Post-Game Wrap-Up: Flames grab a point in Nashville

The Calgary Flames continued their lengthy eastern swing on Thursday night in Nashville. The Flames did not play as buttoned-up a game as they did against Boston, but they were feisty and battled through three periods of playoff-style hockey. They lost to the Predators in overtime by a 4-3 score.

The opening period was very even, with Juuse Saros the big difference-maker for Nashville. The Flames got hemmed into their own zone late in the period and the Preds got several good chances. After a scramble by the net, Colton Sissons jammed in a cross-crease pass to make it 1-0 Nashville.

Shots were 11-8 Flames and scoring chances 7-5 Flames in the first period.

The Flames tied the game up early in the second period. Off the rush, Mikael Backlund found a pinching Rasmus Andersson for a rapid-fire pass and redirect to make it a 1-1 hockey game.

A little bit later, the Flames took the lead off a weird bounce. With a lot of bodies in-between him and the net, Backlund flung a fluttering shot towards the net front. Mattias Ekholm tried to knock it down with his skate, but it deflected past Saros to make it 2-1 Flames.

Shots were 17-16 Predators and scoring chances 10-10 in the second period.

The Flames pressed and couldn’t add an insurance goal in the third period. Nashville tied things up off a nice shot from Roman Josi that Rittich likely wants back – Josi’s shot squeezed through the spot between Rittich’s arm and his torso – to make it a 2-2 game.

But the Flames retook the lead late in the game off a superb individual effort by Backlund. He carried the puck into the Nashville zone, bringing a few defenders with him. He dished the puck to Andrew Mangiapane for a quick shot that beat Saros to give the Flames a 3-2 edge with 43 seconds remaining.

But Nashville went gonzo in the offensive zone and on a pretty similar scramble play around the net. Rittich made a save at one post, but Mikael Granlund jammed in a loose puck at the other post with 0.1 seconds remaining to make it a 3-3 game and send it to overtime.

Shots were 12-11 Flames and scoring chances 15-3 Flames in the third period.

Granlund recovered a puck that was lost in Erik Gustafsson’s skates and beat Rittich to win it in overtime by a 4-3 score.

This was an incredibly tight game. But the Flames were just bad enough in a couple late period situations – the goal at the end of the first period and the one to send it to overtime – that they snatched an overtime defeat from the clutches of a regulation victory.

Backlund had three points, so he gets the nod. But Mangiapane, Matthew Tkachuk and Andersson were also quite sharp.

Giving up a tying goal with 0.1 seconds left after getting the lead with 43 seconds to go is kind of a heart-breaker. They just couldn’t bottle up Nashville for a tiny bit longer.

Data via Natural Stat Trick. Percentage stats are 5v5.

Noah Hanifin was in and out of the locker room and only played three shifts in the first period, totaling 1:36. He returned for the second period, though, and played the remainder of the game with what seemed to be a lower body injury.

The Flames are now 21-1-3 when leading after two periods.

The Flames have 73 points. A 95 point playoff pace through 65 games pro-rates to 75.3 points, so they’re 2.2 points off a likely playoff pace with 17 games to go.

The Flames (33-25-7) are headed to Tampa Bay. They face the Lightning on Saturday afternoon.