Flames claim a 5-3 win over the New Jersey Devils in another dogged win after trading away their top-line centre

The Calgary Flames are well aware what could happen between now and the March 8 trade deadline.

The Flames know where they are in the standings, too. Well aware more key veterans could be headed out the door, especially defencemen Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev, the Flames continue to show they will not wave the white flag.

Thanks to strong goaltending by Jacob Markstrom, another goal by Andrei Kuzmenko — giving him two in as many games since being traded to Calgary — and contributions from all four forward lines, the Flames claimed their gritty 5-3 win over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.

The Flames are riding a three-game winning streak and pulled within one point of the second Western Conference wild-card spot. (Yes, the Flames have payed a couple of games more than the St. Louis Blues, but the onus is on the Blues to earn points in those outings.)

Credit the Flames for rebounding from surrendering the first goal to stake a 3-1 lead. More importantly, they recovered both times the Devils made it a one-goal game, with Mikael Backlund, Connor Zary and Andrew Mangiapane also lighting the lamp.

Markstrom finished with 37 saves, 15 of them in the third period when the Devils were pushing.

More thoughts from the Flames before they continue their road trip against the New York Islanders Saturday (an 11 a.m. Mountain time start).

Kuzmenk-goal 2.0

After failing to score in his last 13 games with the Canucks before being traded to Calgary, Kuzmenko has tallied in consecutive games since joining the Flames. He made amends for a miscue that led to Nico Hischier’s short-handed goal by scoring the eventual game-winner.

“It’s not good. A terrible moment for me,” Kuzmenko told Sportsnet’s Ryan Leslie after the victory. “I want to score and come back for the team.”

It’s just a flesh wound

Speaking of Tanev, whether they want the Flames to add to their draft pick count/prospect pool or push for a playoff spot, hearts skipped a beat when he left for the dressing room … twice.

To no surprise, he returned to the ice within minutes.

With Tanev a talking point player in the rumour mill, being a pending unrestricted free agent, the thought of him being injured is made worse. To his credit, Tanev is notorious for recovering and it would be a shame for him to be healthy scratched while awaiting a trade.

So, just hope he can continue being the knight from Monty Python & The Holy Grail.

More Zary good times

Zary continues to make his case for being one of the league’s top rookies, having netted three goals and four points in four games and up to a dozen markers in his 41st game. With 26 points in 41 outings, he’s second only to Connor Bedard in points-per-game.

It's a shame his linemate and fellow rookie Martin Pospisil was robbed of a goal due to a whistle being blown for no reason, but the win makes that point moot.