Instant Reaction: Flames bounce back to beat Buffalo

Awhile later, the Flames scored again. Kadri made a nice play on the zone entry with the puck, leading to a cycle passing play that gave Joel Farabee a great scoring chance out front. He put the puck past Ellis to give the Flames a 2-0 lead.

A couple minutes later Rasmus Dahlin fired a puck past Devin Cooley. But the Flames called a timeout, reviewed the play and then challenged for goaltender interference. It was ruled that Tage Thompson, cutting across the crease before Dahlin’s shot, impeded Cooley’s ability to play the position and the goal was disallowed.

First period shots were 11-5 Flames. Via Natural Stat Trick, 5v5 scoring chances were 5-4 Flames and high-danger scoring chances were 2-0 Flames.

The Sabres pressed for the first half of the second period, the managed to break through with two goals in slightly more than a five minute span.

First, Yan Kuznetsov chased down a puck in the Flames end and threw a pass up the wall to Sharangovich. The puck went through Sharangovich’s skates and was stolen by Mattias Samuelsson, who took a couple strides to the face-off dot to Devin Cooley’s left and wired a shot into the Calgary net to cut the visitors’ lead to 2-1.

Awhile later, the Sabres won a face-off in their own zone and headed up ice. Once in the Calgary zone they got a nice cycle passing play going, ending with Tage Thompson blasting a shot post-and-in past Cooley from the right point to tie the game at 2-2.

Second period shots were 12-10 Sabres. 5v5 scoring chances were 10-9 Sabres and high-danger scoring chances were 4-3 Sabres.

The Flames grabbed the lead back a couple minutes into the third on a great rush play. Jonathan Huberdeau carried the puck in along the left wing, while Matt Coronato went to the front of the net, taking a couple defenders along with him. Coronato’s net drive opened up some space near the far post for Morgan Frost, who received a back-door pass from Huberdeau and beat Ellis to give the Flames a 3-2 lead.

Awhile later, the Flames got some insurance. The Flames cycled the puck to the point for Andersson. His shot was stopped by Ellis, but Mikael Backlund was parked in front and buried the rebound to give the Flames a 4-2 lead.

A little later, the Flames made it 5-2. This time, Andersson threw a flip pass through the neutral zone and sprang Farabee in alone against Ellis. He fired the puck past Buffalo’s goaltender to give the Flames a three goal lead.

Coronato added a weird one late in regulation, whacking at the puck on a broken play in the slot. The puck went high off the glass, then bounced back into the Sabres crease and glanced in off the back of Ellis’ right pad. That gave the Flames a 6-2 lead.

The Sabres tried to claw back, but to no avail, and the Flames held on for the victory.

Third period shots were 13-13.

Why the Flames won

Let’s give the Flames credit: given the circumstances – within their season, within the back-to-back segment of their schedule, and within the game with the blown 2-0 first period lead – this was a game they had every opportunity to lose.

But rather than fold up in the third period, they did a great job of generating chances, both primary and secondary, and took the game away from the Sabres. The Flames carried play in the first and the Sabres responded in the second. But with the game up for grabs in the third, the Flames responded back and won.

Red Warrior

Let’s give this one to Rasmus Andersson, as he had three points and was superb overall.

But let’s also give stick-taps to Sharangovich, Farabee and Kadri, who were strong as a unit, and Cooley, who made a ton of saves when the game was close.

Turning point

We’re going to go with the first 10 minutes of the third period. They scored three times and looked really poised.

This and that

After being claimed off waivers from Boston on Tuesday, forward John Beecher debuted with the Flames on Wednesday. He played on the fourth line with Sam Morton and Adam Klapka, as well as on the penalty kill.

This was Devin Cooley’s first win with the Flames.

Flames president of hockey operations Don Maloney joined Sportsnet’s Brendan Parker at the first intermission.

After Burner

Join Robert Munnich and myself right after the game for After Burner!

Up next

The Flames (6-13-3) are headed home. They host the Dallas Stars on Saturday night in the first half of another back-to-back set.