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Instant Reaction: Shorthanded Flames weather storm against Hurricanes
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Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Ryan Pike
Mar 8, 2026, 00:48 ESTUpdated: Mar 8, 2026, 03:00 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 were shorthanded on Saturday night as they began the stretch drive against the Carolina Hurricanes. In the big picture sense, they had traded away Nazem Kadri (and previously sent away Rasmus Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar) so their lineup was depleted. And they went down to five defenders after the first period due to an injury to Zach Whitecloud.
Despite all that, the Flames managed to ride out the storm, so to speak, riding a strong second period to a 5-4 victory over the Hurricanes.

The rundown

44 seconds into the game, Carolina opened the scoring. The Flames lost a 50/50 puck battle along the boards just inside their blueline. Off that turnover, Andrei Svechnikov threw a pass across the zone to Seth Jarvis, left all alone, and he sniped a shot top corner on Dustin Wolf to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Late in the first period, though, Zach Whitecloud went down awkwardly while battling with Nikolaj Ehlers inside the Carolina blueline. The play was whistled down and he was helped off the ice. The Flames went down to five defenders for the remainder of the game.
First period shots were 9-6 Hurricanes. Via Natural Stat Trick, 5v5 scoring chances were 10-1 Hurricanes and high-danger scoring chances were 4-1 Hurricanes.
Early in the second period, the Flames drew even, with Ryan Strome jumping on a rebound off a series of Flames chances in around the Carolina net. That made it a 1-1 game.
A little later, the Flames scored again and grabbed the lead. Blake Coleman’s line did a great job sustaining pressure, and Coleman’s point shot getting deflected by Morgan Frost (and stopped by Brandon Bussi), but Joel Farabee buried the rebound from a sharp angle to give the Flames a 2-1 lead.
Later on, the Flames got some insurance, with Morgan Frost scoring a power play goal off a set-up from Zayne Parekh to give the Flames a 3-1 lead.
Second period shots were 13-7 Flames. 5v5 scoring chances were 14-6 Flames and high-danger scoring chances were 8-0 Flames.
Early in the third period, the Flames scored again. Bussi tried to pass the puck after stopping a dump-in from Frost, but Farabee intercepted it and fired on net, with Coleman getting the rebound to make it 4-1.
The Hurricanes tried to whittle down the lead, though. Sean Walker finished a really nice Hurricanes passing play in the Flames zone midway through the period to cut the lead to 4-2.
A little later, with Brayden Pachal in the box, the Hurricanes gained the offensive zone, threw the puck to the point and Alexander Nikishin’s shot beat Wolf inside the post to cut the lead to 4-3.
But Farabee scored a nice breakaway goal with a couple minutes left, off a feed from Frost, to give the Flames a 5-3 lead.
With 11.9 seconds left in regulation, and Bussi on the bench for the extra attacker, Andrei Svechnikov fired a scoring chance past Wolf to cut the lead to 5-4.
But that’s as close as the Hurricanes would get and the Flames held on for the victory.
Third period shots were 13-6 Hurricanes. 5v5 scoring chances were 8-6 Hurricanes and high-danger scoring chances were 5-3 Hurricanes.

Why the Flames won

The Hurricanes were fantastic in the first. The Flames were great in the second. The Flames were slightly better than the Hurricanes in the third period. In the aggregate, the Flames were the better team and they got the result they deserved.

Red Warrior

Collective award to the line of Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee and Blake Coleman.

Turning point

The Hurricanes looked sleepy in the second period and the Flames ran their show.

This and that

Newly-acquired players Olli Maatta and Ryan Strome made their Flames debuts. Victor Olofsson is still in transit and didn’t play. Joel Hanley missed the game due to illness. Maatta and Strome both earned their first points as Flames in their debuts.

After Burner

Join Mike Gould and Kent Wilson right after the game for After Burner!

Up next

The Flames (25-30-7) are kicking off a five game road trip on Monday night when they face the Washington Capitals.
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