Otta-Win

The Flames scored four goals in the third period as part of a 6-3 victory over the Senators at Scotiabank Saddledome

By Chris Wahl

@wahlsy CalgaryFlames.com

January 10, 2024

A trio of comebacks, a pair of career milestones, and a much-needed bit of home cooking for the Flames.

Blake Coleman scored twice, including the game-winner, as Calgary rallied from three separate deficits to double up Ottawa 6-3 on Pride Night presented by Banded Peak Brewing at Scotiabank Saddledome.

Yegor Sharangovich also scored twice for the Flames, while Connor Zary and Noah Hanifin added singles.

Flames captain Mikael Backlund moved into a second-place tie with Mark Giordano among franchise games played leaders by making his 949th appearance, while Nazem Kadri reached the 600 point mark for his NHL career with a pair of third-period helpers.

Backlund's family was in the dressing room to read the starting lineup.

What a special night for the Backlund family!

The visitors opened the scoring 4:09 into the first period when Jacob Bernard-Docker’s slapshot from the right point caromed in off a Calgary body.

But the Flames answered right back 44 seconds later thanks to Zary.

The rookie phenom pounced on a loose puck in the Ottawa zone, then zipped a shot past Joonas Korpisalo’s glove hand for his ninth goal of the campaign.

Zary scores an absolute jaw-dropping, bar-down beauty!

The locals came close to capitalizing on another Senators turnover just under two minutes after Zary’s goal.

From behind the net, Jonathan Huberdeau found a wide-open Sharangovich in the low slot, but Korpisalo was equal to the task.

Calgary carried the play for large swaths of period one, coming close again to taking the lead with just under five minutes to play when Backlund was sprung in alone on a short-handed break, though his effort sailed just above the crossbar after the puck hopped just prior to his release.

At the other end, Jacob Markstrom denied Ridly Greig with a point-blank, back-door blocker save, but in the ensuing net-front fracas, the Senators found a go-ahead goal through Dominik Kubalik with 2.7 seconds left on the clock.

The hosts began the second period with a chip on their collective shoulder - Coleman providing punctuation in the opening minutes with a crunching hit on Bernard-Docker in the Ottawa zone.

The work below the goalline paid off on the scoreboard at the 3:50 mark. Sans stick, Elias Lindholm spun and kicked a loose puck from the side of the net to Huberdeau, who in turn set up Sharangovich in the slot for a snipe that again beat Korpisalo to the glove hand.

Lindholm, Huberdeau work their magic and Sharky converts

Sharangovich matched his 2022-23 output of 13 goals (as a New Jersey Devil) with the tally.

The see-saw affair continued, and Ottawa regained the advantage for the third time at 12:39 of the middle stanza.

From the side of the net, Claude Giroux fed a backhand pass to Brady Tkachuk, who then one-timed a powerplay goal past Markstrom to put the visitors ahead 3-2.

Calgary held a 12-6 edge in shots on goal during the second period, part of a 27-20 advantage through 40 minutes.

The final 20 minutes belonged to the home side.

The Flames found a third equalizer just 47 seconds into the third period. Hanifin strode down the left wall, then cut to the middle of the ice before releasing a backhand shot that Korpisalo could not pick up thanks to an expert screen from Zary.

Hanifin ties it up with a dirty dangle backhand

With the score level at 3-3, the chances at both ends came fast and furious; Calgary’s Andrew Mangiapane sent a puck just wide of the left goalpost on a low slot chance in front of Korpisalo, while at the other end Markstrom turned away a Mathieu Joseph breakaway chance with a deft right pad save with six and a half minutes gone in the frame.

With 11:03 remaining in regulation, the hosts earned their first lead of the game. Hanifin hollered at Kadri to send him a cross-ice pass from right to left across the top of the zone, but as he was about to shoot, his stick broke in half.

Fortunately, the puck bounced right to Coleman, who tucked home his team-leading 16th goal of the season to give the Flames a 4-3 advantage.

Hanifin's stick snaps, but Coleman is there to sweep home the loose puck

Hanifin put up his third point of the period at 15:45, firing a shot that deflected off a leg to Sharangovich at the side of Korpisalo's net. The Belarusian coolly deposited his second goal of the game to extend the lead to 5-3.

Sharky bangs home his second of the night as the Flames extend the lead

Coleman salted the game away with an empty-net marker with 2:49 left in the game.

Dad celebrates as Coleman pots his second of the game into the empty net

Markstrom stopped 30 shots to earn his third victory in his last four starts, while Korpisalo made 30 saves for the Senators.

Defenceman Yan Kuznetsov played 11:58 in his NHL debut; the second-round pick from the 2020 NHL Draft looked comfortable right from the get-go, logging two shots on goal in his first NHL shift.

"I really appreciate he did that for me"