logo
FlamesNation has no direct affiliation to the Calgary Flames, Calgary Sports and Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
Instant Reaction: Flames overwhelm Vegas early, hold on for win
alt
Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Ryan Pike
Dec 21, 2025, 00:36 ESTUpdated: Dec 21, 2025, 01:08 EST
Comments
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 played their final home game before Christmas on Saturday night when they hosted the Vegas Golden Knights at the Saddledome. And rather than be gracious hosts, the Flames opted to deliver a lump of coal to Vegas.
The Golden Knights made a late push, but the Flames took advantage of a ton of early offence and held on for a 6-3 victory over Vegas.

The rundown

The Flames had some good energy right from puck drop and put it to use in the first period.
3:54 into the opening frame, the Flames opened the scoring. They disrupted a Vegas rush at their own blueline and then headed up ice on a rush of their own. Connor Zary attempted a toe-drag move, which resulted in a bit of a scramble in front as both he and Blake Coleman jostled for the puck (and boxed out some Vegas defenders). That left time and space for Mikael Backlund to get the puck and fire it past Akira Schmid to give the home side a 1-0 lead.
A few minutes later, the Flames scored again. This time they got some zone time in the Vegas zone and cycled the puck pretty well. Yan Kuznetsov’s point shot, going slightly wide of the net, bonked off Adam Klapka (at the edge of the crease) and into the Vegas net. (And then Klapka kinda fell on Schmid.) That made it 2-0 Flames.
Vegas answered back about a minute and a half later, though. The Flames were caught up ice on an offensive rush chance. Vegas broke up that rush and Mark Stone fed Reilly Smith a head-man pass that got him behind Kevin Bahl and in alone against Devin Cooley. He fired the puck past Cooley to cut the lead to 2-1.
But just over five minutes later, the Flames answered back. Vegas had some zone time in the Flames’ end, but John Beecher intercepted and sent Zary and Ryan Lomberg up ice all alone. Zary fed Lomberg for a breakaway and he beat Schmid stick-side to give the Flames a 3-1 lead.
Right after his goal, Lomberg fought Jeremy Lauzon – who had a listed six inch and 41 pound size advantage on Lomberg. It was a reasonably competitive tilt, all things considered.
First period shots were 12-6 Flames. Via Natural Stat Trick, 5v5 scoring chances were 13-9 Flames and high-danger scoring chances were 7-5 Flames.
About midway through the second period, the Flames added to their tallies. This time, on a rush sequence, MacKenzie Weegar found Backlund all alone at the far post. Backlund’s initial chance didn’t get past Schmid, but he got his second effort into the net to give the Flames a 4-1 lead.
The Flames added a shorthanded tally roughly four minutes later. With Morgan Frost in the sin bin, Joel Farabee collected a pass in his own end from Weegar and went for a skate. He made a really patient play in the Vegas end, waiting out a couple players and then beating Schmid glove-side to put the Flames lead at 5-1.
Vegas’ Kaedan Korczak responded back a couple minutes later though, taking advantage of a bit of a broken play in the Flames zone – and a few bodies in front of Cooley – to pick the top corner of the Calgary net and cut the lead to 5-2.
Second period shots were 10-9 Flames. 5v5 scoring chances were 9-7 Flames and high-danger scoring chances were 5-2 Flames.
The Golden Knights pressed in the third period and tried to get a little closer. With Kuznetsov in the penalty box, Stone scored a weird and skilled goal: a shot went wide and bounced off the end-boards and into the air near the Flames’ net. Stone whacked it out of mid-air, off Cooley’s back and into the net, to cut the Flames’ lead to 5-3.
Vegas pulled Schmid for the extra attacker with 2:04 remaining in regulation. Cooley was busy but made some good saves and Huberdeau scored on an empty-net – while being hauled down, so the goal would’ve counted anyway – to make it a 6-3 Flames win.
Third period shots were 21-5 Flames.

Why the Flames won

Did the Red Team play their usual buttoned-up defensive game? Not entirely. This game got a bit loosey-goosey with the overall structural details at times and became a bit of a scramble. But give the Flames credit: they did a good job at returning to their structure and details and generally avoiding letting the Golden Knights get their mojo going.
Vegas looked a bit off for much of the evening, and the Flames didn’t do much to disrupt whatever was ailing Vegas. What’s the old saying? When you’re opponent’s making mistakes, let them. Well, the Flames were perfectly happy to take advantage of Vegas’ mistakes.

Red Warrior

A lot of players in red looked really strong in this one. We’re gonna give the nod here to Connor Zary, who had three assists. But Weegar, Backlund and Zary all multi-point games, too.

Turning point

Lomberg’s goal was, in grand scheme of things, pretty big. Take that away and Vegas is down a goal after 20 minutes and probably feels like they have some hope.

This and that

MacKenzie Weegar’s helper on Mikael Backlund’s second goal was Weegar’s 200th assist of his NHL career. Speaking of Backlund, he now has 224 goals with the Flames, just five shy of Kent Nilsson for fourth in franchise history.
The Flames have scored six shorthanded goals – tied for the league lead with Anaheim and Los Angeles – and Joel Farabee and Blake Coleman are in a four-way tie with Joel Armia and Sam Reinhart for the individual league lead with three apiece.

After Burner

Join Mike and Jordan from the In The Dome podcast right after the game for After Burner!

Up next

The Flames (15-17-4) are headed north before Christmas. They’ll face the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Tuesday in their final game before the holiday break. We’ll have live on the ground coverage for y’all.

This article is brought to you by Platinum Mitsubishi

This article is a Presentation of Platinum Mitsubishi, family owned and operated by lifelong Calgarians. Home of the best warranty in the business with ten year warranties available. Check out the showroom at 2720 Barlow Trail NE or online at www.mitsu.ca

News

Breaking News