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 returned home after a 1-1-1 road trip looking to get points to stay alive in the Western Conference playoff race. They thoroughly out-played the visiting Anaheim Ducks on home ice, and managed to out-score them by a fair margin, too.
The Flames beat the Ducks 4-1 to grab two much-needed points in the playoff chase.

The rundown

The Flames really carried play in the first period and had more scoring chances, but the Ducks did a great job counter-punching and had arguably more dangerous chances than the Flames did.
16 seconds into the opening period, the Flames opened the scoring. The Ducks lost the puck in the Calgary zone and the Flames did a nice job moving up ice, eventually ending up with an odd-man rush with Nazem Kadri and Martin Pospisil staring down a defender. Kadri called his own number and beat John Gibson over his near shoulder to give the Flames a 1-0 lead.
Midway through the first period, the Ducks took advantage of a Flames turnover and tied the game. The Flames had a bunch of great scoring chances in the Ducks zone, but couldn’t score. The Ducks moved the puck up the other way and had a three-on-two rush against Joel Hanley and Matt Coronato, and ending up with Hanley defending against two Ducks down low. Ryan Strome threw a saucer pass to Olen Zellweger, who whacked it past Dustin Wolf to make it a 1-1 game.
First period shots were 14-13 Flames. Via Natural Stat Trick, five-on-five scoring chances were 21-12 Flames (high-danger chances were 6-4 Ducks).
The second period featured the Flames and Ducks exchanging power plays, and was generally much less run-and-gun.
Midway through the second, with Brayden Pachal in the penalty box, the Flames grabbed the lead again. Blake Coleman chased down an errant Ducks pass in the neutral zone and went for a skate. He fired the puck past Gibson to give the Flames a shorthanded goal and a 2-1 lead.
Later in the period, the Flames added some insurance. Kadri had a great scoring chance in the Ducks zone and didn’t score, but the fourth line jumped on the ice and maintained that momentum. They kept cycling the puck in the Ducks end, and eventually Kevin Rooney fired a shot from the slot that beat Gibson top corner to make it 3-1 Flames.
Second period shots were 12-10 Flames. Five-on-five scoring chances were 8-7 Ducks (high-danger chances were 3-1 Flames).
So, Gibson got crashed into by Pospisil late in the second period after Radko Gudas hauled him down. Gibson left the game at the intermission and was replaced by Lukas Dostal. On the resulting power play, which carried over into the third period, Coleman fired a shot from the wing off the rush that trickled through Dostal to give the Flames a 4-1 lead.
The Flames held on for the victory.
Third period shots were 9-4 Flames. Five-on-five scoring chances were 13-4 Flames (high-danger chances were 3-2 Flames).

Why the Flames won

Let’s call a spade a spade: this was a game the Flames needed to win and were probably expected to win given the relative placement of the two clubs in the standings. And this is also the type of game – first game back after a road trip – that sometimes can trip teams up, especially against lower-tier opposition.
The Flames didn’t get tripped up, though, and they basically played the same style of game they’ve been playing all season. They were the better team in every game situation, and after they tightened up a bit defensively in the second period, this game wasn’t particularly close.

Red Warrior

Blake Coleman had two goals and five shots, so we’ll default to him. But man, Adam Klapka was a menace out there once again, as he has been for the last while. (If this last chunk of games is an audition for full-time NHL employment for a depth forward who’s waiver eligible next season, Klapka’s done a great job of being noticeable for the right reasons.)

Turning point

The Flames really took over the game after the penalties all finished up in the second period. They played a smart, structured game and didn’t give the Ducks many good chances. That’s really all you can ask for.

This and that

At the first TV timeout, Nazem Kadri got a tribute video for recently scoring his 300th goal and registering his 700th point.
2023 third-rounder Aydar Suniev’s gear is still in transit from Boston, so he didn’t take morning skate or participate in warm-up. (He was also a scratch for this game, which is natural for a 20-year-old college kid who has yet to skate with his new team.)

Up next

The Flames (36-27-12) are back in action on Saturday night when they host the Vegas Golden Knights.

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