Calgary Flames season 21/22

[thegx.ca]

Man...up 2-0 and playing good defensive coverage up to then, not sure what the **** happened for Calgary to start missing defensive zone coverage assignments for the rest of the game...the empty net goal was very disappointing too because I've always noticed that Calgary, not only with Sutter but seems over last 20 years, they always pull goalie well before they establish offensive zone control - which frequently results in giving up easy empty net goals...just wish they'd take the time to establish control in the offensive zone first before pulling goalie, even if it means losing valuable minutes without the extra man it's useless if you give up empty net goals, and it's unlikely to get a goal without offensive zone control anyways so might as well establish that first before pulling goalie.

 

Very very disappointing loss...

[SaucyJack]

1 hour ago, Villella McMeans said:

up 2-0 and playing good defensive coverage up to then, not sure what the **** happened

I don’t know how much credit to give the Caps for beating the Pacific Division leaders on their ice.  
 

There’s what you said; then there’s the ugly fact that league scheduling, just to work at all since it is so complex to arrange, often pairs two combatants having had very different ‘rest times’ (in Caps advantage last night, but against them in Edmonton tonight)…

 

…then there was almost an extreme rarity last night:  a team scoring an empty-better bring taken to OT nonetheless.  After scoring with 40 seconds left, Calgary had a dangerous shot with maybe 15 seconds to go. (Echoes of Capitals 3rd period miseries from a season ago.)

 

Washington has made playoffs in Columbus or Detroit considerably less likely in the past week, but I’ll only be truly impressed with a win over the Oilers tonight and thereby winning this 3-day 3-team round-robin Alberta Invitational  

[Brewin Flames]

Game # 57

 

Flames 4 Bolts 1

 

Gaudreau has hat trick in Flames' 4-1 win over Lightning

 

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By AP

Updated: 3 hours ago

 

CALGARY, Alberta -- — Johnny Gaudreau had his sixth career hat trick to extend his point streak to seven games and the Calgary Flames beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 Thursday night.

 

Mikael Backlund also scored for Calgary, which is 15-2-1 in its last 18 games. The Flames are 13-1-1 in their last 15 games at home. Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 shots to improve to 27-11-6 on the season.

 

“Those are momentum goals, all of them,” Flames coach Darryl Sutter said of Gaudreau’s first hat trick since March 12, 2019. “That’s what the top guys do in this league.”

 

Alex Killorn scored for Tampa Bay, which has lost consecutive games in regulation for the first time this season. Andrei Vasilevskiy had 28 saves.

 

“Teams go through tough stretches all the time. We’re going through a little bit of a bump right now,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. “We’ll correct it.

 

But it’s process over outcome at this point. Today was a start. That’s a good team over there and they capitalized on their chances. Sometimes you’ve got to give the other team credit, too.”

 

With the goaltenders taking turns making great save after great save, the game was a 1-1 approaching the final minute of the second period when the Flames scored twice to open a 3-1 lead.

 

With 1 minute to play, and reminiscent of his goal in the first period, Gaudreau corralled a loose puck to the side of the net and from below the goal line, banked a shot off the back of Vasilevskiy and in.

 

Calgary surged ahead 3-1 with 8 seconds left. Erik Gudbranson got the puck along the sideboards and snapped a hard low pass into the slot that Backlund neatly steered in. Gudbranson’s assist gave the 30-year-old defenseman a career-high 14 points.

 

Gaudreau then capped off his evening with 6:16 remaining in the third, taking a pass from Elias Lindholm and one-timing a shot past Vasilevskiy as fans threw hats raining onto the ice and broke into chants of “Johnny, Johnny.”

 

“It’s awesome. It’s a really cool feeling,” Gaudreau said. “It’s even cooler feeling when you’ve got all the fans chanting your name. It’s pretty special. I don’t take those for granted, it was a pretty cool moment.”

 

The 28-year-old left wing, in the final year of his contract, leads the team with 26 goals and 77 points. That puts him on a pace for 111 points, which would be a career-high. His best season was 99 points in 2018-19.

 

Thirteen of those points (six goals, seven assists) have come in these last seven games, a torrid stretch that has him up to fourth in league scoring behind Jonathan Huberdeau (82 points), Connor McDavid (81) and Leon Draisaitl (79).

 

The only puck to elude Markstrom was Killorn’s deflection with 4:20 left in the second that briefly tied it 1-1.

 

Other than that, Markstrom was outstanding.

 

In the first period, when Ross Colton got the puck alone in front after a Blake Coleman turnover, he was thwarted on his quick move from backhand to forehand as Markstrom jabbed out his pad.

