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Flames Post-Game: Unprecedented offensive outburst leads to first road win in a month
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Photo credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
Ryan Pike
By Ryan Pike
Dec 10, 2024, 22:35 ESTUpdated: Dec 10, 2024, 22:39 EST
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On Tuesday night in Nashville, the Calgary Flames were in the mood to bust some slumps. In the second period they managed to score their fourth goal, accomplishing that feat for the first time since Oct. 13. They followed that up with a stingy third period where they held their one goal lead, capturing their first road win in a month.
The Flames beat the Predators by a 4-3 score to earn a split on their two game road trip.

The rundown

The Predators opened the scoring on a nice cycling play where the Flames got caught puck-watching. Steven Stamkos carried the puck around in the corner of the Flames zone, then flung the puck into the slot area, where Jonathan Marchessault quickly redirected the puck past Dan Vladar to give the home side a 1-0 lead.
But the Flames answered back a few minutes later off the rush. Nazem Kadri skated in on the left wing and fired a puck from a wide angle on Juuse Saros, with Martin Pospisil crashing the net-front area. The puck dribbled through Saros and trickled over the line to tie the game at 1-1. (Pospisil crashed into into a Nashville defender, but it didn’t really impact the play.)
But on the very next shift, the Predators took the lead back. This time, it was off a nice little rush passing sequence. Mark Jankowski carried the puck down low in the Flames’ zone and, once again, the Flames were caught puck watching. Jankowski was able to find Tommy Novak completely unattended in the slot and he beat Vladar to give Nashville a 2-1 lead.
First period shots were 9-8 Flames. Via Natural Stat Trick, five-on-five scoring chances were 9-6 Predators (high-danger chances were 3-3).
The Flames tied things back up early in the second period. The Flames won a face-off in their own zone and executed a nice breakout play and headed up ice. Walker Duehr made a chip play to himself, hit the offensive zone with speed, and fed Kevin Rooney in front of the net for a shot that tied the game at 2-2.
But a little later, off a very similar rush play, Nashville retook the lead (again). Nashville won a draw in the Calgary zone and executed a nice rush play, with Filip Forsberg feeding Marchessault at the far post for a tap-in to make it 3-2 Nashville.
But a little later, the Flames tied things up (again). This time, the fourth line and third pairing cycled the puck well. Brayden Pachal got the puck and crept down from the point to the face-off dot to Saros’ right. Using Duehr as a partial screen, Pachal fired the puck past Saros to tie the game at 3-3.
Late in the period, Mark Jankowski was called for unsportsmanlike conduct – seemingly for chirping the referees for a non-call. On the resulting power play, Jonathan Huberdeau ended a scrambly rebound sequence in front of Saros by chuffling the loose puck into the Nashville net to give the Flames a 4-3 lead.
Second period shots were 16-5 Flames. Five-on-five scoring chances were 15-2 Flames (high-danger chances were 5-2 Flames).
The Flames did a nice job defending in the third period. Nashville had some looks, but the Flames did a good job not making life harder on themselves than they needed to.
The Predators pulled Saros for the extra attacker in the waning moments of regulation.
Third period shots were 7-4 Predators. Five-on-five scoring chances were 5-1 Flames (high-danger chances were 2-0 Flames).

Why the Flames won

If you’re somebody who likes structured defensive hockey, you were probably wincing throughout this game. Neither team was all that good defensively, especially defending rush chances. But if you like pretty rush sequences and back-and-forth hockey, this game was for you.
It was not a picturesque example of 2024-25 Flames Hockey – it was probably a bit too loose offensively for head coach Ryan Huska’s tastes – but the Flames did what they needed to do to get the W.

Red Warrior

Kevin Rooney recorded a Chris Tanev hat trick: goal, assist and shot blocked with his face. Fourth line centre is an unheralded role, but Rooney was flat-out great this evening.

Turning point

Tied 3-3 late in the second period, the Flames needed their power play to score a big goal for them. They were up to the task.

This and that

Jonathan Huberdeau’s two points extended his points streak to five games – he has seven points in that span.

Up next

The Flames (14-10-5) are headed home. They kick off a five-game homestand on Thursday night when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning.

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