The Calgary Flames have won three straight since veteran Darryl Sutter took over as head coach.

They’ve also yet to trail in a game with Sutter back behind the bench.

Elias Lindholm, Dillon Dube and Andrew Mangiapane each had a goal and an assist on Monday night as the Flames (-125) beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3.

Calgary is now just five points back of the Oilers in the North Division standings with a game in hand.

Here is the Morning Coffee for Tuesday March 16, 2021.

Flames Extend Streak Under Sutter

NHL favourites went 7-2 on Monday night.

The Flames were among those winning favourites as they never trailed against Edmonton.

When Leon Draisaitl tied the game just over five minutes into the third period, Noah Hanifin responded with the game winner just 1:07 later to put Calgary ahead for good.

Jacob Markstrom made 28 saves in the win.

The veteran netminder is 3-0-0 with a 1.67 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage since Sutter took over.

A week ago, fantasy managers wanted to know how the hiring of Sutter would impact the Flames.

In addition to Markstrom’s excellent numbers, Lindholm, Mangiapane and Mikael Backlund each have three points in their past two games.

Meanwhile, Johnny Gaudreau is still looking for his first point under Sutter and is a minus-1 in three games.

Calgary will host the Oilers in the rematch on Wednesday before back-to-back games against the division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday and Saturday.

It will be very interesting to see how the Flames fare over that stretch with a bigger sample size to evaluate their start under Sutter.

On the flip side, Edmonton is in a bit of a strange spot.

The Oilers are 4-5 over their last nine games. However, they are 3-0 against the Ottawa Senators and 1-5 against all other opponents over that span.

After the rematch with Calgary on Wednesday, Edmonton’s next seven games will be against the other three North Division teams currently in a playoff position in Winnipeg, Montreal and Toronto.

Habs Beat Jets In Price’s 700th Game

Carey Price turned aside 34 of the 36 shots he faced as the Canadiens (-120) beat the Jets 4-2 on Monday night.

Price improved to 4-1-1 in the month of March. He’s allowed two goals or fewer in five of his six starts over that span.

Tyler Toffoli scored twice and is up to four goals and six points in five games versus Winnipeg this season.

Toffoli has 12 goals and 19 points in 12 games against the Jets and Vancouver Canucks combined. He has five goals and seven points in 16 games against Montreal’s other four North Division opponents. 

Demko Shut Door On Senators

On the topic of dominance against particular opponents, Thatcher Demko was outstanding again in a 3-2 overtime win against the Ottawa Senators.

Demko turned aside 44 of the 46 shots he faced in order to give J.T. Miller a chance to win it for the Canucks in overtime.

Demko improved to 3-0-0 with a 1.32 goals-against average and a .968 save percentage against the Senators this season.

Vancouver has won six of eight in March to improve to 14-16-2.

Demko is 6-1-0 with a 1.69 goals-against average and a .953 save percentage over that span.

The Canucks are still three points out of a playoff spot with four more games played than Montreal.

Still, if they can continue to ride the hot goaltending of Demko and finish the month strong, they could set up an interesting final stretch of the regular season.

NBA Favourites Sweep The Card

NBA favourites swept Monday night’s card with a 7-0 record straight up.

That group included each of the top three teams from the Pacific Division in the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, which all won and covered.

The Suns beat the Memphis Grizzlies 122-99 to remain a half game up on the Lakers after LeBron James and company beat the Golden State Warriors 129-97.

The Clippers are just 1.5 games back of Phoenix for first place following a 109-99 win over the Dallas Mavericks.

The battle for top spot in the Pacific will be one to keep an eye on down the stretch.

Just a few weeks ago, the Suns were 12-1 to win the division.

Now, Phoenix is +320 to win the Pacific with the Lakers still the favourite at +115 and the Clippers right behind them at +140.

You can catch an NBA doubleheader tonight on the network.

First up, the Western Conference-leading Utah Jazz (-4.5) visit the Boston Celtics.

Then it’s Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans clashing with Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers (-1.5).

The action begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on TSN1 and TSN4.