TAMPA, Fla. — A scoreless night from star Steven Stamkos was no problem for the surging Tampa Bay Lightning.
Cedric Paquette scored his first two NHL goals as the Lightning completed a four-game home sweep by beating the Calgary Flames 5-2 on Thursday night.
Tampa Bay also got goals from Brian Boyle, Tyler Johnson and Valtteri Filppula. The Lightning had scored 15 goals during three wins earlier in the homestand against Arizona, Philadelphia and Washington.
"It’s big if Stammer’s line is not going, somebody else is picking that up," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said.
Stamkos was held without a point, finished minus-1, and got both of his shots during a third period in which the centre played just five shifts.
Jiri Hudler and Sean Monahan scored for the Flames, who had won three in a row. Mark Giordano had two assists.
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"I felt that the effort was there," Calgary coach Bob Hartley said. "I don’t think that we looked like a bunch of fat cats out there. It’s not a matter that they outworked us. They outsmarted us because we made some bad mistakes, but it’s a game of mistakes. No one does it on purpose, especially not in this organization."
After Paquette’s second goal at 61 seconds of the second period, Boyle put Tampa Bay up 3-1 at 4:02 on the rebound after Jonas Hiller stopped the forward’s initial shot during a short-handed breakaway.
"We’ve got it going pretty good up and down the lineup," Boyle said. "We want to continue that."
Monahan’s power-play goal 20 seconds after Boyle scored cut the Calgary deficit to 3-2.
Johnson’s first goal in 12 games made it 4-2 at 40 seconds of the third. The centre had 13 assists over the previous nine games.
Filppula added an empty-net goal with 2:10 to play.
"We were forcing things, especially after they got up," Giordano said. "I think we were forcing more than we normally do."
Paquette opened the scoring with his first NHL goal from in-close at 9:55 of the first.
"It’s a great moment for me," Paquette said. "I think I will remember it for the rest of my life."
Hudler tied it at 1-1 when he beat Ben Bishop with 4:38 left in the period.
Bishop stopped 29 shots, while Hiller made 28 saves.
NOTES: NHL commissioner Gary Bettman attended the game and said the league is "keeping our eye" on Tampa for future events including the All-Star Game. "We know this is a great place to host events," Bettman said. … Bettman remains upbeat about the establishment of a hockey World Cup and said talks are continuing with the players’ association. … Tampa Bay D Victor Hedman had the cast for a broken finger removed but could miss three to four more weeks. … Calgary D Ladislav Smid was scratched because of an upper body injury but should play this weekend. … Lightning C Alex Killorn sat out due to an upper body injury. … Tampa Bay D Andrej Sustr returned after missing one game with a hand injury.
