Perseverance Pays Off

BUFFALO - Win the third ... Win the game.

The mission was that simple.

With this very situation presenting itself in each of the first two tries on their season-long, five-game road swing, the Flames could never get over the hump and deliver a victory in crunch time.

But on this night?

It was time to mash the pedal down and make amends.

The Flames struck twice in the front half of third, while Jonathan Huberdeau and Walker Duehr rounded out the offence with a pair of first-period markers in a 4-3 win on Thursday at KeyBank Center. Dan Vladar - who was making his first start of the season - made 24 stops.

Blake Coleman broke a 2-2 tie with his first of the season - a show-stopper, no less - only 1:52 into the final frame, polishing off an incredible feed from Matt Coronato after Buffalo native Dennis Gilbert helped orchestrate the breakout. In what quickly turned into a 4-on-2 for the Flames, Coronato found himself in a prime spot between the hashmarks, but dished off to Coleman at the far circle. No. 20 made no mistake, rifling it off the post and in to put the Flames in front.

"That's Little Dennis," Coleman laughed. "I read a newspaper clipping this morning that it's Buffalo's hometown kid. It's true, look it up! No, that's all him. He made a great play. He outmuscled a guy for the puck two, three times and stuck with it, led the rush and obviously a good pass from Matty. Wasn't much for me to do but get it on net."

On that note... Was Coleman surprised that an elite shooter like Coronato would dish off from such a prime scoring area?

"My shot vs. his... it's a REAL toss-up, so..."

The Sabres briefly equalized when JJ Peterka snapped one high over the blocker of Vladar, but the Flames put their work boots on and grabbed a 4-3 lead less than a minute-and-a-half later. Adam Ruzicka picked up his second in as many nights as he put the finishing touches on a workmanlike shift from Nazem Kadri and Dillon Dube.

"I thought we were resilient," Coleman said. "Every time we grabbed some momentum, they seemed to grab it back. Just stuck with it. I thought we were the better team 5-on-5. A few too many penalties, but kills and big saves from Vladdy kept us there. I think we've been building the right way and I think we deserved to finally get a road win."

With the win, the Flames improve to 2-1-1 on the year. They'll look to build on that record on Friday when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game 4 of the roadie.

"That was a good road game against for us," said Head Coach Ryan Huska. "I thought it was similar to how we played in Washington, which is a nice sign for us. We were able to keep it up and found a way to win. After they scored to even it up, scoring quickly after that the way we did, that was a big thing for our team, for sure."

The Flames got the quick start they were looking for, drawing first blood only 49 seconds into the contest. Andersson ripped a long shot from the right point that was knocked down in front, but – with Devon Levi slow to react – Huberdeau scampered to the loose puck and buried it off the goalie's skate for his second of the year.

In what was a carbon-copy of the Washington game, the Flames kept peppering the net and quickly built up a 5-0 lead on the shot clock – before the homeside abruptly awakened.

The visitors got caught running around in their defensive zone and after a prolonged shift with one too many turnovers, Erik Johnson sailed a long shot through traffic, beating Vladar over the shoulder at 6:06.

The Sabres then went to the powerplay immediately after, but the killers – led by Mikael Backlund and his effort to create a shorthanded breakaway – prevented any further damage.

With momentum (back) on their side, the Flames took a 2-1 lead at 10:15, on the strength of an dogged fourth-line shift.

Yegor Sharangovich was an absolute puck hound, flagging down a series of Buffalo clearing attempts before sending a backdoor feed to Duehr, who slipped home his first of the season through the five-hole.

But the Flames couldn’t stay out of the box and on Buffalo’s third powerplay of the period, they finally hit paydirt.

Tage Thompson – who scored a spellbinding 47 times last year – did what he does best, posting up at the left circle and leaning into a snapper, beating Vladar top shelf.

Shots on goal favoured the Flames 13-7 after one.

Vladar had to be sharp early in the second when a defensive breakdown allowed the Sabres to attack 3-on-2. Johnson – who hadn’t scored in 68 games entering the tilt – was now on the hunt for his second of the night, but his high offering was calmly swatted aside by Vladar.

The Flames wrestled the game back and really took over at 5-on-5 in the back half of the second, increasing their shot lead to 22-14 after 40 minutes. However, in a wild final minute of the stanza, the teams traded chances and either side could have taken the lead the lead into the third.

First, Casey Mittelstadt – who was left wide open in front – went between the legs and tried to roof a shot over the blocker, but Vladar came up with his best stop of the night, smothering the rebound and giving his mates a much-needed line change. Then, with 21.9 seconds on the clock, Backlund sprung Elias Lindholm on a breakaway, but Levi responded with a beautiful glove save to game the game knotted at two and set up a dramatic third period.

"You saw a lot of character from the guys," Huberdeau said. "I thought in Washington we worked hard and deserved better. Tonight... We didn't think negative. We stuck with it and that's a huge team win for us, and on a back-to-back, we've got to be ready for tomorrow."

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:

Dan Vladar - Starter
Jacob Markstrom

Scratches: Dryden Hunt, Jordan Oesterle

They Said It:

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 36, BUF 27

Powerplay: CGY 1-5, BUF 0-5

FO%: CGY 55.4% BUF 44.6%

Blocked Shots: CGY 12, BUF 12

Hits: CGY 11, BUF 19

Scoring Chances: CGY 19, BUF 15

High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 10, BUF 6

Up Next:

There’s no rest for the wicked, as they say. The Flames are right back at it on Friday at 5 p.m. MT as they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets in the fourth of this season-long, five-game road swing.