RECAP: Flames 4, Panthers 1

CALGARY – That’s a split.

After besting the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, the Florida Panthers closed out their back-to-back with a 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday.

Falling to 34-32-3, the Panthers finish their four-game road trip with a 1-3-0 record.

“We looked like we spent everything last night and didn’t have much in the tank,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “There were some simple things that we couldn’t do.”

Tested on the penalty kill early in the first period, the Panthers kept the Flames off the board when Daniil Tarasov went down to his belly to stop a breakaway attempt from Morgan Frost.

Later, Tarasov came up with another big stop, this time denying Mikael Backlund on a rebound.

Closing out a stalwart first period in net, Tarasov shut down Matt Coronato on a yet another breakaway.

“He made a bunch of big saves early,” Maurice said.

In the second period, the Flames broke the ice when – after a turnover in the neutral zone by the Panthers – Joel Farabee snapped a shot from beyond the left circle that clipped off a defender in front and slipped past Tarasov to make it 1-0 at 7:44.

Adding to Calgary’s lead, Victor Olofsson dropped to one knee and blasted a one-timer into the back of the cage from just inside the left circle to make it 2-0 at 10:10. Part of the trade that sent Nazem Kadri to the Colorado Avalanche, the goal was Olofsson’s first as a Flame.

Cutting the deficit in half early in the third period, A.J. Greer, who also lit the lamp just 24 hours ago in Edmonton, curled and fired a shot from the left circle that caught a piece of Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf before fluttering into the twine to make it 2-1 at 4:17.

“He called for the puck, and I figured I give him the puck,” said defenseman Donovan Sebrango, who notched the primary assist on the goal. “He’s more skilled than me.”

Just past the midway point of the third period, the Flames earned seven total minutes of power-play time after Greer was assessed two minutes for hooking and then a five-minute major and a game misconduct for interference against Calgary forward Connor Zary.

With more than 400 man games already lost to injuries this season, the Panthers suffered another blow in that department when Niko Mikkola exited the game after a knee-on-knee collision with Flames forward Ryan Strome.

"We're a really close group. We all care about each other a lot,” forward Sam Bennett said of trying to keep morale high after losing yet another teammate. “You never want to see that, but you've got to stick together. When guys go down, other guys have got to step up."

For the Panthers, that’s been the case all season.

“He plays so hard for us every night, competes so hard. I think that he’s been incredible durable for us,” Maurice said of Mikkola. “That’s clearly the story of our season.”

With the collision ruled as incidental by officials, the Flames still lost part of their time on the man advantage Farabee tripped Dmitry Kulikov with 4:11 left on the power play.

Following two minutes of 4-on-4, the Flames turned what was left of their initial extended 5-on-4 power into a 5-on-3 after yet another whistle blew against the Panthers.

Cashing in on the two-man advantage, Frost extended Calgary’s lead to 3-1 at 16:59.

With 2:29 left in regulation, Coronato got behind the defense and scored to make it 4-1.

“We were a little sluggish tonight, a little slow,” Bennett said. “After a big win last night, sometimes that can be a tendency. We were slot and we didn’t have very much.”

THEY SAID IT

“We’re going to miss him. He’s going to miss some time, I believe.” – Paul Maurice on Niko Mikkola’s injury

“Hardest worker on the team. That’s a guy I try to model my game after, so to see him go down like that, you never want to see that. Just hoping he’s all right.” – Donovan Sebrango on Niko Mikkola’s injury

CATS STATS

- Donovan Sebrango recorded his third assist of the season.

- A.J. Greer’s 13 goals are more than double his previous career-high in a season (6).

- Cole Reinhardt had a team-high five hits.

- The Panthers led 39-31 in shot attempts at 5-on-5.

- Daniil Tarasov made 10 high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Panthers will kick off a two-game homestand with a matchup against the Seattle Kraken at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.

For tickets, click HERE.