Flames, sizzling under Ward, visit Coyotes

When it was mentioned to Calgary Flames interim coach Geoff Ward that he's undefeated in four games since officially taking over for Bill Peters, it came as a surprise.

"I didn't even know (about the record)," Ward said Monday night after the Flames' 5-4 overtime victory at Colorado that snapped the Avalanche's six-game winning streak. "We're taking it a day at a time.

"We've put ourselves in a pretty good situation, but we've got a hard week coming up, and we've got an opportunity going into Arizona (on Tuesday). If we play a good game and get some points, we can be just a couple back of the division leaders."

The Flames trail the Edmonton Oilers and Arizona by four points for first place in the Pacific Division with the chance to gain some ground against the Coyotes when the teams meet Tuesday in Glendale, Ariz.

Sean Monahan scored at 2:09 of overtime Monday, Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and an assist, and David Rittich made 28 saves for Calgary, which extended its point streak to seven games (6-0-1).

"I thought it was back and forth a little bit there," Monahan, who has four goals and three assists in a six-game point streak, said according to NHL.com. "They're a skilled team and they've got top guys who can finish, and that showed tonight.

"When you're getting looks, that gives you confidence. You want to put one in, but at the end of the day, you just have to stick with it, and I got my opportunity in overtime. Getting that extra point was huge."

The Flames got goals from Andrew Mangiapane and Michael Frolik in the opening 1:39 of the third period to take a 4-2 before Colorado rallied to force overtime.

"The way the game went and the way we were able to come back after they made it 4-4 showed our character," Tkachuk told NHL.com. "Getting it to overtime was big for us, and getting the extra point, that was great."

The Coyotes had Monday off after rallying from a two-goal deficit for a 4-3 shootout victory at Chicago on Sunday.

Arizona went 3-1-0 on its four-game trip that also included stops in Columbus, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

"We talked after the second (period)," Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. "If we win this (third) period, it's a hell of a trip instead of just an OK trip."

Conor Garland scored his team-leading 12th goal of the season, and Carl Soderberg and Christian Fischer also tallied. Nick Schmaltz, acquired from Chicago on Nov. 25, 2018, had two assists against his former team.

"I thought in the first (period) we were getting looks, we were just kind of going back and forth. Their top guys made some plays; they do that a lot," Schmaltz told NHL.com. "We stuck with it, kind of turned the game around in the second there."

Goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 26 saves for the Coyotes, who sport a league-low 2.28 goals-against average.

"We had some good shifts in the first where we had a lot of zone time," Kuemper said. "We came in and talked about it and went over some things we could use against them, and we were able to take over there."

--Field Level Media