 

In the second, Markstrom threw out his glove and stabbed a shot from Pierre-Edouard Bellemare.

 

“It’s always fun to play the teams that in the top and Tampa is a team that has been at the top for a long time, but you know, it still is two points. Nothing more, nothing less,” said Markstrom.

 

The only goal of the opening 40 minutes came on a power play 7:35 into the first period when Gaudreau collected a rebound of Tyler Toffoli's shot and banked it off Vasilevskiy and in. Toffoli’s assist gave him 12 points in 12 games.

 

“On that first power-play goal, (Vasilevskiy) was out of his net, he wasn’t on the post and I tried to bank it off his butt,” Gaudreau said. "The second one was just pure luck, I just threw it right back in front of the net and it went off his hip or something.”

[thegx.ca]

There's The Sutter Boys we all know and love playing good Sutter defence

[thegx.ca]

League leading 9th shutout for Markstrom should put him in lead for Vezina

[Brewin Flames]

Game # 58

 

Flames 3 Wings 0

 

Markstrom gets ninth shutout, Flames beat Detroit 3-0

 

 

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By AP

Updated: 3 hours ago

 

CALGARY, Alberta -- — Jacob Markstrom made 19 saves for his league-leading ninth shutout and Elias Lindholm scored his career-high 30th goal to lead the Calgary Flames to a 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.

 

Tyler Toffoli and Blake Coleman also scored for Calgary (36-15-7), which entered the game in first place in the Pacific Division, five points up on the Los Angeles Kings with two games in hand.

 

Markstrom made 14 saves in the third period as the Flames improved to 16-2-1 in their last 19 games. He acknowledged that the long periods of inactivity at times made it difficult.

 

“Definitely more mentally draining than physically, obviously,” said Markstrom, whose nine shutouts are one shy of the franchise record of 10 held by Miikka Kiprusoff.

 

“If you look at the games, most games may not look like this, but similar, so it’s definitely a team stat,” said Markstrom, who is 28-11-6. “Just try to tell the guys to keep going and keep playing this way. It’s fun to be goalie for this team.”

 

Detroit (24-28-7) is winless in its last five (0-4-1).

 

“I think we had too many guys that had no jump at all,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “We had guys that didn’t probably battle hard enough at times, so we just defended and played in our end and they got chances and shots and just couldn’t get any jump going at all.”

 

Thomas Greiss, who was under siege most of the night, finished with 40 stops. He is 8-10-1.

 

The Flames opened the scoring at 9:22 on the power play when Lindholm wove through the neutral zone and into the Red Wings end before cutting to the middle of the ice and ripping a wrist shot into the top corner.

 

Lindholm, who is having a career season offensively with 62 points in 58 games, is on an eight-game point streak with 13 points (seven goals, six assists) over that span.

 

“It’s always nice to get to 30," Lindholm said. “I’ve been close a couple of times, but haven’t been able to get there. So it’s always nice to finally break it.”

Thanks to outstanding goaltending from Greiss, the game remained 1-0 into the third period when Calgary made it 2-for-2 on the man advantage at 8:25 with Matthew Tkachuk setting up Toffoli at the side of the net with a cross-crease pass.

 

Toffoli has eight goals and 13 points in 13 games since being acquired from the Montreal Canadiens on Valentine's Day.

 

Calgary put the game away at 15:38 when Coleman buried a cross-ice set-up from Chris Tanev.

 

Missing forwards Robby Fabbri and Tyler Bertuzzi, the Red Wings were down two of their top-four goal scorers. The 41 combined goals from Bertuzzi (24) and Fabbri (17) account for nearly a quarter of the team’s 167 goals.

 

Fabbri suffered a season-ending knee injury on Thursday night against Minnesota. Bertuzzi, who is not vaccinated against COVID-19, is unable to cross the border into Canada, so did not accompany the team for this three-game road trip that also includes stops in Edmonton and Vancouver.

 

That missing offensive punch was evident throughout the first 40 minutes as Detroit struggled to generate any offensive pressure at all. It took until 16:51 of the second period on the Red Wings’ fifth shot — a chance for Givani Smith at the side of the net — to finally register a shot inside 40 feet.

 

Game notes

Detroit defenseman Marc Staal played in his 1,000th career game. Marc, Eric (1,293) and Jordan (1,070) became the first trio of brothers to all play 1,000 games. ...

 

Referee Dean Morton worked his final game before retiring. It comes in the building in which, as a Red Wings defenseman, he played his only NHL game and scored a goal on Oct. 5, 1989.

[thegx.ca]

What a depressing loss getting shutout...of all the possibilities I didn't think that would happen...

