CALGARY, Alberta — Johnny Gaudreau responded to a barb from his coach with a pair of assists for the Calgary Flames in a 4-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night.
Josh Leivo, Mark Giordano, Andrew Mangiapane and Sam Bennett scored for Calgary (16-17-3), which halted a four-game losing streak in the second of three straight games between the teams.
The series finale is Monday night in Calgary.
Gaudreau, who had two goals in nine games coming in, produced his first multi-point game in a month in his 500th career game.
After a 3-2 loss Friday to the Jets, Flames coach Darryl Sutter said: “Hopefully he has more energy than in his 499th game.”
Gaudreau played 17:05 on Saturday, second among Flames forwards behind Elias Lindholm (19:56).
Calgary is 5-5 since Sutter took over as coach on March 8.
Winnipeg defenseman Logan Stanley got his first NHL goal and Mason Appleton also scored for the Jets (21-12-2), who trail Toronto by two points atop the North Division.
Playing their fourth games in six days, both clubs started their backup goalie. David Rittich made 22 saves for the win in his second start in Calgary’s last 12 games.
Laurent Brossoit turned away 29 shots in the loss.
The Jets lead the 10-game season series 4-2-1.
NOTES: Winnipeg caps a seven-game road trip, its longest of the season, Monday at the Saddledome. … Flames captain Mark Giordano is one point shy of 500 for his career. … Calgary defenseman Chris Tanev got his 100th career assist.
