Flames score five in third period to defeat Avalanche

CALGARY -- Mark Giordano had a goal and three assists, and the Calgary Flames scored five times in the third period to defeat the Colorado Avalanche 6-5 at Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday.

Mikael Backlund, Elias Lindholm, Sean Monahan, James Neal and Michael Frolik scored, Matthew Tkachuk had three assists, and Mike Smith made 21 saves for the Flames (8-5-1), who have won three in a row after losing three straight (0-2-1).
Calgary leads the NHL with four wins when trailing after two periods, and in third-period goals with 25.
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"It's belief, right?" Giordano said. "Now we've come back a few times here late in the third, in the third down three now. We'll carry that belief over for sure. You don't want to be down as much as you are going into thirds, but tonight I thought our game was good."
Vladislav Kamenev, Sheldon Dries, Colin Wilson, Carl Soderberg and Gabriel Landeskog scored, and Semyon Varlamov made 31 saves for the Avalanche (7-4-2), who have lost two in a row and three of four.

"It was a back-and-forth game," Colorado forward Nathan MacKinnon said. "We knew that they came back in a few of the previous games on the road. We were trying to get ready to go and they just wouldn't stop and we couldn't stop the bleeding. It was unfortunate."
The Flames overcame trailing by three goals in the third period to win for the sixth time in their history, and the second in regulation (Dec. 31, 1978 at the New York Rangers), by scoring five goals in 14:07 to take a 6-4 lead.
Lindholm scored on a point shot on the power play at 47 seconds to cut Colorado's lead to 4-2, and Monahan tipped in Noah Hanifin's shot to make it 4-3 at 5:21. Neal scored on a one-timer from Johnny Gaudreau to tie it 4-4 at 10:52.
"It felt great," Neal said. "The way the game was going, the way the crowd was, the way our team was, we were pushing for that next one."

Giordano put the Flames ahead 5-4 at 13:47, and Frolik made it 6-4 at 14:54 after taking a cross-slot pass from Tkachuk.
"Those are the fun moments you have playing, getting on a roll like that," Giordano said. "You could feel the other team. They really had no answer there in the third. We're moving our feet and pushing the pace. It was fun getting the crowd involved like that and getting going."
Landeskog scored on the power play with the net empty to bring the Avalanche within 6-5 with 1:03 remaining.
"Five goals in the third is a lot," MacKinnon said. "Give credit to them, but we definitely had a hand in letting them come back."

Kamenev scored his first NHL goal, shorthanded, when he shot short side to put the Avalanche up 1-0 at 3:32 of the second period, and Dries, who was recalled from Colorado of the American Hockey League on Tuesday, made it 2-0 with his first NHL goal at 5:12. It was Kamenev's 13th NHL game and Dries' fifth.
Backlund scored on a setup by Tkachuk at 6:34 to cut the lead to 2-1, but Wilson scored on a pass from Dries to make it 3-1 at 11:04.
Soderberg's shot trickled through Smith to make it 4-1 at 16:41.
"It's early but we've got to learn," Avalanche defenseman Mark Barberio said. "We've got to learn from this. You can't take your foot off the pedal in this league. Players are too good. There's too much skill. There's too much talent to doze off, especially in the third period."

They said it

"You know, after 40 [minutes] it didn't feel like the score really reflected our play through the first two periods. I give the guys a lot of credit." -- Flames coach Bill Peters

"Lack of detail and lack of commitment. … I mean, five goals in the third period, we resorted back to bad habits, like circling away from the puck, and didn't pay attention to the detail." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar

Need to know

Lindholm has nine goals through his first 14 games, trailing only Kent Nilsson who had 11 with the Atlanta Flames, for most in franchise history during that span. … Neal is one point from 500 in the NHL. … Landeskog has 15 points (10 goals, five assists) in his past nine games. … Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen, who leads the NHL in points (21) and assists (16) and was named the NHL First Star for October on Thursday, was held without a point for the second time in 13 games this season. … Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie has five assists in the past three games.

What's next

Avalanche: At the Vancouver Canucks on Friday (10 p.m. ET; NHLN, SNP, ALT, NHL.TV)
Flames:Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, SN360, SN1, CITY, NBCSCH, NHL.TV)