[Brewin Flames]

Game # 59

 

Flames 0 Avs 3

 

Kuemper, MacKinnon lead Avalanche to 3-0 win over Flames

 

---

By AP

6 hours ago

 

DENVER -- — Darcy Kuemper had his own player screening his vision and was still able to lift his stick just enough to deflect a shot down low.

It was just that kind of night for the Colorado Avalanche goaltender.

 

Kuemper stopped a career-best 46 shots in his fourth shutout of the season, Nathan MacKinnon scored twice and the Avalanche beat the Calgary Flames 3-0 on Sunday.

 

“I liked his game a lot,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said of Kuemper. “He was sharp from start to finish.”

 

That's a stark contrast to last weekend against the Flames when Kuemper wasn't sharp and pulled early in the second period as Calgary claimed a 4-3 overtime win.

 

“Definitely a different outcome, for sure,” Kuemper cracked. “Winning’s a lot more fun, for sure. It was a big win for us.”

 

MacKinnon scored on a power play in the first period and added another goal in the third. Mikko Rantanen sealed it on an empty-net tally with 1:38 remaining to help the Avalanche post their best record through 60 games in franchise history (42-13-5, 89 points).

 

Dan Vladar made 29 saves in a match between the top two teams in the Western Conference.

 

The Flames were playing the second game of a back-to-back, but hardly looked sluggish and controlled the tempo early in the game. They also had double the shots of Colorado in the third period.

 

“It was a hard-fought game,” Flames coach Darryl Sutter said. “No issues with our game at all.”

 

Kuemper came up with timely save after timely save Sunday, including a blind block with his stick in the third as teammate Kurtis MacDermid fell into him.

Even Kuemper's not quite sure how he stopped that.

 

“I felt something — I don’t know if it was ‘Dermi’ hitting me or the puck,” said Kuemper, who earned his career-best 28th win of the season. “I was just trying to sprawl out and get over there the best I could.”

 

The Flames stayed in the game during the second period thanks to Vladar. He stopped a wide-open shot by Erik Johnson by sliding over and deflecting the puck with his left pad.

 

About 15 seconds later, Andre Burakovsky dinged a shot off the post. And then, he faced a goaltender's nightmare: MacKinnon open in front of the net. But Vladar's arm blocked his shot.

 

Kuemper also came up big on a 2-on-1 break by the Flames.

 

MacKinnon scored his 20th goal of the season on a wrist shot that got by Vladar midway through the first period to give Colorado a 1-0 lead. The Avalanche thought they added another a few minutes later when Alex Newhook’s shot beat Vladar, clanging off one post and then the other.

 

Newhook even lifted his stick in celebration as the goal-horn sounded, but the official motioned to keep playing. Replays showed the puck never crossed the line.

 

The best save of the opening period was turned in by Colorado defenseman Devon Toews after a shot by Elias Lindholm trickled toward the net. Toews reached behind Kuemper and knocked it away.

 

“A disappointing loss,” Flames defenseman Christopher Tanev said. “Tight game, playoff-like game. Came down to a few little things that they did better than us to win the game.”

 

MISSING CAPTAIN

 

Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog is slated for knee surgery Monday. He has a team-most 30 goals this season.

“He’s a big part of us,” Rantanen said. “Obviously, when you lose your captain, other guys have to step up.”

[Brewin Flames]

2 hours ago, Villella McMeans said:

What a depressing loss getting shutout...of all the possibilities I didn't think that would happen...

 

 

Meh, Flames played a very solid game, just had no luck on the scoreboard...avs were locked in.

[thegx.ca]

10 hours ago, Brewin Flames said:

 

 

Meh, Flames played a very solid game, just had no luck on the scoreboard...avs were locked in.

...I think it was more Vladar playing solid that kept them in the game than Calgary playing solid as a whole, Calgary wasn't horrible of course but they gave up too many chances and if it wasn't for Vladar game would have been out of reach earlier - Calgary had no luck of course like you said and Kemper had all the luck in net for Colorado.

 

Another thing I always notice in today's NHL compared to the 80s and 90s is always pulling the goalie whether before face offs or just whether the team has possession such as possession deep in the defensive zone - I'll never understand it, yeah you want the tying goal, but you equally don't want to give up anyone goals too, I don't see why they can't spare the few more second to see if you can control the offensive zone first with possession before pulling goalie...like if on power play of course you want to set up and control the play and only then when you control the play in offensive zone should the goalie be pulled...

