Denied By Devils

Nico Hischier scored twice, and Vitek Vanecek made 23 saves as the Devils got past the Flames 4-2 Saturday in the first of two NextGen Series games at Scotiabank Saddledome.

The visitors scored a pair of second-period goals, then held on in the final frame to deny the Flames a second straight win on home ice.

Yegor Sharangovich and Nazem Kadri both found the back of the net for the locals, who closed out their six-game homestand with a 3-3-0 record.

Calgary started the game on the front foot, forcing Vanecek into a series of early tests including a high-danger opportunity from Blake Coleman in the opening minute.

Vanecek padded away a Mikael Backlund chance from in tight before getting a glove off a slapper from Andrew Mangiapane seven-and-a-half minutes into the game, after the Flames forward found himself on a partial break after accepting a crisp stretch pass from MacKenzie Weegar at the Devils blue line.

Calgary kept up the pressure as the period continued, both in terms of puck pursuit and physicality, accented by a crushing check by Mangiapane on New Jersey blueliner Jonas Siegenthaler at the 11-minute mark.

The Devils earned the first man-advantage opportunity of the contest with just over two minutes to play in the opening frame, forcing Calgary netminder Dustin Wolf into his best save of the period with 1:12 remaining on the clock.

Wolf coolly snagged a wrist shot from Jack Hughes after the Devils centre danced through the Flames defence and found himself free in the left-wing circle.

With time winding down in the opening frame, the hosts broke the deadlock. Sharangovich gathered a Coleman clearance in the neutral-zone while gliding backwards, then pivoted into the New Jersey end on a short-handed breakaway.

The ex-Devil deked out his former teammate Vanecek with a nifty move at the edge of the crease, then lifted a backhand into the top corner for his sixth goal of the campaign.

The hosts held a 13-7 edge in shots on goal through 20 minutes.

Vanecek kept the score at 1-0 by channeling his inner Dominik Hasek early in the middle stanza. In a desperation move, he thrust out his left arm blindly to deny Jonathan Huberdeau at the back post after a rebound opportunity landed on the Calgary forward’s stick.

The save paid off for the visitors, who tied the game at the 3:28 mark on a Hischier snapshot from the right circle.

New Jersey took the lead nine minutes later, as Jesper Bratt crashed the net and helped usher a rebound past Wolf for his second point of the afternoon.

The Flames then found themselves short-handed following an unsuccessful coaches challenge, but managed to hold the NHL’s top powerplay at bay thanks in part to a pair of selfless blocks from Rasmus Andersson.

Playing in his 400th career NHL contest, Andersson knelt down to absorb one snapshot, then moments later hurled himself at a puck in the left-wing circle to a roar of approval from the Saddledome faithful.

At the other end, the Flames pushed for an equalizer, but Vanecek’s goal-frame bailed him out.

Forward Matt Coronato, inserted into the lineup after being recalled from the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers earlier in the day, raced down the right wing and unleashed a high-octane wrist shot, but his effort struck the meeting place between crossbar and goalpost and rocketed back to safety.

New Jersey extended their lead to 3-1 nine minutes into the third period on another second effort in front of Wolf. Timo Meier banged home a loose puck for his sixth goal of the season.

Undaunted, the Flames kept clawing for offence, eventually narrowing the scoreline to 3-2 when Nazem Kadri roofed a shot over Vanecek’s shoulder from the right circle.

But Hischier confirmed Calgary's fate, firing a puck the length of the playing surface and into the empty cage with 37 seconds remaining in the contest.

Wolf, making his second straight start for the Flames, stopped 26 shots in the Calgary crease.

Kadri led all Flames skaters with four shots on goal.

The Lineup:

Trios and D-partners to start the tilt:

Forwards

Andrew Mangiapane - Elias Lindholm - Yegor Sharangovich

Connor Zary - Nazem Kadri - Matt Coronato

Jonathan Huberdeau - Mikael Backlund - Blake Coleman

A.J. Greer - Adam Ruzicka - Dillon Dube

Defence

MacKenzie Weegar - Rasmus Andersson

Noah Hanifin - Chris Tanev

Ilya Solovyov - Dennis Gilbert

Goaltenders

Dustin Wolf (starter)

Dan Vladar

They Said It:

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 25, NJD 30

Powerplay: CGY 0-0, NJD 0-2

Faceoffs: CGY 46%, NJD 54%

Blocked Shots: CGY 19, NJD 16

Hits: CGY 13, NJD 19

Scoring chances: CGY 20, NJD 18

High-Danger Chances: CGY 8, NJD 8

Up Next:

The Flames head out  for a busy road trip, playing three games in four nights beginning Monday in Denver, then Tuesday in Vegas and wrapping up Thursday in Minny. They return home to the Scotiabank Saddledome Dec. 16 for a Hockey Night in Canada tilt with Tampa Bay.