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 began a crucial stretch of their 2024-25 season on Tuesday night when they visited the Washington Capitals, the top team in the Eastern Conference. They didn’t play a perfect road game, but they played a superb first 20 minutes and then played well enough to hold onto their lead.
The Flames opened their six-game “gauntlet” road trip with a 3-1 win over the Capitals.

The rundown

The Flames played one of the better first periods of the season against the Capitals. Yeah, it did look like the Capitals were a bit flat-footed, but the Flames did a good job maintaining their shape as they defended, moved up ice and generated scoring chances.
Midway through the period, they managed to capitalize off a couple bounces to grab the lead. Ilya Solovyov pinched down from the point and fired the puck on net. The shot ricocheted off netminder Logan Thompson and went out into the slot area, where it bonked off Martin Pospisil’s shin and trickled into the net. (The Capitals protested after the goal, as they felt it was kicked in, but the officials ruled it a legal goal.)
Later in the period, the Flames added to their lead. First, Matt Coronato and Jonathan Huberdeau went into the Washington zone on an odd-man rush, but Coronato couldn’t connect on a pass and play went the other way. Coronato’s linemates went for a line change as Kevin Bahl swatted the puck away to break up a Washington scoring chance. The puck drifted through the neutral zone, was chased down by a visibly tuckered Coronato, who beat Thompson glove-side to make it 2-0 Flames.
First period shots were 14-5 Flames. Via Natural Stat Trick, five-on-five scoring chances were 12-6 Flames (high-danger chances were 4-3 Flames).
The second period saw the Capitals push back, seemingly aware they were down by two goals at home to the Flames. As a result, the Capitals pressed for much of the period, aided by a pair of power plays. But the Flames did a pretty decent job minimizing the damage, blocking shots and allowing Dan Vladar to see most of Washington’s chances.
Joel Hanley also put Capitals defenceman Taylor Raddysh into the Flames bench with a hit.
Second period shots were 12-3 Capitals. Five-on-five scoring chances were 10-4 Capitals (high-danger chances were 3-2 Capitals).
Early in the third period, Jonathan Huberdeau was called for a slash on Alex Ovechkin. On the resulting power play, Ovechkin seemed to surprise Vladar with a quick shot from near the bottom of the circles that beat the Flames’ netminder short-side. That cut the Flames lead to 2-1.
But the Flames managed to answer back later in the third period. Nazem Kadri won a loose puck behind the Capitals net, then attempted a wrap-around on Thompson. The Capitals netminder stopped Kadri, but the rebound trickled to the other side of the crease, where Jonathan Huberdeau quickly chipped it into the open Washington net to give the Flames a 3-1 lead.
The Flames held on for the 3-1 victory.
Third period shots were 10-8 Capitals.

Why the Flames won

The Flames were excellent in the first period and fully earned their two-goal lead. And while they weren’t nearly as good in the final 40 minutes, they did a pretty capable job of weathering the storm. Yeah, they probably wish they got a bit more out of their special teams – Washington’s lone goal was on the power play while the Flames scored all of theirs at five-on-five – but that’s a nitpick. They faced one of the NHL’s top teams in their rink and never trailed. That’s an accomplishment.

Red Warrior

Rasmus Andersson didn’t register any points, but he set the tone for the team’s defending in the final 40 minutes with many, many shot blocks.

Turning point

We’re going to single out Coronato’s breakaway goal. It was a heck of a shot, but it also sent the Flames into the first intermission with a bit of margin for error. It held up as the eventual game-winner.

This and that

With this victory, the Flames have used up their game-in-hand on the Vancouver Canucks and leap-frogged them to move into the final Western Conference playoff spot. The Canucks are back in action on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Kings.
Kevin Bahl returned to action after missing eight games with an upper body injury and one game with an illness.
Ovechkin’s goal was his 30th of the season.

Up next

The Flames (28-21-8) are headed to the Sunshine State for their next couple of games. They visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday evening.

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