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Instant Reaction: Flames grind out a point in overtime loss to Ducks
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Photo credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Ryan Pike
Mar 26, 2026, 23:53 EDTUpdated: Mar 27, 2026, 00:12 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 Calgary Flames hosted the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night in the fifth game of their lengthy six game homestand. Facing the division-leading Ducks, the Flames were right there with them.
The Flames never trailed during the balance of the game, but lost to the Ducks in overtime by a 3-2 score.

The rundown

The Flames got a three-on-zero rush early in the first period, but managed not to get a scoring chance out of it. (They took a too-many-men minor right afterwards.)
They scored a nice rush goal later in the period, but Yegor Sharangovich, the goal-scorer, was called off-side on the zone entry.
Later on Adam Klapka threw a puck on net that looked like it might have gone over the goal line before Ville Husso froze it, but the review was indecisive and the game remained 0-0.
First period shots were 10-8 Flames.
The Flames scored 1:06 into the second period off a nice little play to the net. Joel Farabee threw a puck towards the slot area and Blake Coleman made a nice redirect past Husso to give the Flames a 1-0 lead.
But two minutes later, the Ducks tied things up. Markus Granlund got into the zone and fired the puck on net, beating Devin Cooley high stick-side to tie the game at 1-1.
Second period shots were 8-7 Ducks.
Midway through the third period, the Flames took the lead. Pavel Mintyukov blocked a shot high and went down, but the Flames maintained possession and kept cycling the puck. Eventually, Olli Maatta found Matvei Gridin open, and Gridin fired the puck past Husso to give the Flames a 2-1 lead.
But the Ducks kept battling and tied the game. With Blake Coleman in the box of punishment, Cooley made a nice save on a deflection on net by Leo Carlsson, but Granlund batted the loose rebound onto the Flames net to tie the game up at 2-2.
Third period shots were 15-8 Ducks.
This game required extra time to determine a victor. The Flames had some chances in overtime, but then they took a too-many-men bench minor with 56.4 seconds left in overtime. But with one second left in overtime, Granlund blasted a one-timer past Cooley to give the Ducks a 3-2 overtime win.

Why the Flames got a point

Bless them, the Flames did their level best to make this a mucker of a game. The Ducks thrive when they can use their speed and skill in open ice. The Flames did what they could to make a grind of a game rather than a track meet. The Ducks were the better team in the final two periods, but the Flames did enough good things to at least deserve a point.

Red Warrior

A few Flames did pretty well. We’ll give this one to the captain, Mikael Backlund. He didn’t hit the scoresheet, but he won a bunch of face-offs.

Turning point

That too-many-men minor in overtime was the wrong thing to happen at the wrong time for the red team.

This and that

Devin Cooley started in net. The Flames swapped John Beecher in for Ryan Lomberg, but otherwise kept their lineup the same as it has been lately.

After Burner

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

Up next

The Flames (30-34-8) close out their homestand on Saturday night when they host the Vancouver Canucks.

PRESENTED BY STAKE

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