Flames Doubled Up By Maple Leafs

Nazem Kadri and Joel Farabee had two points apiece, but a furious Flames rally fell short Monday at the Scotiabank Saddledome, as the Maple Leafs skated away with a 4-2 triumph.

Toronto staked their way to a three-goal lead midway through the contest, but Calgary's push could not net an equalizer.

Ten seconds into the game, the Flames got their first chance on a hard shot from Matvei Gridin, but just 25 seconds after that, the Maple Leafs opened the scoring when William Nylander was sprung free on a breakaway.

That lead held through 20 minutes of play, despite the home side holding a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal and coming close to finding an equalizer on net-front chances including a Connor Zary redirect, and an Adam Klapka net drive that manifested itself when he spun off a check on the left half-wall.

Toronto extended their lead with two quick goals in the first half of the middle stanza, Matias Maccelli snapping his eighth of the season after a loose puck found him in the slot. Former Flame Troy Stecher made it 3-0 for the visitors less than two minutes later, outwaiting Calgary starter Dustin Wolf with a backhand from in tight.

But as the second period progressed, the Flames began to cash in.

Kadri got the locals on the board at 13:15, converting with a short-side roof job from the bottom of the right circle after linemate Farabee found him in space with a feathery-soft pass from the slot.

The duo traded roles on their next quality chance. Kadri found space low on the left wing and fired the puck to the blue paint, where a charing Farabee was able to redirect it past Maple Leafs starter Joseph Woll for his second goal in as many games.

Nylander had three points for the visitors through 40 minutes, and came close to adding to his total 5:50 into the third period, but his shot from the left circle struck iron. Wolf kept it a one-goal game with a stellar stop a couple of minutes later, lunging to his left to get a glove hand to Maccelli's effort at the right post.

At the other end, Calgary kept pushing, and Woll turned in two moments of brilliance of his own to preserve the Leafs' lead. He robbed Yegor Sharangovich with an arm stop of his own while laying prone in his crease, then after a carom of the corner boards caught everyone by surprise, he raced back to his crease to get a stick on the puck before a lunging Adam Klapka could tap it home.

In all, the Toronto 'keeper made 13 stops in the final frame, and got bailed out by his post with just under six minutes left when Matt Coronato cranked a snapshot off the iron from the face-off dot.

Bobby McMann rounded out the scoring with an empty-netter in the final minute.

Defenceman Zayne Parekh made his first NHL appearance for the Flames in close to three months, playing 20:05 with six shot attempts.

The Lineup:

FORWARDS

Yegor Sharangovich - Mikael Backlund - Matt Coronato

Connor Zary - Nazem Kadri - Joel Farabee

Jonathan Huberdeau - Morgan Frost - Matvei Gridin

Ryan Lomberg - Martin Pospisil - Adam Klapka

DEFENCE

Kevin Bahl - Zach Whitecloud

Yan Kuznetsov - MacKenzie Weegar

Joel Hanley - Zayne Parekh

GOALTENDERS

Dustin Wolf - starter

Devin Cooley

They Said It:

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 30, TOR 22

Powerplay: CGY 0-1, TOR 0-0

Faceoffs: CGY 37.8%, TOR 62.2%

Hits: CGY 20, TOR 14

Blocked Shots: CGY 17, TOR 27

5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 28, TOR 22

5-on-5 High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 14, TOR 4

Up Next:

The Flames have one game left before the NHL breaks for the Olympics. Calgary hosts Edmonton in the final Battle of Alberta of the regular season Wednesday at 8 p.m. MT. GET TICKETS