Saturday Night Delight

Nothing beats 'Dome cooking.

A trio of second-period goals helped the Flames cap off a busy week on a winning note, as Calgary doubled up Tampa Bay 4-2 in an up-tempo contest at Scotiabank Saddledome.

A.J. Greer, MacKenzie Weegar, Yegor Sharangovich and Connor Zary all scored for the locals, while one lucky fan won a free trip to Las Vegas thanks to Sharangovich's tally in the Cowboys Casino Minute To Win It.

Dan Vladar was steady, and at times spectacular, too, in goal, making 31 saves against a Tampa Bay team in search of a fifth win from its last seven games.

The Flames held the edge through the scoreless first period, outshooting the Lightning 8-6.

The homeside found its groove in the back half of the frame, coming close on a pair of opportunities from former Tampa Bay forward Blake Coleman.

The Texan proved tough to contain in the low slot, forcing Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy into a pair of reaction saves including off a one-timer with four-and-a-half minutes left.

Coleman parked himself on the doorstep, while linemate Zary went to work below the goalline; he slickly zipped the puck to Coleman's tape, with Vasilevskiy's pad the only thing preventing Calgary from claiming a 1-0 lead.

Tampa Bay defenceman Mikhail Sergachev made arguably the best defensive play of the opening 20 minutes, deftly stick-checking Nazem Kadri after the Calgary forward caught up to an aerial pass for a partial breakaway opportunity.

At the other end of the rink, Vladar was the less busy of the two keepers in the first period, but produced a five-alarm save of his own when Sergachev’s point shot bounced its way to Brayden Point at the left post.

Vladar quickly padded away Point’s - cough - point-blank opportunity, then smothered the rebound to prevent any further danger.

All that hard work paid off for the Flames early in the middle stanza.

Greer broke the deadlock 2:30 into the period with a quick wrist shot from the right circle that buzzed past Vasilevskiy’s glove.

The Flames winger strode down the wing after an entry pass from Rasmus Andersson, scoring his fifth goal of the season to put Calgary in front.

Just under four minutes later, the hosts struck again, this time on a long-range rocket from Weegar that clanked off the post and in past Vasilevskiy’s blocker hand.

Weegar doubled his 2022-23 goal total with his eighth of the campaign, and stands as one of only four NHL blueliners with eight or more goals this season.

The locals extended their lead 43 seconds later, and sent one lucky Flames fan to Las Vegas in the Cowboys Casino Minute To Win It, when Sharangovich pumped his team-leading 11th goal of the season past Vasilevskiy on a one-timer from the top of the left circle.

The Belarusian forward extended his goal-scoring streak to five games, tying a Calgary franchise mark shared by Kent Nilsson and Joe Mullen by lighting the lamp in five consecutive contests in his first season in the Stampede City.

Defenceman Jordan Oesterle, who set Sharangovich up from the left corner, collected his first point as a Flame with the assist.

Calgary kept up the pressure for the remaining 13 minutes of the frame, forcing Vasilevskiy into a total of 11 second-period saves, while Vladar coolly turned aside all nine shots that came his way in the period.

Calgary kept up the pressure for the remaining 13 minutes of the frame, forcing Vasilevskiy into a total of 10 second-period saves, while Vladar coolly turned aside all nine shots that came his way in the period.

The Lightning broke Vladar’s shutout bid 4:10 into the third period.

NHL scoring leader Nikita Kucherov claimed a loose puck below the Flames goalline, then centred to Point, who quickly snapped home his 14th of the season on a bang-bang play to cut the Calgary lead to 3-1.

It was the Calgarian's first NHL goal at the Saddledome, since breaking into the NHL during the 2016-17 season.

Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos shaved the margin even further at 5:40, On a Lightning powerplay, he leaped into the air to catch a loose puck, dropped it to his feet and fired a slapshot over Vladar’s right shoulder for his 15th of the campaign.

But the Flames responded, restoring their two-goal advantage thanks to a stellar solo effort from Zary.

The Calgary winger took a puck in the neutral zone, then raced down the left wing in a step-for-step duel with Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel.

Zary outraced, and outmuscled his opponent, then snuck a puck between Vasilevskiy’s right pad and the left post for his seventh goal of the season.

He nearly added a second goal with just over four minutes to play, unleashing a shot from the right circle on a setup from linemate Kadri.

Vladar saved his exclamation save for the final minutes of the third period; he robbed a wide-open Point on the doorstep not once, but twice, capping off the sequence with a ‘look what I found’ glove save.

Oesterle finished the game with two assists to lead all Calgary scorers; 10 Flames in all found the scoresheet.

The Lineup:

Forwards

Andrew Mangiapane - Elias Lindholm - Yegor Sharangovich

Connor Zary - Nazem Kadri - Martin Pospisil

Jonathan Huberdeau - Mikael Backlund - Blake Coleman

A.J. Greer - Adam Ruzicka - Dillon Dube

Defence

Noah Hanifin - Rasmus Andersson

Jordan Oesterle - MacKenzie Weegar

Dennis Gilbert - Nick DeSimone

Goaltenders

Dan Vladar (starter)

Dustin Wolf

They Said It:

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 26, TBL 32

Powerplay: CGY 0-1, TBL 1-1

Faceoffs: CGY 35.7%, TBL 64.3%

Blocked Shots: CGY 16, TBL 20

Hits: CGY 16, TBL 15

5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 24, TBL 15

5-on-5 High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 7, TBL 7

Up Next:

The Flames will wrap up this quick, two-game homestand Monday evening when the Panthers visit Scotiabank Saddledome at 7:30 p.m. Click here for tickets