Sharangovich and Kadri lead surging Flames to 7-4 win over Sabres

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CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Yegor Sharangovich had two goals and an assist, and linemate Nazem Kadri added a goal and two assists to lead the surging Calgary Flames over the Buffalo Sabres 7-4 on Monday night.

Rasmus Andersson, Jonathan Huberdeau, Yan Kuznetsov and Mikael Backlund, into an empty net, also scored for Calgary (12-15-4). The Flames improved to 7-2-1 in their last 10 games.

Tage Thompson, Owen Power, Rasmus Dahlin and Alex Tuch scored for the Sabres (11-14-4). Buffalo has been outscored 16-7 while going 0-3 to begin a six-game trip.

Dustin Wolf made 25 saves to win his third straight start after watching backup Devin Cooley start three consecutive games. Wolf improved to 9-12-2.

Sabres starter Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen, pulled by coach Lindy Ruff after giving up five goals on 22 shots through two periods, took the loss to fall to 4-5-1. Alex Lyon made four stops in relief.

Twice in a furious final seven minutes of the second period, the Sabres pulled within one only for the Flames to answer less than a minute later. Power’s goal at 13:43 made it 3-2, but Kadri scored 31 seconds later. Dahlin’s goal made it 4-3 at 16:32, then Kuznetsov scored 55 seconds later.

Thompson trimmed Buffalo’s deficit to 2-1 at 4:24 of the second. But that momentum was short-lived as consecutive penalties to Beck Malenstyn and Jordan Greenway resulted in a brief two-man advantage, leading to Huberdeau’s power-play goal at 7:05 that restored Calgary’s two-goal cushion.

Calgary has won four straight at the Scotiabank Saddledome and is 5-0-1 in its last six home games.

Despite being the NHL’s lowest-scoring team, averaging 2.48 goals per game, the Flames have scored six or more twice this season — both against the Sabres. Calgary won 6-2 in Buffalo on Nov. 19.

Sabres center Josh Norris had two assists, giving him points in all four games (two goals, five assists) since returning from an upper-body injury that sidelined him to start the season.

Sabres: Visit the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.

Flames: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night to wrap up a four-game homestand.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL