So, you figure, as anyone one of us would, 'hey, might as well score a highlight reel goal to help the team out.'
'Oh, and why not win a car for a lucky fan with that tally, just for good measure.'
Tobias Rieder scored his second goal of the season - a nice five-hole backhand through the wickets of Linus Ullmark in the second period - as the Flames beat the visiting Buffalo Sabres 4-3 Thursday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
As if that wasn't drama enough, the C of Red was brought to its feet later in the third period as fan favourite Milan Lucic scored his first goal as a Flame, the infamous 'Loooooooooccccchhhhhh' chant echoing through the building.
That marker would turn out to be the game-winner.
With the victory, the Flames improved to 4-0-1 in their last five, and are now a perfect 3-0 under interim coach Geoff Ward.
Back to Rieder's tally, it won a shiny new 2019 Chevy Malibu for a fan named Cindy, as part of Shaganappi GM's Minute To Win Itcontest.
She was, as you could expect, ecstatic.
Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau also scored in the tilt, while David Rittich had another impressive night, making 26 saves.
Both Johnny and Mony were standouts in the outing, Gaudreau named the game's first star.
Of course, this all happened on what's always an extremely special and important evening, as the Flames
honoured our military
at the 14th Annual Canadian Armed Forces Appreciation Night.
The Flames new-look lines started strong, controlling play in the early minutes of the contest.
But the Sabres would open the scoring on their first shot, with Sam Reinhart tipping a Rasmus Ristolainen shot at 3:29.
Reinhart later came up big to help stop what would have likely been a sure-thing goal, getting back as the second man on a short-handed Calgary two-on-one between Mark Giordano and Derek Ryan.
Giordano feathered a pass through to Ryan who had an open cage, but Reinhart got his stick on it before it made its way across, deflecting it wide.
The Johnny And Mony Show tied things up on a powerplay.
Moments after Gaudreau feed Monahan in the high slot for a great shot that Ullmark turned aside, No. 23 fed the puck to No. 13, Johnny Hockey walking in and snapping a wrister high, far-side to tie it up.
Matthew Tkachuk got the other helper.
Tweet from @NHLFlames: Better wash those mitts, 'cause that shot is FILTHY. #BUFvsCGY | #Flames pic.twitter.com/lF9zjyt66B
The Flames were slinging pucks in the second, creating chances and drawing plenty of "ooohhhss' and 'aaaahhhhs' from the crowd.
Mark Jankowski and Michael Frolik had great back-to-back chances, first Jankowski getting off a shot in the slot from Frolik that just trickled wide of the far post, then Janko returning the favour to his winger, Frolik being denied with a shot from in tight to the left of Ullmark.
Of course, Rittich -
the NHL's second star of the week
- was doing what he does best by stoning the opposition shooters.
First he stopped a tip attempt on a rush by Zemgus Girgensons, then he made a similar stop awhile later on Jimmy Vesey.
That came Rieder's terrific tally at 11:18 of the second stanza.
Tweet from @NHLFlames: Good luck catching him.#BUFvsCGY | #Flames pic.twitter.com/oJF76pQT90
Just under four minutes later, Monahan made it 3-0.
He skated the puck up the right boards and made a drop pass to a trailing Mikael Backlund, and then taking a pass back and spinning with a rocket of a one-timer as he stood in the middle of the faceoff circle.
It was his seventh of the year, Rasmus Andersson also getting an assist.
Tweet from @NHLFlames: Let's pause for a moment and appreciate this 🚀 from Monahan. #BUFvsCGY | #Flames pic.twitter.com/Ag5EKUcUt8
Up 3-1 in the final frame, the crowd was already amped up.
So when Lucic finished off a beautiful three-way passing play with Ryan and Dillon Dube, the fans sprung to their feet as Dube chased Lucic in the corner, the big man throwing his arms up in the air with an even bigger smile.
Tweet from @NHLFlames: Oh, what a feeling! #Loooooooch#BUFvsCGY | #Flames pic.twitter.com/IR5Szg6mVw
Under pressure, the Flames then killed off 53-seconds of a two-man advantage for the Sabres.
Gaudreau got close to adding his second, Ullmark hurling himself across the net to stop a one-timer off a Backlund pass.
Jake McCabe, with 2:44 left, and Jack Eichel - on a late 6-on-4 with the goalie pulled and 48 seconds to play - made the score look closer than the game was.
