The Flames didn’t waste their final chance to send the Maple Leafs out of the Saddledome with a loss.
Calgary handled an early push from Toronto, settled into the game and rode a sharp offensive stretch to a 5-2 win on Monday night, completing a sweep of its four-game homestand. The building had plenty of blue in it, but the Flames still found a way to control the night.
Toronto came out flying and grabbed the first five shots on goal, but Calgary absorbed the pressure and gradually took over. After a few power-play looks and an Aydar Suniev post off a Leafs turnover, the Flames opened the scoring. Martin Pospisil sprung Matvei Gridin through the neutral zone, and Gridin came in with speed before beating Sergei Bobrovsky short side to make it 1-0.
Calgary doubled up soon after. Joel Farabee forced a turnover on the forecheck, Matt Coronato recovered the puck and worked it into the slot before slipping it to Mikael Backlund, whose wrister beat Bobrovsky for a 2-0 lead.
The Leafs had a chance on the power play later in the period after Devin Cooley was penalized for playing the puck outside the trapezoid, but Cooley stopped Kirill Marchenko in tight with a skate save and Calgary killed it off. The first period also featured a brief fight between Jake Middleton and Zach MacEwen, though it ended quickly after Middleton lost his footing and MacEwen took him down.
Then the Flames really stretched the game open early in the second.
After Easton Cowan hauled down Suniev following a clean hit, Calgary took a power play into the middle frame and turned it into another goal. Zayne Parekh delivered the outlet pass that sent Gridin in alone, and this time he went glove side on Bobrovsky to make it 3-0. Gridin capped it with “The Griddy” on the ice.
Toronto answered with some pushback. Midway through the period, Troy Stecher sent a low slap-pass across, and Cowan got inside position on Suniev to deflect the puck past Cooley and cut the lead to 3-1.
The Leafs kept coming. Calgary failed to cash in on an early power play, then couldn’t cleanly handle a bouncing puck in its own end. William Nylander jumped on it and batted it past Cooley to pull Toronto within one.
But that was as close as the Leafs got.
After Toronto pulled Bobrovsky for the extra attacker, Calgary blocked a chance, moved the puck up ice and Farabee buried the empty-netter for a 4-2 edge. Martin Pospisil added another empty-net goal to finish off the 5-2 result.
The Flames earned it by playing with no fear. They pushed, hit and battled along the boards, and they clearly weren’t treating the Leafs like anything special. At the same time, their own zone coverage got loose at points, and Toronto had enough looks that Calgary needed a few breaks to hold the lead.
Gridin was the clear standout. He scored twice, played with confidence and added a little flair to go with it.
His power-play goal early in the second period stood as the turning point, pushing Calgary to a three-goal lead before the Leafs clawed back.
Backlund’s goal also carried a milestone. It was his 609th point as a Flame, moving him into a tie for fifth on the franchise’s all-time list with the late Johnny Gaudreau.
The night also marked the 1,623rd regular season game at the Saddledome, moving it into sole possession of eighth place for regular season games hosted in NHL history.
Calgary’s lineup included Farabee with Backlund and Coronato, Gridin with Pospisil and Ryan Strome, and Devin Cooley starting in goal with Dustin Wolf backing up. Jonathan Huberdeau and Sam Honzek were out with injuries, while Backlund returned after missing two games.
The Flames are now 5-6-0 and head straight into a one-game road trip Wednesday night against the Edmonton Oilers on Amazon Prime’s Wednesday Night Hockey.
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