[Brewin Flames]

Game # 60

 

Flames 6 Devils 3

 

Tkachuk, Dube lead Flames past Devils 6-3

 

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By AP

Updated: 3 hours ago

 

CALGARY, Alberta -- — Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and two assists, leading the Calgary Flames to a 6-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night.

 

Dillon Dube had the go-ahead goal and an assist, and Brett Ritchie, Andrew Mangiapane, Milan Lucic and Johnny Gaudreau also scored for the Flames, who have won three of four. Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves.

 

Calgary acquired Calle Jarnkrok from Seattle earlier in the day, intensifying the competition for playing time. And the Flames’ depth players stepped up with a big night — led by Dube — as each member of the fourth line scored.

 

“It’s competition, very clearly. He’s a player who can play anywhere in your top nine,” Flames coach Darryl Sutter said of Jarnkrok. “Other than one line, we’ve moved guys around all year because nobody’s grabbed onto it enough. It’s more competition. It’s not, ‘I’m up and jump over the boards.’ It’s about

performance.”

 

Dube, who snapped a nine-game skid without a goal, likes the potential payoff getting a player such as Jarnkrok.

 

“It makes our our lineup a lot deeper, so it only helps us,” Dube said. “The investment shows us what we put in is paying off, so it’s nice to add a really good player.”

 

Dawson Mercer, P.K. Subban and Yegor Sharangovich scored for the Devils, who have lost three of four.

 

Nico Daws allowed four goals on 19 shots before being replaced midway through the second period by Jon Gillies, who made 19 saves.

 

“I know a lot of those players over there and they’re top players in the NHL,” said Gillies, a 2012 Flames draft pick. “The unfortunate part of that is you can do a lot of good things, but when breakdowns happen they’re usually going to put it in the back of the net and that’s what happened.”

 

With the game tied at 2, the Flames scored three goals in a span of 3:29 in the second period.

 

Dube put the Flames up 3-2 at 7:04 on pass from Tkachuk. Then, Tkachuk got a goal of his own, chasing Daws.

 

Lucic made it 5-2 at 10:33 when he deflected Rasmus Andersson’s centering pass for his first goal in 24 games.

 

Sharangovich cut the Devils' deficit at 3:51 of the third when his shot went past Markstrom’s glove.

 

Gaudreau scored into an empty net with 2:30 left to seal it for the Flames.

 

Ritchie gave Calgary a 1-0 lead midway through the first period. It was his first goal of the season — and first point. It also came on a night when he was originally supposed to be a scratch for the fifth time in the last six games. But he was re-inserted into the lineup when rookie Adam Ruzicka was sent down to Stockton of the AHL.

 

Mercer tied it for New Jersey at 16:21, but Mangiapane put the Flames ahead again just over two minutes later with his 30th goal of the season.

Subban tied it for New Jersey 5:01 into the second period — before Calgary's scoring outburst.

[thegx.ca]

Another win, but Markstrom let in some weak goals tonight...first one especially...

[thegx.ca]

Like todays trade too for Lindholm cousin haha

[Brewin Flames]

Game # 61

 

Flames 0 Buff 1

 

Sabres capitalize on goalie gaffe, beat Flames 1-0 in OT

 

 

1:09

 

 

 

0:13

/

1:09

 

 

 

 

 

Tage Thompson makes a game-winning steal then scores to win it for the Sabres

After a 0-0 tie in regulation, Tage Thompson steals the puck from the goalie and flies past him to tally the game-winning OT goal for the Sabres.

---

By AP

3 hours ago

 

CALGARY, Alberta -- — Tage Thompson scored in overtime and Dustin Tokarski made 24 saves to lead the Buffalo Sabres over the Calgary Flames 1-0 on Friday night.

 

Buffalo (21-33-8) has split the first two games of its Western Canada road trip, which wraps up Sunday night in Vancouver.

 

It was a rare lost point on home ice for Calgary (37-16-8), which is 15-1-2 in its last 18 games at the Saddledome.

 

Tokarski got his second career shutout and first since 2013-14 with the Montreal Canadiens. He improved to 6-9-4.

 

Jacob Markstrom stopped 33 shots and fell to 29-11-7.

 

After playing a brilliant game, Markstrom made a critical mistake on the deciding goal. He charged out of the net to clear a puck that had been shot in off the sideboards, but in attempting to send it to safety, he whiffed on it and Thompson was right there to corral it and fire it into the empty net.

The 24 shots were a season low for the Pacific Division-leading Flames.

 

The save of the night and a contender for save of the season was a highlight-reel effort by Tokarski, who dove across the crease to take away what appeared to be a sure goal for Calle Jarnkrok after he was set up with an empty net by a perfect pass from Andrew Mangiapane.

