RALLY FALLS SHORT

It was a hard-fought point.
The Flames dominated in the third period Sunday night to rally, outshooting the Sens 16-3 and scoring twice to tie it and force OT before falling 4-3 in a shootout to the visiting Ottawa Senators at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

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Matthew Tkachuk scored in the four-round shootout, while Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau and Andrew Mangiapane were unable to find twine.
Drake Batherson had the 1-on-1 winner for Ottawa, beating Jacob Markstrom.
Mark Giordano, Gaudreau and Noah Hanifin scored for the Flames in regulation, while Markstrom made 19 saves.
Matt Murray got the start again for the Sens and had 31 stops.
Ryan Huska served as the bench Sunday for the second straight game, with new head coach Darryl Sutter finishing up COVID protocols and slated to arrive at the 'Dome Monday.
Prior to game - on a night the Flames paid tribute to International Women's Day (more on this below) - there was also a moment of silence to honour the great Walter Gretzky, who passed away Thursday night.
The Flames got an early powerplay 1:06 in when Derek Ryan - who usually plays centre but started the tilt on the wing with Mohanan and Gaudreau - was tripped while trying to tip a puck out of the Calgary zone up by the blueline for a potential breakway attempt.
Calgary wasn't able to convert but got another crack on the man-up just under four minutes later, again stymied.
Ottawa opened the scoring on a weird one from Connor Brown, who snapped a wrister from up near the blueline boards that looked to deflect off Chris Tanev and beat Markstrom five-hole at 13:48.
The Sens got a powerplay not long after which was cut short when Mangiapane was tripped on a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush.
On the ensuing four-on-four, Ryan Dzingel tapped home a feed from Chris Tierney on an Ottawa 2-on-1 to double the lead at 15:56.
Brady Tkachuk streaked in on a breakaway just 1:08 into the second period but Markstrom came up big to get his shoulder on the shot and deflect it high.
Zac Rinaldo and Austin Watson dropped the mitts just over a minute later for a quick fight right beside the penalty box, both then sitting down for five minutes.
Giordano scored his third goal of the year - and 496th career point - at 3:21, taking a pass from Tkachuk and firing his own wrister through traffic that beat Murray five-hole. Nikita Nesterov got the other helper.

Colin White made it 3-1 for the visitors when he grabbed a loose puck after a scramble in front of Markstrom and slid it home at 7:09 of the middle stanza.
Gaudreau cashed in on Calgary's sixth powerplay chance of the night, scoring his 11th of the season to bring the homeside within one, Tkachuk and Mangiapane getting the assists.

With the ice tilted for the Flames, Hanifin scored the tying marker at 12:17 with his second of the season - and second in as many games.
Dillon Dube got the puck behind the net and drove out trying to stuff it home, Hanifin cleaning up the rebound after the initial stop by Murray.

The Flames came close to taking the lead moments later, Sam Bennett getting a whack at a rebound in the blue paint but Murray able to flop on top of it and make the stop.
The save of the night didn't come from either goalie, but instead young defenceman Juuso Valimaki. Markstrom lost the handle when he tried to play a puck behind his net, the biscuit squirting out to Brown who was looking at a gaping cage, but Valimaki dove out front feet first and stopped the puck with his leg.
Overtime, as is usually the case, was wild, highlighted by an incredible backskate by Giordano to catch Batherson who was sprung on a breakaway and stop him from shooting.
Later with time winding down, Dube missed the net on a 3-on-2 which led to Batherson getting sprung on another breakaway but Markstrom making a massive glove save.

THEY SAID IT:

Huska on late rally:
"That's the tough part is you want to see that all the time. I thought we did a real good job in the third period; there were a lot of good showings from a lot of players. ... But at this time of year, you can't just be talking about one good period and that's the tough part for us. That starts early in the first where you need that to happen, so you can establish the tone and how the game is going to be played."

Hanifin on third period:
"That's something that we're going to have to learn how to do. It's a tough division, a lot of close games going into third periods. We've got to get comfortable making plays and getting comfortable from start to finish. I wish we'd seen it earlier from the start of the game, but it's good to see some resilience and get the point."

Valimaki on his save:
"It was just a bad bounce behind the net on Marky and they were able to get the puck and it went in front and all three of us - me, Nesty and Marky - tried to do everything to keep it out of the net and it just hit me and got out. It was an important time to keep the puck out of our net, so, but like Gio said, we've got to find ways to get two points."

Giordano on loss:
"It stings right now. We know how important these points are. We've got to come out better than we did. In the third we had a great push, but we've got to find a way to get two points in games and that's the bottom line right now."

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY:

As mentioned above, the Calgary Sports And Entertainment Corporation (Flames, Stamps, Roughnecks and Hitmen) celebrated International Women's Day on Sunday by showcasing the accomplishments of some of the amazing females behind the scenes here at CSEC.
Click here
to check out the profiles and find out how these female leaders make an impact in the sporting industry and continue to set the bar for the future of women in sport.
The Flames starting lineup was announced by members of the Calgary U-15 AA Red girls hockey team.

THE LINEUP:

*To start the game
Lines
Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Derek Ryan
Matthew Tkachuk - Elias Lindholm - Dillon Dube
Milan Lucic - Mikael Backlund - Andrew Mangiapane
Zac Rinaldo - Sam Bennett - Brett Ritchie
Pairings:
Mark Giordano - Rasmus Andersson
Noah Hanifin - Chris Tanev
Juuso Valimaki - Nikita Nesterov
Goaltenders:
Jacob Markstrom - starter
David Rittich

UP NEXT:

The Flames have a three-day stretch with no games before hosting the Montreal Canadiens in two tilts at the Scotiabank Saddledome on March 11 & 13.