Backlund won the opening faceoff and then on the same shift set up the Flames first shot of the game, getting the puck low in the Utah zone and feeding it to Kevin Bahl for a point blast.
Calgary jumped out to a 4-1 lead in shots, but Utah had a prolonged period of pressure that led to the opening goal when Alex Kerfoot fired a puck past a heavily-screened Wolf at 4:41.
Jonathan Huberdeau had a lovely look when Andrei Kuzmenko made a short feed to him, and No. 10 skated across the crease and tried to tuck a backhand from one knee around Ingram but the ‘tender stayed with him to make a pad save.
Huberdeau got a good a second crack later in the frame from distance but Ingram got his shoulder up to deflect that one.
Calgary’s leading scorer coming into the tilt – Rasmus Andersson – had the hit of the period when he lowered the boom on Kerfoot, sending him crashing to the ice as the Utah forward tried to cut around him for a shorthanded shot.
The final few minutes of the frame became a track meet, Martin Pospisil poking a pass wide and giving himself a breakaway but Ingram stopped his five-hole backhand offering.
Utah then had a rush up the ice but couldn’t get a shot on net, followed by Lomberg skating the other way but Ingram again made the stop, Lomberg tripped up by Mikhail Sergachev, Pospisil taking exception and following a scuffle, the teams skated 4-on-4.
Then with just two ticks left, Barrett Hayton fired one past Wolf.
Calgary had a 13-8 edge in shots in the opening stanza.
Mantha got the Flames on the board 3:53 into the middle frame when he was sprung with a long pass from Justin Kirkland, snapping a wrister high-far side.