 

Jarnkrok made his Flames debut after the 30-year-old Swede was acquired Wednesday from the Seattle Kraken for three draft picks. He centered a line with Mangiapane and Tyler Toffoli, acquired Feb. 14.

 

The two best chances of the third period went to Calgary.

 

Johnny Gaudreau spotted Chris Tanev sneaking in from the point and hit him with a diagonal pass, but Tokarski acrobatically got across to rob the defenseman.

 

With four minutes left in the third, Matthew Tkachuk sprung Gaudreau on a breakaway, but he shot over the net.

[Brewin Flames]

UuuuGH !

 

Lousy way to lose a game....

[thegx.ca]

13 hours ago, Brewin Flames said:

UuuuGH !

 

Lousy way to lose a game....

Totally...was thinking Markstrom would get a shutout...he'll bounce back next game though...

[Brewin Flames]

Game # 62

 

Flames 5 Van 2

 

Tkachuk, Andersson lead Flames to 5-2 win over Canucks

 

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By AP

Updated: 2 hours ago

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- — Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and two assists, Rasmus Andersson had a goal and an assist and the Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 Saturday night.

 

Noah Hanifin, Elias Lindholm and Johnny Gaudreau also scored for the Flames. Dan Vladar had 23 saves to help the Flames bounce back from a 1-0 loss in overtime at home to Buffalo on Friday night.

 

The Flames also got a measure of revenge after losing 7-1 in their last trip to Vancouver on Feb. 24.

 

“I thought we pretty much got embarrassed that night and this is our last game of the regular season here in this rink so we had one more crack at it to get them back,” Tkachuk said.

 

Matthew Highmore and Brock Boeser scored for Vancouver. Thatcher Demko stopped 25 of 29 shots through two periods, and Jaroslav Halak had 14 saves in the third in his first appearance since Feb. 28.

 

The Flames outshot Vancouver 44-25 to improve to 7-4-1 in the second half of back-to-backs this season.

 

“I don’t know if it’s a statement game or not but I know that obviously we talked about what happened last time we were in here and the small picture, we all wanted to start the game really good and that’s what we did,.” Andersson said.

 

“We just focused on ourselves and we did what we could and we ended up playing a good game.”

 

Calgary was dominant from the start, building a 3-0 lead in the first period, and pushing it to 4-0 in the second.

 

Calgary increased its lead to 5-0 with a power-play goal 6:28 into the third after Boeser was called for high-sticking on Gaudreau. With 30 seconds left in the man advantage, Gaudreau got a cross-ice pass from Tkachuk and fired it past Halak for his 28th goal of the season.

 

The Canucks got on the board at 7:37, with Highmore deflecting in a long shot from Juho Lammikko to make it 5-1.

 

Vancouver got a solid opportunity late in the game when Erik Gudbranson was called for tripping Tyler Motte as he dashed to the Calgary net with less than three minutes left on the game clock.

 

The Canucks were quick to respond, with Boeser muscling a rebound into the net from inside the crease just 8 seconds into the power play. Boeser’s 18th goal of the season cut Vancouver’s deficit to 5-2.

 

Both the Flames and the Canucks went 1 for 2 on the power play.

 

“We’ve been fighting for our lives for 3 1/2 months and now to all of the sudden make it easy for the opposition, whether it’s Detroit, whoever, whoever’s come out, Washington in the first period, and really taken it to us, that’s self readiness,” Vancouver coach Bruce Boudreau said. “I don’t have an answer. I’d love to be sitting here and say I’ve got the answer but I don’t have the answer right now.”

 

Hanifin opened the scoring 4:45 into the game, getting a long pass from new teammate Calle Jarnkrok and snapping a wrist shot past Demko stick side. Jarnkrok, acquired from Seattle on Wednesday, earned his first point for Calgary.

 

Tkachuk stretched the lead at 7:46, sweeping a shot toward the Vancouver net from the hash marks and finding space between Demko and the right post. The goal was Tkachuk’s 29th of the season.

 

Andersson made it 3-0 as he fired a shot off the post and in with 6:09 left in the first for the defenseman’s 100th NHL point (15 goals, 85 assists).

“It was obviously a great play by (Tkachuk) here and so it’s nice to get a goal too, felt like that was long time ago,” Andersson said. “So it was nice to get that point.”

 

The Canucks came into the second with renewed energy and had a 5-0 advantage on shots over the first three minutes. However, the Flames added to their lead on their first opportunity of the period.

 

Tyler Toffoli picked off defenseman Tyler Myers at the blue line and passed the puck to Lindholm from his knees. The center cruised past a pair of stationary Canucks and put a snap shot past Demko for his 31st at 4:29.

