Oh So Close

The Flames' quest for seven-straight home wins came to an end in a 4-3 overtime loss to the visiting Blues Thursday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Colton Parayko scored with 2:35 to go in extra time, though it came with controversy.

Dan Vladar had stretched out his left pad to stop Robert Thomas and Parayko followed up by pushing the puck – and Vladar’s pad – into the net.

The goal was reviewed and after a lengthy wait, it was upheld.

MacKenzie Weegar scored the tying goal in the third period and also had two helpers, while Jakob Pelletier and Matt Coronato tallied as well.

It was Pelletier’s first goal of the year in his second game since being recalled from the AHL’s Wranglers.

Meanwhile, Coronato’s goal came on the powerplay, improving Calgary’s man-up execution to 10-for-31 since Nov. 15.

Vladar finished with 20 saves as Calgary outshot the visitors 39-24 on the night.

"I don’t think it’s going to affect us, because I believe we played a great 5-on-5 game tonight," said Weegar. "I don’t know what you guys thought about it, but I don’t think the puck goes in unless, you know, he pushes the pad. I thought it was pretty clear, that’s really all I’ve got to say about that.

"We move on, we got three out of four during our little homestand right now. Our big focus is getting on the road here, and getting some wins on the road."

Pelletier got a long shot on net early in the first which Jordan Binnington saved, but the juicy rebound ended up on the stick of Kevin Rooney – who was all alone – but he was denied on his shortside attempt.

After an unsuccessful powerplay, the Flames went on the PK just past the midway point of the frame and a. botched clearing attempt led to Zack Bolduc one-timing a shot from one knee in the slot just under the glove of Vladar at 12:49 with 20 seconds left on their advantage.

Yegor Sharangovich stripped Pierre-Olivier Joseph and fed it to Coronato who was left shaking his head after his point-blank shot was stopped.

Robert Thomas made it 2-0 for the visitors when he skated into the zone and put one high shortside off the post and in at 14:49.

But Calgary answered back 15 ticks after, Pelletier sweeping home the rebound of a Weegar shot with Scott Perunovich all over him, skating to the boards with an emphatic celebration.

"It was everything," said Pelletier. "You know, it’s been a tough year and a half. But it felt good, just to score a big goal, too, it was 2-0. To kind of find a big goal again, it felt pretty good, to be honest."

Connor Zary ended up all alone out front before the period ended going forehand/backhand but Binnington got his left pad on his shot.

Vladar was tested just 1:30 into the second, making a massive left-pad kick save on a cross-ice one-timer from Radek Faksa on a 3-on-2 Blues rush.

The Flames went to the powerplay 3:57 in when Brandon Saad tripped Martin Pospisil. Calgary had a handful of looks before Coronato showed off his accuracy with a wicked wrister shortside at 5:23.

The teams exchanged some more chances in the middle stanza, Vladar making another huge save on a cross-ice one-timer, this time with his right pad on Alexey Toropchenko.

The Blues went up 3-2 six minutes into the third – moments after a penalty had expired to Martin Pospisil. Pavel Buchnevich finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play on the backdoor to put it into the open cage.

Not long after, Kadri was sent off for a delay of game penalty after he put the puck over the glass but 28 seconds into it, Binnington was tagged for playing the puck outside the trapezoid.

Huberdeau won a battle behind the net and put the puck into the slot to an open Weegar who one-timed a bouncing puck low farside at 7:06.

As time wound down, Vladar made a stellar stop on Brayden Schenn in the final two minutes, followed by a lovely tip by Huberdeau of a Kadri pass that Binnington was able to gobble up.

The Flames outshot the Blues 15-4 in the third period.

It was a heckuva night for Weegar, who was left off the Canadian roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off, something the C of Red - and many other hockey fans across the country felt he should have been on.

"Obviously, you’re a bit bummed not to make the team, but at the same time, you’re pretty honoured to still be in the mix," he said. "There’s a bunch of defencemen that could be on that team, it’s a pretty stacked lineup. I’m proud to say that I was in the mix for that. I’m rooting for them of course, I’ll be watching."

The Lineup:

FORWARDS

Jonathan Huberdeau - Nazem Kadri - Martin Pospisil

Yegor Sharangovich - Mikael Backlund - Matt Coronato

Blake Coleman - Connor Zary - Walker Duehr

Jakob Pelletier - Kevin Rooney - Ryan Lomberg

DEFENCE

Kevin Bahl - Rasmus Andersson

MacKenzie Weegar - Daniil Miromanov

Jake Bean - Brayden Pachal

GOALTENDER

Dan Vladar (starter)

Dustin Wolf

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 39, STL 24

Powerplay: CGY 1-4, STL 1-3

Faceoffs: CGY 46.3%, STL 53.8%

Blocked Shots: CGY 10, STL 21

Hits: CGY 20 STL 16

Takeaways: CGY 7, STL 4

*5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 27, STL 19

*5-on-5 High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 11, STL 11

*Courtesy of Natural Stat Trick

Sing It, Lombo:

They Said It:

Up Next:

The Flames head out on the road for a two-game set in Dallas Sunday (6 p.m., Sportsnet) and Nashville Tuesday (6 p.m., Sportsnet West). They return home to start a five-game homestand before Christmas when they host Tampa Bay (7 p.m., Sportsnet One). Click for tickets