Clearly, that cheeky little tuck did wonders for the visitors, who took a 4-1 lead into the first intermission thanks to Mangiapane's goal less than three minutes later.
Ultimately, it was his back-door bank that stood as the game-winner up in the Alberta capital.
Now, two games into the 2022-23 season and the Flames are a perfect 2-and-oh, knocking off the Cup champs at home on Thursday, before marching into the lion's den and out-gunning Connor McDavid and the arch-rival Oilers.
It's a great sign for this team, which had a couple of questions facing them early in the season:
How would Jonathan Huberdeau fit with his new team? Would he, Elias Lindholm and the sharp-shooting Tyler Toffoli mesh well enough to be that elite No. 1 unit the Flames are hoping for? Could Mangiapane repeat, or even exceed his 35-goal output from last year? Would he and Kadri make a good pair and take some of the load off the top line?
With all that change, who could fault them if it took a game or two, a week, or even a month before they were truly firing on all cylinders?
That said… So far, so good.
"There's no real timeline," Mangiapane said of the chemistry with Kadri and left-winger Dillon Dube. "Obviously, it takes time, right? Especially with a new centreman. For me, I need to know where he wants to be breaking out and through the neutral zone, on faceoffs, where he likes winning the puck... There are a lot of things like that where it's really simple stuff, but you need to be detailed.
"That's one of the strengths of our team. The details.
"The majority of the chemistry comes from knowing the system and everything along those lines. But again, there are still little plays that help out the chemistry. Knowing where each other is going to be on the ice, knowing those little support plays and if he's going to win this battle, or that battle. It comes with playing the games and feeling each other out.
"You can do that a little bit in practice, but it's more game reps than anything. That's where those situational plays happen - reacting, reacting to what your opponent is doing.
"That's where you see the biggest improvement."
The eye test tells us that all three can flat-out fly, they're heavy on the forecheck and their puck pursuit is utterly relentless.
Then, one cursory look at the numbers and it's easy to back these claims.
Together, in over 15 minutes 5-on-5, Mangiapane, Kadri and Dube have a 58.33% possession rate, a 10-5 (66.67%) share of the scoring chances, and a dominant, 5-2 (71.43%) split of the high-danger looks.
This, with a team-low 42.86% offensive zone-start percentage and a steady, top-six matchup.
"We're still building and learning the system, gelling as a team, trying to build chemistry with the new guys coming in. At the same time, when you look at the numbers, the majority of the guys from last year are still here.
"There's a foundation in place.
"The goal, every day, is to kind of build on that."
Mangiapane and the Flames host Mark Stone and the also-undefeated Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday to kick off a season-long eight-game homestand.
The road isn't getting any easier, but with a pair of victories already in their back pocket, and some quality teams looking to knock them off the pedestal, the Flames are finding out who they are - and what they could be - real quick.
"First and foremost, we've got to take care of business at home - especially early on in the season here," Mangiapane said. "They're a good team, they've got some great players, and they're playing some pretty good hockey right now, too.
"It's going to be a good game. A good test.
"The goal for us is to come out with the same energy as we have been and the rest will take care of itself."