“Obviously we wanted to come out hard in the second period,” Canucks captain Bo Horvat said. “Maybe if those go in it’s a different story but when you’re down 3-0 going into the second, especially against a team like that, it’s hard to come back.”

 

 

 

Edited March 20, 2022 by Brewin Flames

[Brewin Flames]

Ya dude....much better result this time, plus i fu#*ing hate the nucks....so, there's that.

[thegx.ca]

Calgary dominated entire game not just first period, I like the new lines too especially on the road where we don't have last change, maybe the lines will go back to normal for home games - I'm really interested to see Lindholm and Jarnkrok play on same like one day, maybe try them on a power play line or on penalty kill.

[Brewin Flames]

Game # 63

 

Flames 3  SJS 4

 

Couture, Barabanov goals rally Sharks past Flames 4-3

 

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By AP

Updated: 4 hours ago

 

CALGARY, Alberta -- — Logan Couture and Alexander Barabanov scored in a 28-second span in the third period, rallying the San Jose Sharks to a 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night.

 

“Coming into this building after a trade deadline, having guys injured and out of the lineup, I thought it was a great team effort,” San Jose head coach Bob Boughner said.

 

It’s the third time this season the Sharks beat the Flames, the top team in the Pacific Division. All three wins have been in regulation.

“They’re a very good hockey team and we’ve played them hard now three times this year,” Couture said. “Sometimes the best teams in the league bring the best out of us. It’s a good attribute to have.”

 

Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Timo Meier also scored for San Jose (28-27-8).

 

Johnny Gaudreau, Dillon Dube, and Mikael Backlund scored for Calgary (38-17-8), which lost at home in regulation for just the second time in 19 games (15-2-2). Matthew Tkachuk had a pair of assists.

 

It’s also the first time this season the Flames lost in regulation after heading into the third period with a lead (31-1-2).

 

“We’re up 3-2 going into the third, at home, that’s a great spot to be in,” said Matthew Tkachuk, who had two assists. “We allow a wide open chance in front, somebody by himself and you can’t do that, you got to make sure that doesn’t happen. Then basically a 2-on-0 at the end, that’s a goal on any goalie in the league.”

 

After allowing a pair of early goals, Sharks goaltender James Reimer settled in, finishing with 28 stops. He improved to 17-13-6.

Calgary's Jacob Markstrom had 34 saves and fell to 29-12-7.

 

“That’s not good enough from me. That’s what happens when you don’t get goaltending in this league, you lose hockey games,” Markstrom said.

“He’s played well, obviously,” said Flames goaltending coach Jason LaBarbera, who addressed the media in place of head coach Darryl Sutter. “It’s a long season, there’s gonna be ups and downs, for sure. But you move past it and you get back to work tomorrow.”

 

Down 3-2 after 40 minutes, San Jose tied it 11:07 into the third when Tomas Hertl worked the puck out front where Barabanov was wide open and he snapped a shot inside the post for his 10th goal.

 

The go-ahead goal came on a defensive zone turnover. Blake Coleman’s pass attempt off the sideboards hit Sasha Chmelevski in the skate and caromed to Noah Gregor. Gregor’s shot was stopped, but Couture scored on the rebound.

 

With the goalie pulled, the Flames applied heavy pressure over the final minutes, but could not get the puck past Reimer.

 

The Flames took a 3-1 lead 4:08 into the second when Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson turned the puck over to Gaudreau. On the ensuing two-on-one, Gaudreau set up Backlund, who slipped the puck through Reimer’s pads with a backhand shot.

 

The Flames had a great chance to go up by three when Gaudreau was awarded a penalty shot at 14:59 of the second after being hooked from behind by Brent Burns. But Gaudreau was thwarted on a great glove stop by Reimer.

 

Less than three minutes later, the Sharks cut the deficit to one when Meier got the puck in the corner, spun, and whipped a shot from a sharp angle off Markstrom and in for his team-leading 27th goal.

 

Calgary got off to a fast start, striking 4:17 into the game on their first power play.

 

Tkachuk sent a diagonal pass from the left point to the right faceoff circle that Gaudreau stopped with his skate, kicked to his stick, and fired under the crossbar.

 

The Flames surged in front 2-0 at 8:16 when Dube beat Reimer from the slot. Tkachuk assisted.

 

San Jose got one back 14:54 into the game on an unassisted goal from Vlasic, who kept the puck in at the blue line and flung a wrist shot that appeared to catch Markstrom by surprise.

[thegx.ca]

Leading 2-0 then 3-1...only to lose 4-3...hard not to blame Markstrom...especially for the spearing penalty that seemed to be turning point...these losses especially to teams way behind us are unacceptable...

