Flames Settle For Point In Seattle

All good things come to an end.

But the Flames still brought home a point after a defensive struggle in Seattle.

Jordan Eberle scored 47 seconds into overtime to push the Kraken past the Flames 2-1 Saturday, ending Calgary's season-opening unbeaten run at four games.

Blake Coleman scored the lone Flames goal on a first-period powerplay, while Dan Vladar was steady in a 21-save performance in goal.

Period 1 was pacey, even scrambly at times, but both teams had opportunities to break the deadlock despite the fact they combined for just six shots on goal through the first 15 minutes of play.

Vladar made his best stop of the frame off Brandon Montour on a Seattle odd-man rush with just over five minutes left, denying the Kraken defender’s initial effort from the left circle before jamming his skate blade into the ice, and standing firm to keep the rebound safely away from his net.

Calgary came close to scoring on a couple of occasions, one off a Mikael Backlund opportunity from the low slot, the next off a Nazem Kadri net drive from the corner that landed the Flames a shot on goal and a powerplay opportunity.

And that powerplay opportunity proved pivotal.

Daccord strode to the corner to claim a loose puck, where he was met by Backlund, who forced a turnover, then swung the disc back across the plane to a waiting Coleman on the left wing.

Coleman circled back to the left point, then stepped into a one-timer, breaking the deadlock with 7.4 seconds left on the clock with his first goal of the season.

The hosts benefitted from a quartet of powerplay opportunities in the middle frame, evening the score on a two-man advantage at the 12:25 mark through forward Chandler Stephenson’s first goal in a Seattle uniform.

Despite their manpower disadvantage, the Flames outshot the Kraken 7-5 in the second stanza to hold a 15-10 advantage on the shot clock through 40 minutes.

Vladar and his Calgary mates withstood heavy Seattle pressure in the third, foiling the Kraken on their sixth man-advantage opportunity of the game after being booked for too many men at 11:37.

In all, the Flames netminder stopped 11 shots in Period 3, his best coming off a Matty Beniers one-timer during that penalty kill.

Daccord did his part to keep the stalemate going, too, denying Zary and Kuzmenko on point-blank opportunities from the slot inside the final five minutes of regulation time.

But 60 minutes solved nothing - both teams taking a point into the extra frame.

And that's where Seattle's persistence paid off.

Vladar denied Brandon Montour on a chance from in tight after the Kraken forced a turnover in the Calgary zone, but Eberle was there to scoop up the rebound, depositing his team-leading fifth goal of the season into the cage to end proceedings.

Seattle outshot Calgary 23-21 on the night; Kadri and Montour led all skaters with six shots apiece.

Rasmus Andersson led all Flames skaters with 25:24 of ice-time. He blocked four shots over that span, upping his team-leading total to 19 on the campaign.

The Lineup:

Forwards

Andrei Kuzmenko - Nazem Kadri - Matt Coronato
Jonathan Huberdeau - Martin Pospisil - Anthony Mantha
Connor Zary - Mikael Backlund - Blake Coleman
Ryan Lomberg - Justin Kirkland - Adam Klapka

DEFENCE

MacKenzie Weegar - Tyson Barrie
Kevin Bahl - Rasmus Andersson
Jake Bean - Brayden Pachal

GOALTENDERS

Dan Vladar (starter)
Dustin Wolf

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 22, SEA 23

Powerplay: CGY 1-3, SEA 1-6

Faceoffs: CGY 44.3%, SEA 55.7%

Blocked Shots: CGY 16, SEA 10

Hits: CGY 31, SEA 27

Takeaways: CGY 5, SEA 3

*5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 22, SEA 9

*5-on-5 High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 11, SEA 4

*Courtesy of Natural Stat Trick

They Said It:

Up Next:

The Flames are back on Scotiabank Saddledome ice for a three-game homestand, beginning Tuesday when they host Sidney Crosby and the Penguins at 7:30 p.m. MT CLICK FOR TICKETS