Tough Third

PITTSBURGH – It was all setting up for a storybook ending.

The kind most could only dream of.

Matt Coronato had sniped his first-career goal, breaking the goose-egg and putting the Flames out front late in the second period of a game they outshot, outchanced and largely outplayed their opponents.

Until ...

They didn't.

The Penguins came out the gates red-hot to open the third, and quickly equalized when Bryan Rust stuffed home a loose puck at the side of the net only 18 seconds into the stanza. Then, disaster struck when Reilly Smith rifled a shot over the shoulder of Jacob Markstrom only 23 seconds later to give the Penguins their first lead.

And they weren't done yet.

Jake Guentzel then polished off a one-timer on a setup from Kris Letang at 5:50, and Evgeni Malkin rounded out the offence about 10 minutes later, cutting to the net and burying a chip shot over the shoulder, capping a four-goal blitz that turned the game on its head.

Jonathan Huberdeau pulled the Flames within two with 3:55 to play - Guentzel lending a hand by inadvertently kicking the puck into his own net off Huberdeau's goal-mouth pass attempt - but it wasn't enough. Rust added his second of the night into the empty net with 21.9 seconds left to ice it.

5-2, final.

Markstrom - who was brilliant early in the contest - made 25 stops on the night. At the other end, Alex Nedeljkovic turned aside 34 of the 36 shots he faced.

"It was tough puck management to start with, for sure," said Head Coach Ryan Huska. "The hard part is we had a good first two periods, when you look at it. We played a good, solid road game to start with and then we let momentum get away from us. A few faceoff reads that were not there for us tonight.

“I think you have to recognize the work ethic was there, for the most part. It was much improved from our game against Winnipeg, for sure. But if you want to take the next step, it's those small details in the game that are often the difference, and they sure were tonight.”

With the loss, the Flames fall to 1-1-0 on the year and will continue their season-long, five-game road swing on Monday in Washington.

Flames defenceman Noah Hanifin played in his 600th career game in this one, becoming the 10th-youngest defenceman in NHL history to accomplish the feat.

Read more on the impressive milestone here.

Unlike on Wednesday, when early penalties allowed the Jets to build momentum and dictate the pace, the Flames were on their toes early in this one, establishing a quick, 6-1 shot advantage on the shot clock.

Their best chance came off the stick of A.J. Greer, who intercepted a pass at his own blueline and sped off on a partial 2-on-1. While he was ultimately caught from behind at the last second, Greer managed to fend off the check long enough to steer a weak shot, before the rebound skittered to safety behind the trailing attackers.

The homeside roared to life around the midway point of the period when Nikita Zadorov tripped up Malkin, nullifying a scoring chance and putting their vaunted powerplay to work.

Markstrom, though, had other ideas.

The Flames’ No.-1 puck-stopper came up with a series of incredible stops and Malkin – who had a four-point game on Friday in Washington – was right in the thick of the action.

The Pens’ top unit peppered the net and after Malkin – then, Crosby and others – got a couple of whacks at a loose puck in tight, a prone Markstrom was able to locate the puck in a sea of humanity and swipe it off the goal line to preserve the deadlock.

Malkin then rang a shot off the iron as the parade to the penalty box continued, but the Flames were able to settle the game down and head into the first intermission with a 15-10 lead on the shot clock, and 1:02 left on their first man-advantage of the evening.

Near the seven-minute mark of the second, Dillon Dube came oh-so close to nabbing his first of the young season, but his short-side try rang off the iron and sailed out of play.

The Flames were far and away the better team through 40 minutes at even strength. Coronato's goal put them in front with 1:38 to play, and after keeping the Penguins' top gunners at bay for much of the night, a 1-0 lead heading into the third is generally a good spot to be in.

“We can't let up against a team like that," Huberdeau said. "A couple mental mistakes we had in the third and they took advantage of that. I thought, overall, the work ethic was great tonight. We worked hard. But some mistakes turned the puck into our net."

While the result was not what Flames fans were hoping for, Coronato's first was a real beauty. Take a look:

The Lineup:

Forwards:

Jonathan Huberdeau - Elias Lindholm - Andrew Mangiapane
Adam Ruzicka - Nazem Kadri - Dillon Dube
Blake Coleman - Mikael Backlund - Matt Coronato
A.J. Greer - Yegor Sharangovich - Walker Duehr

Defence:

Noah Hanifin - Rasmus Andersson
Nikita Zadorov - MacKenzie Weegar
Dennis Gilbert - Chris Tanev

Goaltenders:

Jacob Markstrom - Starter
Dan Vladar

Scratches:

Dryden Hunt, Jordan Oesterle

They Said It:

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 36, PIT 30

Powerplay: CGY 1-3, PIT 0-3

FO%: CGY 53.1, PIT 46.9%

Blocked Shots: CGY 5, PIT 24

Hits: CGY 10, PIT 15

Scoring Chances: CGY 35, PIT 19

High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 11, PIT 8

Up Next:

The Flames continue their five-game road trip on Monday when they head to Washington, D.C. to face Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals at 5 p.m. MT.