Flames Suffer Home-Ice Defeat To Avalanche

Dustin Wolf stopped 36 shots, but the Avalanche broke the tie with just under five minutes to play, claiming a 3-1 victory over the Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome Tuesday night.

Blake Coleman hit the 20-goal mark for the fourth time in his NHL career with a second-period marker.

The first period ended with zeroes on the scoreboard, but it wasn't due to lack of trying from the home side. Aydar Suniev worked past a defender and earned a partial breakaway just over two minutes into the game, but his shot from the low slot was stopped by Avalanche starter Mackenzie Blackwood. 

Zayne Parekh struck iron after weaving past a Colorado defender a few minutes later, then Victor Olofsson shot just high of Blackwood's goal after a nifty setup by linemate Morgan Frost.

Blackwood made another breakaway stop early in the second off Tyson Gross, but Calgary broke the ice minutes after. Mikael Backlund put a puck to the net from the right point, and as he was falling forward from absorbing a cross-check, Coleman got a stick to the loose disc and redirected it into the Avalanche net for his 20th goal of the season.

Backlund nearly added a second for the Flames before the period was through, but his shot off a 2-on-1 feed from Coleman struck the right post and stayed out.

Artturi Lehkonen evened the score at 1-1 at the 11:25 mark, and the two sides skated to their respective rooms even at the intermission.

Dustin Wolf was the busier of the two netminders Tuesday, and as was the case Sunday against the Mammoth, he was on his game against the Avalanche. He read a Jack Drury deflection smartly before stoning Calgary product Cale Makar on a short-handed breakaway late in period two. Then, he turned away a two-man breakaway, stopping another Calgarian - Logan O'Connor - at his left post.

But the Avalanche grabbed the lead with just under five minutes left thanks to their captain, Gabriel Landeskog, who deflected a Brett Kulak point shot home for his 14th goal of the campaign.

Nathan MacKinnon rounded out the scoring with an empty-netter in the final minute.

During the first period, the Flames honoured former Calgary center Nazem Kadri, who despite not dressing Tuesday made his first visit back to the Scotiabank Saddledome since being traded in March.

The Lineup:

FORWARDS

Blake Coleman - Mikael Backlund- Joel Farabee

Matvei Gridin - Morgan Frost - Victor Olofsson

Connor Zary - Rory Kerins - Adam Klapka

Yegor Sharangovich - Tyson Gross - Aydar Suniev

DEFENCE

Zayne Parekh - Zach Whitecloud

Olli Määttä - Hunter Brzustewicz

Abram Wiebe - Brayden Pachal

GOALTENDERS

Dustin Wolf - starter

Devin Cooley

They Said It:

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 31, COL 39

Powerplay: CGY 0-2, COL 0-4

Faceoffs: CGY 47.7%, COL 53.3%

Hits: CGY 12, COL 9

Blocked Shots: CGY 10, COL 8

5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 21, COL 32

5-on-5 High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 10, COL 13

Up Next:

The final game of the 2025-26 season goes Thursday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome, as the Flames host the Kings at 7 p.m. MT. GET TICKETS