Instant Reaction: Flames smother Lightning in overtime

But the Flames answered back a few minutes later. The Flames won a face-off in the offensive zone and cycled the puck around. Yegor Sharangovich found Victor Olofsson in the slot, and Olofsson blasted a shot past Jonas Johansson’s glove to tie the game at 1-1.

A little later, Matt Coronato made a nice pass off the rush, finding Morgan Frost near the slot. Frost’s quick wrister beat Johansson glove-side to give the Flames a 2-1 lead.

First period shots were 11-10 Flames.

Midway through the second period, the Flames added to their lead. Blake Coleman found Mikael Backlund all alone off a zone entry, and Backlund took advantage of all the open space to rip a slap shot past Johansson to give the Flames a 3-1 lead.

A little later, though, the Lightning got back within one. Once again, the Flames got caught in their own end and Tampa Bay got a bunch of chances. That sequence ended with Taylor Raddysh blasting a shot from the high slot past Cooley to cut Calgary’s lead to 3-2.

Coleman chipped a puck past Johansson off the rush late in the second period, but it was called back after a Tampa coach’s challenge for being off-side.

Second period shots were 15-11 Lightning.

Late in the third period, Tampa Bay tied things up. The Flames couldn’t hold onto a loose puck in their own end. Yanni Gourde grabbed the loose puck and chucked a pass into the net-front area, where Pontus Holmberg chipped the puck past Cooley to tie the game at 3-3.

Third period shots were 10-6 Lightning.

26 seconds into overtime, Ryan Strome scored off a nifty set-up from Matvei Gridin to give the Flames a 4-3 win.

Why the Flames won

The Flames weren’t flashy, but they were rock-solid. They played well in all three zones, executed some nice offensive plays, and were neck-and-neck with a good Tampa team. They buried the chances they had to in order to get the extra point.

Red Warrior

Let’s go with Devin Cooley, once again, who made 32 saves and was rock-solid throughout this game.

Turning point

The game-winner by Ryan Strome.

This and that

Devin Cooley started in net. With Connor Zary injured (off the hit on Friday from A.J. Greer), Tyson Gross made his NHL debut.

After Burner

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

Up next

The Flames (29-34-7) return to action on Tuesday evening when they host the Los Angeles Kings.

PRESENTED BY STAKE