newgamers

It’s a tale as old as time.

Goalie makes a big stop at one end of the ice, his team goes down and scores right away at the other end.

Tied 1-1 in the third period, Dustin Wolf stared down a streaking Ivan Barbashev who was sent in on a breakaway, the Golden Knight trying a backhand/forehand deke but the Calgary ‘tender denying him in style.

Barbashev got the rebound and circled up in the Calgary zone, Blake Coleman poking the puck away from him to Nazem Kadri to start a rush towards Vegas netminder Adin Hill.

No. 91 fired the puck into the zone, followed it, won a battle with Zach Whitecloud, lifting his stick, then grabbing the puck and feeding Coleman on the doorstep who scored for the go-ahead tally at 10:06.

A big save by Wolf leads to the go-ahead goal from Coleman

Yegor Sharangovich and Matt Coronato also scored, while Coleman added an empty-netter as the Flames beat visiting Vegas 4-1 Thursday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome, snapping a three-game skid with an emphatic victory.

Calgary took the season series 3-1 with Vegas.

Dryden Hunt had a pair of assists, and Wolf ended the night with 28 saves for his second win of the season.

Wolf was called up Tuesday when Jacob Markstrom was announced out with injury and listed day-to-day. He came on in relief of Dan Vladar in the third period that night, stopping all three shots he faced in a 6-2 loss to the Avalanche.

Calgary was also without Andrei Kuzmenko due to injury Thursday night, but welcomed back Andrew Mangiapane who missed Tuesday due to illness.

The Flames had pep in their step from the opening faceoff, creating three good looks in the opening two minutes: Mangiapane missing the net off a feed from Kadri, then Daniil Miromanov getting a shot that was stopped, and Hunt tipping a wrister from Rasmus Andersson that Hill turned aside.

Later in the frame, Kadri took a feed from Sharangovich on a powerplay but was denied, and Coronato held the puck on a 2-on-1 after serving a Too Many Men minor and snapped a wrister after circling through the slot but couldn’t find twine.

Meanwhile, the team’s defensive game was on point, keeping the Golden Knights wide and allowing few quality chances.

Calgary built up a 6-0 lead in shots in the first and finished with a 13-6 edge after 20 minutes.

The homeside kept up the pressure in the second but couldn’t solve Hill, while at the other end Wolf made the stops when called upon, including a dramatic one with 3:31 to go when he came out to play the puck behind the net, but had to scramble back with a diving save on William Karlsson – aided by blueliner Oliver Kylington.

Wolf recovers, then robs Karlsson with a sliding beauty

A turnover deep in the Flames zone led to the opening goal, Anthony Mantha one-timing a puck into the open cage before Wolf could come across with 2:04 left.

With less than a minute to go, Mangiapane sent Kadri in, the Flames forward driving wide around Jonathan Marchessault and across the crease but Hill slamming the pads shut to deny his five-hole attempt.

Sharangovich got the Flames on the board four minutes into the third, his shot from in tight on a powerplay bouncing up Hill and into the cage.

Sharky ties things up with his 28th of the year

A little more than four minutes later, another save by Wolf led to another rush the other way, this time Hunt feeding Coronato and he made no mistake with a beauty that beat Hill high shortside.

Coronato roofs the Hunt feed to put the Flames up by two

Highlights, interviews and analysis of the game

The Lineup:

Forwards

Jonathan Huberdeau - Nazem Kadri - Martin Pospisil

Dryden Hunt - Yegor Sharangovich - Matt Coronato

Andrew Mangiapane - Mikael Backlund - Blake Coleman

Jakob Pelletier - Kevin Rooney - Walker Duehr

DEFENCE

Oliver Kylington - Rasmus Andersson

MacKenzie Weegar - Daniil Miromanov

Nikita Okhotiuk - Brayden Pachal

GOALTENDER

Dustin Wolf - starter

Dan Vladar

The boys were all smiles after big win

They Said It:

"It was the turning point, I thought"

"I want to keep getting better"

"I thought everybody, to a man, responded"

"The team was excellent ... from start to finish"

"It was a pretty special ending, I guess"

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 37, VGK 29

Powerplay: CGY 0-2, VGK 0-3

Faceoffs: CGY 49.3%, VGK 50.7%

Blocked Shots: CGY 30, VGK 19

Hits: CGY 19, VGK 18

5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 31, VGK 20

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

Up Next:

This homestand continues Saturday night tilt with an early 5 p.m. tilt against the Canadiens (tickets), followed by a Monday night contest with the Capitals at 6:30 p.m. (tickets).

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