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Beyond the Boxscore: Gridin’s overtime heroics help Flames take down Lightning in overtime
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Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Flash Stevens
Mar 23, 2026, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Mar 23, 2026, 01:43 EDT
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The Calgary Flames were able to stretch things to overtime where they used some rookie magic to come out on top with the 4-3 victory in overtime over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
CF% – 45.54%|| SCF% – 49.57%|| HDCF% – 31.4%|| xGF% – 35.07%
It’s a Team Game – Calgary did the best thing they could have against the talented Tampa Bay, which was to get off to a good start. Tampa scored first, but Calgary wasn’t giving up much in front of their own net and were making Tampa work hard for chances. They then took advantage of some questionable Lightning goaltending, scoring back-to-back goals 27 seconds apart. With the lead they were able to keep pressing through the second period and entered the final frame up a goal. That was when Tampa poured it on and Devin Cooley stood on his head. He had one leak, but otherwise was a massive reason the game even got to overtime. Matvei Gridin took control in the extra frame, driving low and sending a fantastic centring pass to Ryan Strome who tapped it home for the Flames third straight victory. 
Corsi King – Morgan Frost (68.13 CF%) continues up a streak of tremendous play, really making a difference in this game. He and his linemates have showcased a new level of chemistry. Matt Coronato (60.89 per cent), who is back into prioritizing being a shooter, and Matvei Gridin (60.89 per cent), who continues to showcase he has an excellent understanding of how to generate offence. Gridin being able to take a shift over at 20 years old, it’s a special thing to see. His play is rubbing off on others on the roster, more people are actively making plays to the slot and the offence looks the best it has in a couple of years. They’re giving up more on defence as a result, but it’s certainly been more entertaining to watch. 
Under Pressure –
Taken By Chance – Mikael Backlund (54.57 SCF% // 49.86 HDCF%) scored a goal that  immediately got me out of my seat. A slap shot just under the bar while coming in off the rush. Old school beauty. The Flames have two forward lines right now I don’t think they should touch. Backlund with Blake Coleman (49.69 per cent // 44.31 per cent) and Joel Farabee (49.69 per cent // 44.31 per cent) are always so consistent. No matter who the opponent is or the skill level of their top players they can go out and do a quality job on both sides of the puck. Farabee learning Coleman’s game habits firsthand could be beneficial long term for the franchise. The other line? The guys from the Corsi King section. Mix and match the other two to get everyone in, but those two lines are giving the Flames quite a bit on a night-to-night basis right now. 
xG Breakdown –
xGF% – Zayne Parekh (64.23 per cent) has his confidence grow every game. He continues to be good at creating opportunity in the offensive zone, he needs a bit more assistance from his teammates at finishing off his chances. A partner with a little more offensive pop than Joel Hanley (52.39 per cent) may be able to help, but they aren’t ready to have him handle a heavy defensive zone deployment yet. Lots of time left for that to sort itself out. Finally it was the first NHL game for the hometown man in Tyson Gross. It was a rough one, but to jump from college directly into a competitive NHL is not a piece of cake. There will need to be an adjustment period, but he’ll come along. I love that he’s wearing Doug Gilmour’s old number too. Just sick to be able to see a local guy get to play a game in the ‘Dome.  
Game Flow –
Game Score –
Shot Heatmap –
In The Crease – Devin Cooley was his usual awesome self. Going up against a man on a legendary run like Nikita Kucherov is currently on, and only giving up 1 point to him is quite the feat. Even if the Flames played well I thought Tampa would still be able to score – they played like that in the third but forgot to send Cooley the memo. He was more than up to the challenge and added some saves to his career highlight reel. What a guy, glad he’s on our side. 3.59 expected goals against at 5v5 and the 3 got behind him. Above average!
The Goals –
Flash’s 3 Stars –
1) Devin Cooley
2) Mikael Backlund
3) Morgan Frost
(Stats compiled from Naturalstattrick.com // Game Score from Hockeystatcards.com // xG and Under Pressure charts from HockeyViz.com // Game Flow and Shot Heatmap from NaturalStatTrick.com)

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