WATCH: Ritchie deposits gorgeous Lucic feed for first Flames goal of 2022–23

Milan Lucic made a fantastic play to set up Brett Ritchie for the Calgary Flames’ first goal of the 2022–23 season midway through the first period of Thursday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche.

With the Flames trailing 1–0 off an early goal by Bowen Byram, they poured on the pressure and finally managed to beat Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz.

Newly-signed Flames defenceman MacKenzie Weegar broke the puck into the offensive zone off an end-to-end rush and found Lucic with a pass down low.

Lucic quickly sent a pin-point feed onto Ritchie’s tape in the slot. All alone, Ritchie one-timed the puck past Francouz to make it a 1–1 game at the 11:23 mark of the opening frame.

Here’s the video of the play:

Weegar, who signed an eight-year contract extension with the Flames last week, picked up his first point with his new team on the play.

The Flames finally scored on their 11th shot of the first period after the Avalanche beat Flames starter Jacob Markstrom on their very first attempt. As of the 18-minute mark of the opening frame, the Flames were outshooting the Avalanche 15–3.

Ritchie, 29, scored three goals and one assist in 41 games with the Flames during the 2021–22 regular season. The Orangeville, Ontario product added two goals in seven games during the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He signed a one-year, $750,000 deal to remain with the Flames this past summer.