[Brewin Flames]

Game # 64

 

Flames 4 Yotes 2

 

Gaudreau's 3-point game leads Flames past Coyotes 4-2

 

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By AP

Updated: 3 hours ago

 

CALGARY, Alberta -- — Johnny Gaudreau scored his 30th goal and added two assists to lead the Calgary Flames to a 4-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Friday night.

 

Matthew Tkachuk also scored his 30th, and Elias Lindholm and Rasmus Andersson added goals for Calgary, which improved to 16-2-2 in its last 20 home games.

 

Lindholm, who often skates alongside Gaudreau and Tkachuk recorded his team-leading 32nd goal.

 

The line has been key to the Flames’ success this season, assistant coach Ryan Huska said.

 

“When we’ve needed a big goal, they’ve scored that goal. When there needs to be a big game, they’ve found a way to put together a big game for us,” Huska said. “The chemistry that those three guys have, it’s fun to watch, even for us behind the bench, to see some of the things that they’re able to do.”

 

After playing together all season, the Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk trio was broken up a week ago in an attempt to spread out the offence and it remained that way Friday.

 

Michael Carcone and Vladislav Kolyachonok scored their first NHL goals for Arizona, which lost its fourth straight.

 

“It was a special moment. You dream about that as a kid, and when it finally happens it’s pretty surreal,” said Carcone.

 

It was Carcone’s fourth NHL game after playing six seasons in the AHL.

 

“It’s been an adventure. It keeps you on your toes and keeps you wanting it,” said the 25-year-old left winger. “I’ve enjoyed the experience, and still enjoying the experience, and I’m going to continue to enjoy the experience.”

 

Jacob Markstrom made 16 stops in the win and improved to 30-12-7, becoming the first Flames goalie to win 30 games in a season since Miikka Kiprusoff won 35 games in 2011-12.

 

Karel Vejmelka had 29 saves for the Coyotes and fell to 10-25-1.

 

Tkachuk, Gaudreau, Lindholm (32), and Mangiapane (30) gives the Flames four 30-goal scorers for the first time since 1993-94, when Gary Roberts (41), Theoren Fleury (40), Robert Reichel (40), and Joe Nieuwendyk (36) accomplished the feat.

 

“Up and down our lineup, we’ve got a lot of smart players on our team this year. It’s been a lot of fun to be a part of and to watch,” Gaudreau said.

After a lackluster opening 20 minutes, the Flames scored three goals in an eight-minute span to begin the second period.

 

Thirty-three seconds in, Tkachuk was left uncovered at the side of the net and one-timed a centering pass from Gaudreau.

 

Three minutes later, Arizona took its first penalty of the game and it took 15 seconds for the league’s third-worst penalty kill to surrender a goal.

 

A quick tick-tack-toe passing sequence that started with Gaudreau to Tkachuk was finished off neatly by Lindholm at 3:35. Tkachuk’s two-point night gives him a career-high 78 points.

 

Gaudreau made it 3-0 at 8:14, sprung on a two-man break by Nikita Zadorov’s pass. Gaudreau decided to not to pass across to Blake Coleman, instead whipping a shot into the top corner.

 

It was the 200th goal of Gaudreau’s career and he became the sixth member of the NHL’s 2011 draft class to reach the milestone. Gaudreau was selected in the fourth round by Calgary, 104th overall.

 

“You see an elite player this year, a guy that can change the game on his own,” Huska said, adding that the American is also making a bigger impact off the ice. “You also notice a little difference in him in regards to leadership around our room. So I think he’s maybe matured a little bit now. Maybe it’s married life, I don’t know what it is, but he’s been good for us.”

 

The Coyotes got one back with 12 seconds left in the period when Carcone stole the puck at the faceoff dot and fired a shot over Markstrom’s glove.

 

Calgary restored its three-goal lead on the power play 5:21 into the third when Andersson collected the puck in the neutral zone, carried the puck into the Coyotes end and scored on a deke to his backhand as he lost his balance and slid heavily into the end boards.

 

Arizona got back to within two when Kolyachonok one-timed Nick Schmaltz’s setup over Markstrom’s shoulder at 18:07.

 

Calgary finished 2 for 4 on the power play. Arizona went 0 for 3. The Flames, who have the NHL’s top-ranked penalty kill at home, are a perfect 24 for 24 over their last eight games and have allowed five power-play goals at home this season on 86 chances.

