Flying High

M&M put on a show Monday night.

Newly-minted captain Mikael Backlund scored his first goal wearing the 'C' and highly-touted first-rounder Matt Coronato notched the game-winner, the pair clicking all night on a line together as the Flames rallied for a 5-4 victory at the Scotiabank Saddledome to improve to 4-1-1 in preseason action.

Coronato added a pair of assists, while Backlund had a helper.

Elias Lindholm, Adam Ruzicka and Dillon Dube also scored for Calgary, which iced a veteran-laden lineup that outshot the visitors 46-28.

Jacob Markstrom finished with 24 stops, while Connor Hellebuyck made 41.

Down 2-1 after the first period and then 3-1 at one point, the Flames scored three goals in 2:24 in the second to storm back but were knotted at four after two periods before Coronato struck in the final frame.

Prior to puckdrop, the Flames honoured Assistant GM Chris Snow who passed away Saturday with a moment of silence after asking fans to light up their phones.

You can read a touching tribute to Snow's legacy here.

The Flames had back-to-back powerplays early in the first but despite generating some good looks, couldn't beat Hellebuyck.

In a sign of things to come, the best chance came when Coronato's cross-ice pass attempt deflected toward the cage and right at the feet of Backlund on the doorstep, who got a couple cracks in the blue paint.

It was the visitors, though, who would open the scoring, Ville Heinola snapping a low shot past Markstrom at 6:01.

Later in the frame, Winnipeg made it 2-0 when Dominic Toninato flipped a fluttering puck from the slot up-and-over Markstrom's glove hand at 14:01.

Lindholm would step into a one-time clapper from the left faceoff dot with 12 ticks left in the opening frame off a perfect feed from Chris Tanev to halve the deficit after 20 minutes.

Despite controlling the second period right from puck drop, the Jets would restore their two-goal cushion at 5:29 when David Gustafsson scored.

But then the floodgates opened for the good guys.

Yegor Sharangovich took a few strides with the puck and fed Coronato down low in the Winnipeg zone, and he quickly passed to Ruzicka as he glided across the slot and tucked a backhand home at 11:57.

Then 64 seconds later, Nazem Kadri made an absolutely jaw-dropping, long-distance cross-ice feed to Jordan Oesterle who snuck in from the backside off the point. His shot was stopped by Hellebuyck, but Dube was right there to flip the rebound home.

Backlund then put Calgary ahead for the first time in the tilt 1:10 after that, Calgary winning the faceoff in the Jets zone and Coronato firing a puck that was saved but the captain was there to grab the biscuit and wrap it around Hellebuyck.

The lead didn't last long - a scant 25 seconds - before Gustafsson wired a wrister past Markstrom.

The Flames had a lengthy powerplay to start the third and they made good, with Cole Perfetti sitting in the box for a hooking minor that was called at 19:46 of the second.

Coronato took a pass from Backlund and showed the silky-smooth shot he's known for, snapping one high shortside at 1:23.

Dube appeared to add to the lead not long after as drove the net and then shovelled the puck home but the officials waived it off for goaltender interference.

The Lineups:

The trios, d-pairings and goalies to start the game:

FORWARDS

Jonathan Huberdeau - Elias Lindholm - Andrew Mangiapane

Adam Ruzicka - Nazem Kadri - Dillon Dube

Yegor Sharangovich - Mikael Backlund - Matt Coronato

Blake Coleman - Cole Schwindt - Dryden Hunt

DEFENCE

MacKenzie Weegar - Rasmus Andersson

Noah Hanifin - Chris Tanev

Nikita Zadorov - Jordan Oesterle

GOALTENDERS

Jacob Markstrom - starter

Dustin Wolf

They Said It:

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 46, WPG 28

Powerplay: CGY 1-4, WPG 0-2

FO%: CGY 59.4% WPG 40.6%

Blocked shots: CGY 14, WPG 19

Hits: CGY 13, WPG 15

Scoring chances: CGY 22, WPG 19

High-danger scoring chances: CGY 11, WPG 7

Stats from NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick

Up Next:

The Flames have a pair of tilts to finish off the preseason: Wednesday in Edmonton and Friday in Vancouver.