Washington gained entry into the Calgary zone, but turned the puck over high in the Flames' end. Worse, both Washington defenders were clustered on the same side of the ice. So when Calgary's Sean Monahan quick-upped the puck to Johnny Gaudreau in neutral ice, the latter had some running room. He was able to drive down to the top half of the right circle easily, and from there he beat Caps goalie Braden Holtby to the far side, squaring the score.
The second period belonged to the Flames. Eller went to the box for hooking at 3:28, and the Flames took advantage of the extra man to take their first lead of the night. Just before Eller was to be sprung, the Flames put a couple of quick shots on Holtby from in tight. He had the answer for both of them, but couldn't locate the puck after the second one. Unfortunately for Holtby and the Caps, Monahan found it first and roofed it from the paint, giving the Flames a 2-1 lead. The goal came at 5:22 of the second, six seconds before Eller's penalty was to expire.
Washington didn't have much going on offensively in the second. The Caps went nearly nine minutes without generating a shot on net in the middle of the period - a stretch that included a Washington power play - and the three shots they managed early in the frame all came from long distance. The Caps rallied a bit late, getting some offensive zone time and putting some pucks in the direction of Flames goalie Mike Smith, but they entered the third down a goal at 2-1.
Calgary owned a 27-13 bulge in second-period shot attempts.