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Instant Reaction: Flames tame the Devils in New Jersey
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Photo credit: Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images
Ryan Pike
Mar 12, 2026, 21:42 EDTUpdated: Mar 12, 2026, 22:00 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 headed to the swamp to face the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night.
Coming off a pair of games where they were kinda all over the place, the Flames were pretty good! They scored first, never trailed, and held on through a late Devils push to win 5-4.

The rundown

The Flames opened the scoring early in the first period off the rush. Matvei Gridin made a couple nice plays through the neutral zone, sending John Beecher into the Devils’ zone with speed. Beecher’s wrister eluded Jacob Markstrom to give the Flames a 1-0 lead.
Later in the period, the Flames got some insurance. On a lengthy cycle sequence, Kevin Bahl fired the puck towards the net and it ricocheted off a Devils’ stick and past Markstrom to give the Flames a 2-0 lead.
The Devils got on the board late in the first period, though. Hunter Brzustewicz had a puck slide off his stick in the defensive zone. The Devils grabbed the loose puck, leading to a Maksim Tsyplakov wrister that beat Dustin Wolf to cut Calgary’s lead to 2-1.
First period shots were 10-8 Devils. Via Natural Stat Trick, 5v5 scoring chances were 8-6 Devils and high-danger scoring chances were 2-1 Devils.
The Flames increased their lead to 3-1 early in the second period with a shorthanded goal from Beecher. The Devils were a bit too casual with drop-passes in the neutral zone, so Beecher sped in, stole the puck and then buried his own rebound.
The Devils scored later on the same power play, though, as Simon Nemec cashed in with a rebound shot on the heels of a great Luke Hughes rush play that created chaos in the Flames’ zone. That cut the lead to 3-2.
But the Flames responded back with a really nice breakout sequence, leading to a two-on-one, ending with Ryan Strome setting up Yegor Sharangovich, and Sharangovich beating Markstrom to make it 4-2.
Second period shots were 13-9 Flames. 5v5 scoring chances were 7-6 Devils and high-danger scoring chances were 5-2 Flames.
The Flames scored early in the third period. Joel Farabee made a nice pass in the neutral zone that sent Mikael Backlund into the Devils’ zone with speed. Backlund fired the puck past Markstrom to make it 5-2 Flames.
Jack Hughes scored a nice goal, getting a pass with speed and firing a lot shot past Wolf to cut the Flames’ lead to 5-3.
(Luke) Hughes scored a late one on a Devils’ power play, with the goalie pulled for the extra attacker, to cut the lead to 5-4.
But it was too little, too late, and the Flames held on for a 5-4 win.
Third period shots were 11-8 Devils. 5v5 scoring chances were 7-1 Devils and high-danger scoring chances were 2-0 Devils.

Why the Flames won

The Flames were a little clunky defensively against the Capitals and Rangers. They were much better in this game, playing smart, structured hockey and finding ways to be opportunistic with scoring chances. A lot of their goals came off lapses by New Jersey, and the Flames were able to take advantage.

Red Warrior

John Beecher scored twice to raise his goal total as a Flame to three!

Turning point

We’ll go with Mikael Backlund’s game winner. You knew that the Devils were gonna press in the third period, so getting a bit of insurance early in the frame was huge.

This and that

Dustin Wolf started in net.
Mikael Backlund’s goal was his 229th as a Flame, tying him with Kent Nilsson for fifth all-time, and it was also his 600th point with the Flames.
Victor Olofsson registered an assist on Yegor Sharangovich’s goal, for his first point as a Flame.

After Burner

Join Cami Kepke and myself right after the game for After Burner!

Up next

The Flames (26-32-7) return to action on Saturday night against the New York Islanders.
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