Hot Climate!

SEATTLE - What's better than keeping a streak alive with a big win over your division rival?

Easy.

How about keeping the streak alive with a big win, courtesy of your top players, with a pair of memorable milestones fuelling the comeback?

Andrew Mangiapane scored his 100th career goal to tie the game with 4:07 to play in the third period, before Rasmus Andersson tallied in OT - thanks to an assist from Mikael Backlund, as the captain recorded his 500th career point - and the Flames walked away with a 4-3, come-from-behind victory over the Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena.

"I told Tanny (Chris Tanev) I was going to end it – so I kind of felt like I had to," Andersson laughed, before describing his epic celebration where he stared down the Seattle faithful. "When it's an overtime winner, you're not really thinking about your celebration, it just comes to you. A lot of emotions today, you know. It's a big divisional matchup, so a lot of emotions and it's a good start to our road trip.”

Elias Lindholm and Jonathan Huberdeau rounded out the offence, while Andersson added a pair of helpers and Dan Vladar had a superb night between the pipes, finishing with 28 stops.

The Flames have now won all six trips they've made to the Emerald City.

Philipp Grubauer got the start in goal for the Kraken, but was replaced with Joey Daccord after the first period. Grubauer, who looked a bit shaken up after a collision with Martin Pospisil, was absent from the bench for much of the second period, but eventually returned to serve as the backup.

The Flames were the better third in the third, rallying from a 3-2 deficit after surrendering a pair of quick tallies in the second and being outshot 17-6. In the third, they were far and away the better team and were finally rewarded when Mangiapane - who had to work for every inch as he freed his own stick and gained body position - shovelled home the century goal from inside the blue paint.

Andersson ended it at 3:28 of the extra frame, firing his third of the year past Daccord after his initial wraparound try was turned aside at the near post.

With the win, the Flames improve to 7-8-3 on the year.

“There were ebbs and flows, that's for sure," Head Coach Ryan Huska said of the rollercoaster night. "Good first period, awful second period, great third period and it was nice to get a win in overtime."

Asked what changed for his group after a tough middle frame, Huska said the players - understanding the situation they were in - "dug in a little bit."

"You often know when (the players) aren't happy in between periods," he said. "As a coach, you walk by sometimes and can hear some of the guys talking and that's a positive thing for us that we had certain guys saying the right things. It was nice to see the response, for sure.”

It was a dream start for the Flames, who drew first blood only 1:16 into the game, before the Kraken could even touch the puck. To the surprise of absolutely no one, it was the Mikael Backlund, Blake Coleman and Huberdeau trio that set the table with a dominant opening shift, pinning the Kraken in their own end before bringing out the Lindholm line to bat clean-up.

The Flames continued to snap the puck around before Rasmus Andersson spotted Lindholm in his office at the right circle.

And the rest is history.

“We put a lot of importance good starts, first periods and trying to win your first periods," Huska said. "We've talked a lot about Mikael and Blake the last little while and they were ready to play. And usually when your key guys are, your team usually follows suit. 

“We slipped a little in the second period but found a way to get it back."

The red-hot Martin Pospisil looked to make it a 2-0 game with his patented speed burst down the right wing, but after cutting to the net and crashing into Philipp Grubauer as he shovelled home his own rebound, there was a no-goal call on the ice and Flames elected not to challenge.

Slowly, the Kraken started to take the game over and after Alex Wennberg won a crucial offensive-zone faceoff, Vince Dunn blasted one through from the point to tie the game at 8:42.

The Flames earned the game’s first powerplay chance when Pierre-Edouard Bellemare was flagged for tripping at 11:31. Just nine seconds into the advantage, Huberdeau sailed an innocent-looking shot toward the net, that squeezed through the armpit of Grubauer to put the visitors back in front.

The Flames did well to take away the eyes of the goaltender, as Lindholm performed a fly-by screen in front, while Nazem Kadri was posted up at the hashmarks, forcing Grubauer to take a peek on the opposite side as the Huberdeau shot on en route.

Shots on goal favoured the Kraken 10-7 after one.

Calgary native Jordan Eberle brought the game back on even terms with a backhand dribbler through the five-hole – a loose puck landing right on his tape after a point shot was blocked by (and stung) Mikael Backlund, leaving all kinds of time for him pounce on it in the low slot.

The goal came at 8:21, and only seconds after Vladar made a big save at the tail end of a Kraken powerplay, robbing the reigning Calder Trophy winner Matty Beniers from point-blank below the hashmarks.

The Kraken took their first lead only 1:56 later, as Jared McCann tipped home an Adam Larsson bomb, and suddenly, the Flames were playing catch-up.

The Flames were out-gunned 17-6 in the second, but got a massive lift late when they killed off a Nikita Zadorov minor, followed by a pair of immaculate Vladar stops, including a close-range look from Tye Kartye, setting the stage for a dramatic finish.

The Lineup:

Forwards

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

Defence

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

Goaltender

Dan Vladar

Scratches: Adam Ruzicka, Dennis Gilbert

They Said It:

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 31, SEA 31

Powerplay: CGY 1-2, SEA 0-2

Faceoffs: CGY 46%, SEA 54%

Blocked Shots: CGY 20, SEA 11

Hits: CGY 19, SEA 16

5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 21, SEA 23

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

Up Next:

The Flames continue this four-game road trip on Wednesday when they take on the Nashville Predators, before rounding out the excursion with a back-to-back set against the Dallas Stars (Friday) and Colorado Avalanche (Saturday).