Instant Reaction: Flames special teams earn win against Dallas

First period shots were 13-7 Stars. Via Natural Stat Trick, 5v5 scoring chances were 10-5 Stars and high-danger scoring chances were 2-2.

The Flames had some good chances in the second period, but couldn’t get more past DeSmith. Dallas had some looks, too, but Cooley was sharp.

Late in the period, Coronato ate a check from behind from Dallas’ Mikko Rantanen, with Coronato’s nose and face looking to take the brunt of the impact. Coronato skated off quickly, leaking blood from his face, while Jonathan Huberdeau fought Rantanen. Rantanen received a major for boarding and a game misconduct on the play while Huberdeau received an instigator minor.

Second period shots were 18-8 Flames. 5v5 scoring chances were 12-4 Flames and high-danger scoring chances were 8-1 Flames.

On an extended power play stemming from Rantanen’s major penalty, Joel Farabee deflected a point shot from Rasmus Andersson past DeSmith to give the Flames a 2-0 lead.

A little later, though, Dallas answered back. Jason Robertson fired a shot off the rush from the top of the circle that went between Brayden Pachal’s legs and looked to have changed direction off Pachal’s skate or stick. Either way, the shot fooled Cooley to cut the Flames’ lead to 2-1.

Dallas kept pressing and with 3:07 left in regulation, Roope Hintz received a pass from Robertson and fired a shot from just beside the slot that beat Cooley inside the far post. That tied the game at 2-2.

The Flames took a couple consecutive minors late in regulation: first a puck-over-glass minor for MacKenzie Weegar and then a tripping minor to John Beecher, which gave Dallas a 1:23 five-on-three power play. But the Flames managed to get it to overtime.

Third period shots were 9-7 Stars. 5v5 scoring chances were 7-7 and high-danger scoring chances were 2-2.

The Flames killed off the remainder of Beecher’s penalty in early OT and the remainder of the period was played at four-on-four. The best Dallas chance was a scrambly play that was defused by Kevin Bahl whacking the puck out of the crease in mid-air.

This game needed a shootout to determine a winner.

In a four round shootout, Morgan Frost and Nazem Kadri scored for the Flames. Jason Robertson scored for the Stars. The Flames won 4-.

Why the Flames won

The Flames were sort of all over the place in this hockey game. They were pretty dangerous at times in the offensive zone, but their puck management was an adventure throughout the night and Cooley faced more shots, and more dangerous shots, than was probably ideal.

But give the Flames credit: their power play scored twice and their penalty kill killed off all four Stars advantages. That was the difference.

Red Warrior

It’s gonna be Devin Cooley. He was the Flames’ most consistent and best player in all three periods.

Turning point

Man, the Stars were all over the Flames for much of the third period. Hintz’s game-tying goal late in regulation was a bit of a heartbreaker, as Cooley specifically deserved a better fate for his performance in this hockey game.

This and that

This was Devin Cooley’s first home start with the Flames.

Huberdeau had his first fight since a Sept. 2018 pre-season bout with Paul Byron.

After Burner

Join Jordan and Mike from the In The Dome podcast right after the game for After Burner!

Up next

The Flames (7-13-3) are headed back on the road. They’ll face the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday evening.