The Calgary Flames finally gave their home crowd something to cheer about on Sunday night, grinding out a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes for their first victory at home this season.
It took some work. It took some patience. And it took a standout night from Devin Cooley, who kept the Flames afloat while Carolina pressed early and often.
The first period was messy without being disastrous for Calgary. The Flames were getting enough done defensively, but their puck management helped create a few uncomfortable moments. Cooley cleaned up a lot of them, turning aside a steady stream of chances and making several eye-catching saves as Carolina tested him repeatedly.
The breakthrough for the Hurricanes came on their 19th shot. Off the rush, Eric Robinson’s attempt was blocked, but Nicolas Deslauriers won the race to the loose puck and sent it toward the net. Cooley made the first stop, only for Jesperi Kotkaniemi to poke home the rebound from the edge of the crease and put Carolina up 1-0.
Calgary spent a stretch chasing the game after that, including one long sequence where the Flames couldn’t finish a line change and Yan Kuznetsov ended up stuck on the ice for more than three minutes, with Zach Whitecloud and Aydar Suniev also stranded in the defensive zone for over two minutes apiece. Even then, the Flames found a way to settle the game down and answer back.
Mikael Backlund drove a rush into the Carolina end and put a puck on Brandon Bussi while everyone else was changing. Calgary recovered the rebound, Matt Coronato found Matvei Gridin coming off the bench into space in the slot, and Gridin buried it to tie the game 1-1.
The go-ahead goal came almost immediately after. Carolina took a delay-of-game penalty for sending the puck over the glass, and the Flames adjusted their power play by moving the puck lower in the zone against Carolina’s pressure at the point. The result was a clean passing sequence that ended with Zayne Parekh setting up Morgan Frost for a tap-in into an open net, giving Calgary a 2-1 lead.
That edge didn’t last long. With a late offensive-zone face-off, the Hurricanes won the draw back to the point, Jalen Chatfield fired the puck toward the net, and it slipped through traffic past a screened Cooley. Three Flames skaters were in the lane, but the shot still found its way through to tie it 2-2 before the period ended.
By the third, Calgary looked more comfortable and more dangerous. The Flames carried play for stretches and eventually got the winner on a crisp rush sequence with 4:28 left in regulation.
Morgan Frost tracked down a puck entering the Carolina zone, Aydar Suniev joined the rush, and Frost sent the puck across to Yegor Sharangovich as the trailer on the right wing. Sharangovich made no mistake, snapping a shot high past Bussi to make it 3-2.
Carolina pulled Bussi for the extra attacker, but Calgary held firm the rest of the way.
The Flames didn’t beat Carolina by overpowering them. They beat them by hanging around, surviving the bad patches, and making a few more plays when it mattered.
The Hurricanes, as the game showed, are a tough team to handle. Calgary’s margin for error was tiny.
The Flames just found enough in their game - and enough in goal - to get the two points.
Cooley was the obvious standout. He was the reason the Flames stayed alive early, and the biggest reason they were able to grow into the game later.
There were a few possible turning points to point to: Calgary’s two goals in 69 seconds late in the second, Carolina’s reply with three seconds left in the period, or Sharangovich’s late winner off the rush. Take your pick.
The lineup for the Flames featured Joel Farabee with Mikael Backlund and Matt Coronato; Matvei Gridin with Martin Pospisil and Ryan Strome; Yegor Sharangovich with Morgan Frost and Aydar Suniev; and Brennan Othmann with Jonathan Castagna and Adam Klapka. On defense, it was Kevin Bahl with Simon Nemec, Jake Middleton with Zach Whitecloud, and Yan Kuznetsov with Zayne Parekh.
Devin Cooley started in net, backed up by Devin Cooley. Joel Hanley and Maxim Tsyplakov were the healthy extras, while Jonathan Huberdeau and Sam Honzek were out with injuries.
The night also marked Matt Coronato’s 200th NHL game and Morgan Frost’s 400th NHL game.
The Flames are now 2-6-0 and are back in action Thursday at home against the Minnesota Wild, in Blake Coleman’s first game back in Calgary since the big trade.
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