[thegx.ca]

Easy win tonight against useless Arizona...not sure if sitting Monahan is good unless he's hurt kinda bad for morale...we'd better kill those oily olives for Saturday night Hockey Night in Canada

[Brewin Flames]

Game # 65

 

Flames 9 EDM 5

 

Flames beat Oilers 9-5 despite Draisaitl's hat trick

 

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By AP

Updated: 14 minutes ago

 

CALGARY, Alberta -- — Matthew Tkachuk had two goals and two assists, Johnny Gaudreau set a career high with five assists and the Calgary Flames beat the Edmonton Oilers 9-5 in a wild game Saturday night.

 

Leon Draisaitl had a hat trick to pace Edmonton (36-25-5), tying Toronto's Auston Matthews for the NHL lead with 47 goals. Derick Brassard and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored for the Oilers.

 

Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund each scored twice for Calgary (40-17-8). Chris Tanev, Oliver Kylington and Dillon Dube added a goal apiece.

 

Tkachuk has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in the last four games, while Gaudreau also has 11 points in that same span (three goals, eight assists).

 

“The big line was the difference,” Flames coach Darryl Sutter said. “They had a good night and they’ve been good at 5-on-5 all year. There’s something to be said about the difference between goals for and goals against when you’re on the ice.”

 

Jacob Markstrom made 26 saves for the Flames and improved to 31-12-7.

 

Mike Smith, in relief of Mikko Koskinen, stopped 22 of the 26 shots he faced. Koskinen allowed five goals on 12 shots.

 

“It’s not on our goalies. It’s on us,” said Draisaitl, who was minus-4 despite the three goals and an assist. "It’s an off night. Not good enough, obviously. Starts with me. I have to be a lot better.”

 

Connor McDavid also was minus-4, a career worst.

 

The provincial rivals ended up splitting their four-game season series.

 

“That was a lot of fun,” Gaudreau said. “I’ve been here for a long time and this is the most competitive the Battle of Alberta has been since I’ve been here.”

In front of a raucous crowd of 19,289, Calgary’s first sellout since February 21, 2020, against Boston, the game was a thriller from start to finish with the goals coming seemingly non-stop.

 

In the third period, Flames fans chanted “We want 10!” and rose to their feet as the final horn approached.

 

“Pretty cool when you got a standing ovation with a minute or two to play,” Tkachuk acknowledged.

 

With the score tied 4-all early in the second period, the Flames took their third and final lead on a pair of goals less than three minutes apart from Tkachuk.

At 5:06, Gaudreau muscled his way past Evan Bouchard to retrieve a loose puck, then spun and sent a pass into the slot to a wide-open Tkachuk, who sent a shot through Koskinen’s pads. That ended the night for Koskinen.

 

 

It didn’t start off any better for Smith, who was beaten between the pads by Tkachuk at 7:39 when an Oilers turnover in their own end allowed Gaudreau to find Tkachuk in behind the defense.

 

“He plays a complete game. It’s not about goals and assists always,” Sutter said about Gaudreau. “You’ve got to play the whole game. He’s our best checker. I’ve said that lots.”

 

Brandishing a dangerous power play, the Oilers roared back again, making it 6-5 when they converted a two-man advantage they got when Erik Gudbranson was sent off for high-sticking three seconds into Andrew Mangiapane's penalty.

 

Draisaitl’s third of the game at 9:18 of the second and 47th of the season brought about 50 hats onto the ice from the boisterous Oilers supporters scattered throughout the red-clad crowd.

 

Early in the third, Markstrom robbed Evander Kane after he was set up in front on a great passing sequence with McDavid and Jesse Puljujarvi that would have tied it. Calgary then pushed the puck up ice, with Gaudreau setting up Lindholm for his second of the night to make it 7-5.

 

“I told Marky after the game, that’s the difference,” Sutter said. “There’s lots of goalies where the coaches yank them, or the goalie doesn’t play very good after that. Difference in a lot of teams are big saves and bad goals.”

 

The Flames added an insurance goal just more than three minutes later when Backlund notched his second, whipping a shot inside the post.

Edmonton scored 32 seconds into the game when Brassard deflected Bouchard’s point shot past Markstrom, but the Oilers’ only lead lasted less than five minutes.

 

Lindholm was sent in alone on a pass from Tkachuk and he went to his backhand, putting a shot under the crossbar.

 

The Flames then surged in front on goals 16 seconds apart.

 

“We’ve spent the last five weeks or so trying to improve certain areas of our game, and I thought we got away from it tonight and we paid the price,” said Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft, who is 13-7-2 since taking over for Dave Tippett. “That stings. It’s nine even-strength goals against. Not good enough.”

[Brewin Flames]

Just a crazy game...but a win is a win.