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 Calgary Flames headed to Long Island on Saturday afternoon to face the New York Islanders in the fourth and final game of their eastern road swing. Playing their fourth game in six days, the Flames played a pretty smart road game despite missing a couple key regulars.
In a back and forth affair, the Flames completed the New York metro area sweep with a 4-3 overtime win over the Islanders.
The rundown
The Flames got off to a pretty good start, and they opened the scoring just 36 seconds into the game. With Jonathan Huberdeau serving as a screen, Matt Coronato fired a shot that eluded Marcus Hogberg to give the Flames a 1-0 lead.
The Islanders managed to get that one back, though, midway through the second period. Anthony DeAngelo fired a shot from the right point. His shot bounced off the skates of two different players… and ended up going right to Bo Horvat at the side of the Flames’ net. He put it into the net past Dan Vladar to tie the game up at 1-1.
With under three minutes left in the period, Islanders took the lead. The Islanders fourth line won possession in their own zone and executed a really nice breakout that led to an odd-man sequence after Jake Bean and Daniil Miromanov both drifted to the same defender. That gave Marc Gatcomb time and space to get a nice shot off that beat Vladar’s glove and gave the Islanders a 2-1 edge.
First period shots were 13-11 Flames. Via Natural Stat Trick, five-on-five scoring chances were 11-8 Islanders (high-danger chances were 5-2 Islanders).
Midway through a pretty back-and-forth second period, the Flames managed to tie things up. Huberdeau made a really savvy pass in the Islanders zone, throwing the puck to a streaking Coronato. Coronato received the pass and fired the puck past Hogberg’s glove, and his quick shot found the back of the net to make it a 2-2 hockey game.
Second period shots were 13-6 Flames. Five-on-five scoring chances were 8-4 Flames (high-danger chances were 2-1 Islanders).
The third period was pretty back and forth. The Islanders had the better scoring chances of the two clubs, but Vladar was very sharp when called upon.
Late in the third period, rookie Maxim Tsyplakov spun out from behind the net and threw the puck on goal. Vladar made a blocker save, but the rebound went right to Kyle MacLean, and he fired the puck past Vladar to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead.
But just 27 seconds later, the Flames answered back. After an offensive zone face-off win, Rasmus Andersson’s point shot was tipped by Huberdeau and beat Hogberg to tie the game at 3-3.
With the game tied, Vladar made a superb glove stop on Ryan Pulock to send this game to overtime.
Third period shots were 9-7 Islanders. Five-on-five scoring chances were 12-4 Islanders (high-danger chances were 4-1 Islanders).
This game required extra time to decide. The Flames had puck possession for much of extra time, but seemed to be picking their spots when looking for scoring chances.
Just after Morgan Frost failed to convert on a breakaway, Nazem Kadri was fed the puck by Andersson and beat Hogberg to give the Flames a 4-3 victory.
Why the Flames won
The Flames were short a couple key players, but they played a pretty smart road game. They had a few miscues here and there, but their goalie bailed them out. And when they were able to get good looks at the Islanders net, they did what they could to capitalize.
Considering the amount of hockey they’ve played this week, this was a fully-earned two points.
Red Warrior
We’ll do a split award for this one. Matt Coronato scoring a pair of goals in his return to Long Island was a huge plus for the Flames. But let’s give a ton of credit to Dan Vladar. He doesn’t get nearly the amount of praise – local or national – that Dustin Wolf does, but he’s been really effective over the last month or two for the Flames.
Turning point
Let’s give it to Kadri’s overtime winner.
This and that
The Flames were without Joel Farabee due to illness and MacKenzie Weegar due to a lower body injury.
With Farabee and Weegar not in the lineup, here’s how the two power play units lined up:
- PP1: Andersson, Coronato, Frost, Kadri & Huberdeau
- PP2: Miromanov, Pospisil, Sharangovich, Coleman & Zary
This was Jonathan Huberdeau’s 900th NHL game.
Up next
The Flames (33-25-11) are headed home. They’re back in action at the Saddledome on Tuesday night when they host the Seattle Kraken.
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