CALGARY — Mark Jankowski scored twice and Mike Smith stopped all 28 shots he faced as the Calgary Flames blanked the Arizona Coyotes 3-0 on Thursday night.
Smith picked up his second shutout of the season and 35th of his career. The 35-year-old was making his first start against his former team since being acquired by Calgary in a June trade.
Mikael Backlund also scored for Calgary (14-10-1). The Flames bounced back after opening their four-game homestand with a 4-1 loss to Toronto on Tuesday.
Scott Wedgewood made 41 saves for the Coyotes (6-18-4).
Jankowski opened the scoring 2:48 into the second by showing an elite set of hands.
Set up in front on a slick tic-tac-toe passing sequence with linemates Sam Bennett and Jaromir Jagr, Jankowski was stopped on his first try, but put his stick between his legs to zip the rebound over the glove of Wedgewood.
Calgary extended its lead to 2-0 at 10:19 of the third when Matthew Tkachuk neatly set up Backlund in front.
Jankowski added his second of the night and fifth of the season less than two minutes later. Right off a faceoff, he went to the net and scored on a nifty forehand-to-backhand deke.
Smith, who improved to 11-8-1, had his best stop halfway through the second period when he dove across the crease to thwart Christian Dvorak on a dangerous chance.
With Antti Raanta (upper body) sidelined, Wedgewood made his fourth straight start for the Coyotes and fell to 2-4-2.
Wedgewood kept the score 1-0 early in the third with a pair of stops off Johnny Gaudreau, who has been held off the scoresheet in three straight games.
The Flames penalty kill also continues to show a resurgence. After bottoming out at 31st in the league a couple weeks ago, they have killed of 15 of their last 16 chances including going 2-for-2 against Arizona.
Both teams are back in action on Saturday with Calgary hosting Edmonton and Arizona returning home to play the New Jersey Devils.
Notes: Tkachuk played in career game No. 100. The 19-year-old is the second-youngest player to get to 100 games in franchise history, behind only Dan Quinn… Jagr (lower body) returned after missing one game… Garnet Hathaway, just recalled from Stockton (AHL) got into his first game since the season-opener… Coyotes were without Niklas Hjalmarsson (upper body), who was injured Tuesday in Edmonton.