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Instant Reaction: Capitals extinguish Flames with third period flurry
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Photo credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Ryan Pike
Mar 9, 2026, 21:39 EDT
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Welcome to Instant Reaction, where we give you our instant reaction to tonight’s Calgary Flames game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below! 
The Washington Capitals had a great first period on Monday night. Their opponents, the Calgary Flames, had a great second period. With the game up for grabs and tied after 40 minutes, the Capitals found another gear and pulled away from the visitors.
Washington scored four goals in the final frame and beat the Flames by a 7-3 score.

The rundown

The Capitals ran the Flames’ show for much of the first period, especially in the Flames’ zone.
2:46 into the first period, the Capitals opened the scoring. Martin Fehervary’s point shot with traffic was stopped by Devin Cooley, but the rebound went to Hendrix Lapierre and he fired it into the net so the home side went up 1-0.
Midway through the period, 9:13 in, the Capitals scored a very similar goal. They cycled the puck really well and threw the puck into the net-front area. A tip attempt trickled just past the Flames net, but Tom Wilson buried the loose rebound to give the Capitals a 2-0 lead.
Late in the period, the Flames got victimized by some soft defensive play in their own end. The Capitals won a corner battle and Justin Sourdif threw the puck to Connor McMichael in the slot, and he beat Cooley clean to go up 3-0.
First period shots were 8-7 Capitals
The Flames were much better in the second period and they largely ran Washington’s show. For much of the period, though, they could not solve Logan Thompson. Until they did.
16:08 into the second period, the Flames had some zone time and made a few very nice passes, culminating with a Matvei Gridin wrister beating Thompson to cut the Capitals’ lead to 3-1.
Zayne Parekh took a minor penalty, and the Flames responded by scoring two shorthanded goals. First, Mikael Backlund sent Blake Coleman in on a breakaway and he beat Thompson to cut the lead to 3-2.
Right after that, the Capitals were a bit casual with the puck in their own zone. Joel Farabee stole the puck and threw it into the slot for Yegor Sharangovich. He scored to tie the game at 3-3.
Second period shots were 14-8 Flames.
The third period was pretty even, until the Capitals pulled away.
10:52 into the third period, McMichael scored his second of the game on a power play after a scramble in the slot following a Cooley initial save. That made it 4-3 Capitals.
23 seconds later, Sourdif made it 5-3.
An Ethan Frank empty-netter made it 6-3.
A Ryan Leonard breakaway goal late in regulation gave Washington a 7-3 victory.
Third period shots were 13-5 Capitals.

Why the Flames lost

The Flames are a depleted group. They battled really hard. They were great in the second period. They just did not have the horses, or the defensive details in their own zone, to hold their own against Washington.

Red Warrior

Olli Maatta played 20 minutes and was plus-1 in a game the Flames allowed seven goals in, including six at even strength. Well-done.

Turning point

A period after two Calgary goals on a Washington power play swung the game, a Washington goal on a Washington power play swung it back in the other direction.

This and that

Victor Olofsson made his Flames debut in this game.

After Burner

Join Mike Gould and myself right after the game for After Burner!

Up next

The Flames (25-31-7) return to action on Tuesday night against the New York Rangers.
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