Flames Defeated By Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS — Mark Stone scored a hat-trick, helping the Golden Knights to a 6-2 victory over the Flames Thursday at T-Mobile Arena. 

Jake Middleton and Matt Coronato counted the Calgary markers, both on special teams, as the Flames split their two-game, Pacific Division road trip.

The Turning Point:

The Flames cut the deficit to 2-1 in the second period, but the one-goal deficit lasted less than a minute.

And Jake Middleton's shortie was one of several opportunities afforded the visitors while a man down.

But his goal was cancelled out by a Braeden Bowman powerplay marker that made the score 3-1 in the Golden Knights' favour, and the home side never looked back.

First As A Flame:

Jake Middleton opened his Flames scoring account 10:17 into the second period, with a short-handed marker, no less.

After Martin Pospisil did some good work to win a board battle in the Calgary zone, Joel Farabee jumped on a loose puck in neutral territory and sped down the right wing, floating the disc into open space in the Vegas end for Middleton to grab, hold, and fire his first goal of the season.

Middleton, who lit the lamp 17 times over the past three seasons with the Wild, becomes the first Flames player to score their first goal for the club while short-handed since Anthony Mantha did so Oct. 9, 2024 at Vancouver.

Ice Chips:

Martin Pospisil finished the game with an assist, while also leading all skaters with eight hits ... Wolf turned aside 18 shots during the second period ... Mikael Backlund led all skaters with 14 face-off wins.

Stat Pack:

Shots: CGY 30, VGK 33

Powerplay: CGY 1-2, VGK 2-5

Faceoffs: CGY 48.3%, VGK 51.7%

Blocked Shots: CGY 16, VGK 14

Hits: CGY 24, VGK 16

5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 26, VGK 19

5-on-5 High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 13, VGK 5

Lines & Pairings:

FORWARDS

Yegor Sharangovich - Mikael Backlund - Joel Farabee

Aydar Suniev - Morgan Frost - Matt Coronato

Ryan Strome - Martin Pospisil - Matvei Gridin

Maxim Tsyplakov - Jonathan Castagna - Adam Klapka

DEFENCEMEN

Kevin Bahl - Simon Nemec

Yan Kuznetsov - Zach Whitecloud

Jake Middleton - Zayne Parekh

GOALTENDERS

Dustin Wolf (starter)

Devin Cooley

They Said It:

What's Next:

The Flames return home to play their next four games at the Scotiabank Saddledome, the first of which goes Sunday at 6 p.m. MT versus the Carolina Hurricanes. **GET TICKETS**