have an A, have a B. Is there a mental grind to it? For sure there is. Is there a mental wear on you when you've gone through a tough stretch and you're looking up in the standings? For sure there is. Is that an excuse? No chance. We've got to be way more mentally tough than that."
Lindholm scored his NHL career-high 30th of the season to put Calgary ahead 1-0 at 9:22 of the first period, skating through the neutral zone and cutting to the high slot before beating Greiss blocker side.
"I play with obviously two really good players (Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk)," Lindholm said. "A lot of goals have been easy goals, but it's always nice to get to 30. I've been close a couple times but haven't been able to get there. It's obviously nice to finally break it."

Greiss kept it a one-goal game when he made a right pad stop on Nikita Zadorov's breakaway attempt at 15:15 of the second period, and a stick save on Chris Tanev off a rush at 18:40.
"Keep playing the same way," Lindholm said. "That's something we've got to work on. It was still a one-goal game. Still a chance for them to come back. We've got to do a better job of putting away that game earlier."
Calgary outshot Detroit 19-1 in the first period and 31-5 through two periods.
"We didn't like the way we were playing, didn't like the way it was going, but we're still down by one goal and there's an opportunity to get some life and get back in the game," Red Wings forward Sam Gagner said. "We wanted to have some positive energy and come out in the third and try to create some looks, and we did that for a little bit of time."
However, Toffoli extended the lead to 2-0 at 8:25 of the third period when he swept a cross-crease pass from Tkachuk five-hole on Greiss. He has scored 13 points (eight goals, five assists) in 13 games since being acquired from the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 14.

Blake Coleman scored off a backdoor, cross-ice pass from Tanev at 15:38 for the 3-0 final.
"I thought we went out and pushed in the third," Blashill said. "I thought we were way better in the third until they scored there and made it a little bit harder, and then we took the penalty and they scored again. But I did think we pushed, though."
NOTES:Red Wings defenseman Marc Staal played his 1,000th NHL game, a milestone his brothers Eric (1,293) and Jordan (1,070) have also reached. They are the first trio of brothers to play 1,000 games in NHL history. … Detroit forward Tyler Bertuzzi did not play because he is unvaccinated against COVID-19. ... Flames defenseman Oliver Kylington did not play because of a lower-body injury and is day to day. … Lindholm was playing in his 58th game this season, the fewest by a Flames player to reach 30 goals since Jarome Iginla did it in 42 games in 2007-08. He has scored 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in an eight-game point streak. ... Referee Dean Morton officiated his last NHL game. He was selected by the Red Wings in the eighth round (No. 148) of the 1986 NHL Draft and played one game, scoring a goal, with the team during the 1989-90 season.