Jones scores 7th of season to lead Flames past Devils 3-2
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) When David Jones broke into the NHL eight seasons ago, he didn't think about eventually scoring his 100th goal.
Jones reached the milestone with his team-leading seventh of the season and added an assist to help the Calgary Flames beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 on Tuesday night.
''To get 100 goals in the NHL is pretty cool,'' said Jones. ''I never thought I would get that. Hopefully there's more to come.''
Jones one-timed a pass from linemate Joe Colborne past New Jersey goalie Cory Schneider at 6:09 of the second period for his team-leading seventh goal. It was also the first time Jones has scored this season during a win.
''It's certainly nice to get it against those guys and get a win,'' said Jones, who now has goals in back-to-back games for the first time this season. ''I know throughout my whole career, once you get a hot stick, you just try and put everything on the net. I'm a little streaky that way. I'm sure I'll go some games without scoring, but I'm relishing this opportunity that the puck's going in right now.''
Jones' linemates also had two points each as Matt Stajan finished with a goal and an assist, while Colborne set up two goals.
TJ Brodie also scored for the Flames, who beat the Devils for the sixth straight time dating back to Jan. 10, 2012.
Making his ninth straight start for Calgary, Karri Ramo stopped 18 shots.
Bobby Farnham and Jordin Tootoo scored for the Devils, while Schneider finished with 27 saves.
Ramo made a couple of early stops to turn aside scoring attempts by New Jersey forwards Mike Cammalleri and Adam Henrique, before making a save with his mask to prevent Kyle Palmeiri's wrist shot from going into the net.
''I thought we had some real quality chances early in the game before they made it 1-0 that we didn't capitalize on and then we had some real good pushes late that we weren't able to finish.,'' New Jersey coach John Hynes said.
The Flames opened the scoring at 10:04 of the first when Brodie took a tape-to-tape pass from Johnny Gaudreau in the high slot and used his speed to get around New Jersey forward Lee Stempniak before firing a sharp-angle shot to the top corner in behind Schneider.
''I was stunned that went in,'' Schneider said. ''It literally hit me and I turned to watch it go wide. Sometimes it gets caught up in your jersey there and pulls it in. Again, it was a shot I should have stopped and thought I stopped.''
Stajan had his first goal of the season a short time later at 13:33 when he drove hard to the net to swat a rebound past Schneider.
Stajan had his first goal of the season a short time later at 13:33 when he drove hard to the net to swat a rebound past Schneider, who stopped the initial shot taken by Jones.
Farnham scored for the Devils at 4:01 of the second period when he shoveled a loose puck in the crease past Ramo before Jones answered right back for the Flames at 6:09.
New Jersey pulled within a goal at 8:06 of the second when Tootoo fired a shot from the slot to the top corner over Ramo's blocker during a New Jersey power play.
Brodie had one of the best scoring chances for either team in the third period, but Schneider made a nice glove save to stop the breakaway opportunity.
NOTES: Gaudreau had not recorded a point in Calgary's previous four games before assisting on Stajan's first-period goal. ... Jones scored the 100th goal of his NHL career in his 407th career game. ... New Jersey's last win over Calgary was a 2-1 shootout victory at home on Nov. 24, 2010. The Devils last won in Calgary on Dec. 23, 2007 when they beat the Flames 1-0 in overtime.
