CALGARY -- Louis Domingue made 25 saves to help the Arizona Coyotes to a 2-1 win against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday.
Defensemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Stefan Elliott scored for the Coyotes (20-16-4), who were 2-0-1 on their three-game Pacific Division road trip. Arizona is 9-1-2 against divisional opponents.
"You know what? Even if it's January right now, if we lose those games, it's going to bite us at the end," Domingue said. "Getting those points right now is going to be huge down the road.
"I think we know what we're getting into. We're gamers right now. That's how I see it. We did the little details good. That's what good playoff teams do. There's a reason why we're here right now and we're successful, is because we're getting prepared like a playoff team."
Domingue is 5-0-2 with a .941 save percentage in seven starts since No. 1 goaltender Mike Smith had surgery to repair a core muscle injury on Dec. 15.
"It's important to have such a good goaltender," Coyotes forward Martin Hanzal said. "He's been really, really good. He was probably our best player the last four or five games. It helps the team, for sure."
Johnny Gaudreau scored in the first period, and Karri Ramo made 31 saves for Calgary (19-19-2). The Flames have lost three of the past four games at home since winning 11 straight, the longest streak in their history.
"These are big games," Flames center Matt Stajan said. "Look at our division. One of the reasons that [the Coyotes] are where they are is their record against our division. So we've got to make sure we're playing better hockey, especially against our division because those games are all four-point games, and we've dropped three at home here in the past week or so."
Elliott scored 1:47 into the third period to break a 1-1 tie. He worked the puck back and forth with Anthony Duclair at the blue line before sending a shot through a crowd that hit Calgary defenseman Kris Russell and beat Ramo.
Domingue made a pad save off Flames forward Mikael Backlund at 4:07, stopped a Sean Monahan slap shot from the hash marks at 5:18, and got his blocker on Sam Bennett's shot off the rush at 15:43 to preserve the one-goal lead.
"I thought we played a great defensive game," Domingue said. "We've been talking about limiting the scoring chances from the middle of the ice, and that's what we did. We didn't feed off their rush either. We didn't make turnovers at the blue line. We just got the puck deep, played a simple road game, and got the two points."
Gaudreau put the Flames up 1-0 with his first point in five games. On the power play, he took a pass from Monahan and snapped a shot over a diving Domingue at 14:37 of the first period.
Ekman-Larsson tied the game on an Arizona power play with 1:49 remaining in the first. Ekman-Larsson's point shot hit Calgary forward Josh Jooris' stick in the high slot and dribbled by a screened Ramo.
Ramo, who entered the game 9-4-0 with a .929 save percentage since the start of December, kept it tied through two periods with a little help.
Arizona forward Boyd Gordon swiped a loose puck at the top of the slot through Ramo's legs and off the post 3:18 into the second. An outstretched pad from Ramo stopped a rebound attempt from a patient Max Domi at 8:23, and Ramo capped the 12-save second with a glove save off Duclair on a 2-on-1 with 2:51 remaining in the period.
"Whenever you score only one goal and he makes over 30 saves, you feel like you let your goalie down, for sure," Stajan said. "That was a big game for us, and we know that. We needed more energy than we had. No excuses. He was great for us. He has been the last few months, so we've got to take advantage of that."
Calgary will host the San Jose Sharks on Monday in the third of its four-game homestand. Arizona will open a season-high seven-game homestand Saturday against the Nashville Predators.
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