Flames score early and often
The Calgary Flames have made an art of the comeback victory, battling from behind six times this season.
On Monday, however, they got to work early and definitely didn’t wait until the third period to get the job done.
Pumping in five goals in the first 20 minutes and another two in the second frame, the Flames took it to the Vegas Golden Knights 7-2 to capture their second straight victory.
It almost made you feel sorry for starting netminder Malcolm Subban, whose shoulders slumped immediately after Matthew Tkachuk picked the top corner just 24 seconds into the middle frame as the entire building wondered why Golden Knights head coach Gerard Gallant wasn’t ending the misery. Almost.
Because, if you’ll remember, the Flames were in this position nearly a month ago when they were hanging their heads after a 9-1 loss Oct. 25. The lopsided result raised questions about many things, including their play on home ice and goaltending.
Since that date they are 7-3-1. At home, they’re 4-1-1.
As for their goaltending, David Rittich looked solid again in facing 22 shots.
He improved to 7-1-0 this season while the Flames, overall, are 12-8-1 and moved into first in the Pacific Division.
Only Nick Holden and Max Pacioretty scored on Rittich Monday, both in the third period, the latter a power play goal.
In the second period, Rittich made his 10th stop of the night on a short-handed breakaway on Reilly Smith, which caused fans at the Saddledome to erupt into cheers.
The score could have been even more lopsided if Subban hadn’t made a few key stops, including a short-handed rush from Garnet Hathaway and Derek Ryan in the first period (he stuck out his left toe on Ryan) and an opportunity in the second period with Calgary’s third line as he came out to play the puck and take a chance away from Michael Frolik and James Neal.
The Golden Knights looked like a team that played 24 hours earlier, a 6-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers, and didn’t give Subban much support. Calgary peppered him with 32 shots.
Meanwhile, the Flames’ top line padded their stats with some incredible work in the offensive zone.
In the opening frame alone, Sean Monahan scored twice and had an assist while Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and three assists. Elias Lindholm continued to prove his importance to the trio and showed tremendous patience with the puck as he held onto it and waited until his linemates set up in the offensive zone, nabbing an assist on Gaudreau’s marker.
TJ Brodie also scored in the first period.
Tkachuk, who opened the scoring 2:36 into the first period on a power play, had a four-point night (two goals and two assists) while Sam Bennett snapped a 13-game goal-scoring drought for his third of the year on a secondperiod man advantage.
The Flames wrap up a fourgame homestand on Wednesday against the Winnipeg Jets.
NICE GESTURE FOR NEAL
Neal was lined up at centre ice when the puck was dropped Monday, a nice touch by Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters to start the 31-year-old winger against his former team.
Neal was part of last year’s Cinderella story which saw the Vegas Golden Knights defy all odds and battle to the Stanley Cup final.
In the off-season, he inked a deal with the Flames — his fifth NHL team. But no matter how many times you do it, playing against your old squad is meaningful.
“It’s always fun going up your old teammates,” Neal said. “Last year was a great year. A ton of fun. A lot of respect for those guys over there. But when you go up against your old team, you always want to beat them and have a great game.”