Snap, Krak and Pop!

That, right there, was straight cinema.

Say what you will about Acts 1 and 2. Yawn. It's the 'dénouement' that counts in this racket - and on this night, the Flames most definitely saved their best for last.

The visitors came out swinging in the third period, scoring twice in the opening four minutes and riding the wave all the way to a 6-3 win over the Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena.

After Noah Hanifin made it a 2-2 game late in the second period, Yegor Sharangovich put the Flames in front only 1:33 into the third, redirecting a Nikita Zadorov wrister at the near hash and one-hopping it past the glove of Philipp Grubauer.

Then, Mikael Backlund smacked home another only 2:27 later, polishing it off in the blue paint after A.J. Greer was turned aside on a breakaway, and Walker Duehr dug the puck free from the pile, to collect his first of the season.

Martin Pospisil opened the scoring for the Flames with his first-career goal, while Dan Vladar stopped 17 shots as the club snapped a six-game slide.

Jaden Schwartz made it a one-goal game late as the Kraken had the goalie pulled, but Backlund tallied his second of the night - a long-range bank-shot - into the empty cage, before Rasmus Andersson did the same with a 195-foot draw to the button to (officially) ice it shortly thereafter.

“I thought we went out in the third and took care of the game right away," Backlund said of the third, where the Flames out-shot the Kraken 12-7 (and 31-20 overall). "We dictated the third period and thought we played a very mature game. All night, I thought we played well and didn't give them any shots or chances. ... Overall, it was a really good game from us and a very mature third period.”

The Flames had to play with 11 forwards for the majority of the night after Andrew Mangiapane was given a match penalty for cross-checking at 9:45 of the first period.

In addition to Pospisil’s big-league debut, blueliner Nick DeSimone carved his first tracks of the season after being recalled from the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers on Friday, playing 12:27 on a pairing with Zadorov and recording his first NHL point - an assist on the Sharangovich marker.

“We've dropped a bunch in a row, so you don't necessarily want to think that it's that big of a game, but it's important for us because we played the right way," said Head Coach Ryan Huska. "I think we limited the scoring chances against and I thought there were a lot of guys that elevated their play tonight. A couple steps in the right direction. Now, we have to build on it."

Vladar had to be sharp early in the contest, as he made a pair of incredible stops to keep the game scoreless. First, he kicked out the right pad to rob Jordan Eberle – and after punching out the rebound to the left circle, he made a second, circus-like save with his right clavicle as he lunged across to thwart Alex Wennberg.

Moments later, Mangiapane was charged with the aforementioned major as he leaned on a prone Jared McCann in the offensive zone.

Oliver Bjorkstrand capitalized on the ensuing powerplay, rifling a shot upstairs to give the Kraken a 1-0 lead at 9:56.

To their credit, the Flames’ penalty kill – which came into the night ranked third with a 91.4% success rate – stepped up and muzzled the Kraken offence for the rest of the advantage, setting the table for yet another ‘first’ in the franchise record books.

On the first shot of his NHL career, Pospisil drove hard to the paint and buried a loose puck to even the score and give the Flames a first-time goal-scorer for the second straight game.

"I'm living the dream right now," Pospisil. "It's something I'll never forget, the first one. … It was great – especially when the team wins.”

Dillon Dube and Nazem Kadri picked up the helpers.

Here’s a fun piece of trivia: Can you name the last time a Flames player scored their first goal on their first NHL shot? Well, you’d have to go all the way back to… Well, Wednesday. But prior to Connor Zary’s electric first-period tally? It was Patrick Sieloff on April 9, 2016.

Seven years, six months and 27 days later, it has now happened in back-to-back games.

“Isn't that something?" Huska marvelled. "I wonder who's next?

"I was impressed. You like to see the speed that he has, you like to see the size that he has, and he's got a skill-set with him. And the one thing that we haven't seen from him, necessarily yet, is the edge. For his first game, we're happy for him. He was able to score and I thought he played really well."

Eeli Tolvanen put the Kraken back in front only 2:23 later, sharply converting a diagonal centering pass from Yanni Gourde after the Flames bobbled the puck and failed to clear the zone.

Shots on goal favoured Seattle 10-6 after one.

In an otherwise quiet middle frame, Vladar shut the door on Tye Kartye, who took a feed at the hashmarks and broke in alone, but was denied by the right pad before being buried into the end boards by a surly Zadorov.

The Flames had a glorious chance to tie things up late in the second when penalties to Tolvanen (boarding) and McCann (high-sticking) gave them a 5-on-3 for 47 seconds. The visitors applied all sorts of pressure, peppering Phillip Grubauer and even sliding one through the crease and out the other side, before Hanifin – finally – hit paydirt with wrister that slipped five-hole.

The goal was Hanifin’s first of the season, with Jonathan Huberdeau and Connor Zary (his first NHL assist) picking up the helpers, at the 19-minute mark of the stanza.

“Huge," Vladar said of the victory. "Obviously, we had that stretch where we had six losses in a row and I'm pretty sure everyone was mad and it showed off in the game. Guys did an awesome job in front of me (as you can see) on the shot clock. Guys did an awesome job blocking shots and clearing those rebounds that I had.

"The last one - tough bounce - made it entertaining in the last 90 seconds, but a W is a W. We're happy to get that and we've just got to keep this going. We have a bunch of winners in this locker-room, so I know these guys know what it takes and we've got to keep doing the same thing.”

Congrats Fella!

The Lineup:

Forwards

Jonathan Huberdeau - Elias Lindholm - Andrew Mangiapane
Connor Zary - Nazem Kadri - Yegor Sharangovich
Martin Pospisil - Mikael Backlund - Blake Coleman
A.J. Greer - Dillon Dube - Walker Duehr

Defence

MacKenzie Weegar - Rasmus Andersson
Noah Hanifin - Chris Tanev
Nikita Zadorov - Nick DeSimone

Goaltenders

Dan Vladar - Starter
Jacob Markstrom

Scratches: Adam Ruzicka (injured - shoulder), Dryden Hunt, Dennis Gilbert

They Said It:

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 31, SEA 20

Powerplay: CGY 1-2, SEA 1-3

FO%: CGY 40.0% SEA 60.0%

Blocked Shots: CGY 16, SEA 10

Hits: CGY 17, SEA 8

5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 18, SEA 18

5-on-5 High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 8, SEA 6

Up Next:

The Flames return home to face the Nashville Predators on Tuesday (click here for tickets), before heading back out on the road for a three-game, all-Canadian road trip, beginning with the ‘Hall of Fame Game’ on Friday in Toronto.