Flames Fall To Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS — The effort was there, but the Flames were foiled by Ilya Samsonov Sunday.

The Vegas netminder stopped all 31 shots he faced as the host Golden Knights took home a 3-0 victory at T-Mobile Arena.

The goaltenders were the story of period one, especially Dan Vladar, who was fantastic in turning aside all 15 shots he faced over a 20-minute session that at times, bordered on the frantic.

He finished with 34 saves in the tilt.

His best stop came just after the six-minute mark following turnover in the Flames zone, the puck was zipped into the low slot to a wide-open Mark Stone.

The Golden Knights captain deked, seemingly had Vladar at his mercy, and had a yawning cage into which to deliver the disc, but the Calgary keeper flashed out his blocker hand at the last minute and batted the puck away with his right arm.

He was busy on a mid-period penalty-kill, too, making a point-blank, right pad save off Tomas Hertl before denying former Flame Noah Hanifin with his left pad seconds later.

But Calgary pressured at the other end, especially late in the period when Vegas went down two men. The Flames enjoyed plenty of zone time and forced Samsonov into several saves, notably off a Nazem Kadri one-timer from the low left circle that Samsonov had to kick out quickly with his left pad.

Kadri and Matt Coronato had a game-high three shots each in period one, the latter coming close to scoring on a 2-on-1 rush, forcing not one, but two saves out of Samsonov with just over nine minutes left on the clock.

The Flames had 50 seconds of PP time to start the middle period, but once back to evens Vladar went back to work stopping pucks, including one off a cheeky, sharp-angled attempt from the goal-line by Cole Schwindt.

Calgary put nine shots on Samsonov in the second, with Coronato helping generate many of the better-quality chances.

On the powerplay, he worked his way off the goal line and drove the net hard, trying to jam the puck through Samsonov, but the Golden Knights goalie was equal to the task.

He helped orchestrate another net drive later in the period, too, that nearly produced points for linemates Blake Coleman and Mikael Backlund.

Vegas opened the scoring with just over four minutes left in the frame when Brett Howden cashed in on a three-way passing play.

The Flames pressed for the equalizer in the third. Backlund was foiled on a partial break in the opening two minutes, then Kadri's one-timer from the left circle 4:30 in forced Samsonov into another save.

Connor Zary had the best chance of the period, after he was sprung in alone on a breakaway, but Samsonov stayed true to the shooter and turned him aside.

Victor Olofsson made it 2-0 on a powerplay with just over five minutes left, then Tanner Pearson salted the game away with a late empty-netter.

The Lineup:

FORWARDS

Jonathan Huberdeau - Nazem Kadri - Martin Pospisil
Blake Coleman - Mikael Backlund - Matt Coronato
Yegor Sharangovich - Connor Zary - Jakob Pelletier
Ryan Lomberg - Kevin Rooney - Andrei Kuzmenko

DEFENCE

Kevin Bahl - Rasmus Andersson
MacKenzie Weegar - Daniil Miromanov
Jake Bean - Brayden Pachal

GOALTENDERS

Dan Vladar (starter)
Dustin Wolf

They Said It:

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 31, VGK 37

Powerplay: CGY 0-4, VGK 1-4

Faceoffs: CGY 50.8%, VGK 49.2%

Blocked Shots: CGY 17, VGK 17

Hits: CGY 20, VGK 12

*5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 18, VGK 27

*5-on-5 High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 9, VGK 11

*Courtesy of NaturalStatTrick

Up Next:

The Flames are back on Scotiabank Saddledome ice for their final game of 2024 Tuesday night, when the Canucks come to town for a New Year's Eve tilt at 7 p.m. CLICK FOR TICKETS TO THE GAME/CLICK FOR TICKETS TO THE NYE PARTY