CALGARY — Tyler Toffoli notched the overtime winner, but the game never would have reached extra time if not for the big night from Calgary's penalty killers.
Riding the momentum from the kill of Blake Coleman's late-game double-minor for high-sticking Brent Burns, Toffoli won it 4:30 into overtime as the Flames overcame a two-goal first-period deficit to win 3-2 over the Carolina Hurricanes.
On the deciding goal, defenceman Rasmus Andersson carried the puck up the side boards and deep into the Hurricanes' end before zipping a pass into the slot that Toffoli one-timed inside the post for his third of the season.
“Ras did a really good job taking it wide and using his speed and I was just trying to find a little space and he made a great play right in the middle,” said Toffoli, who also had an assist.
Andersson led both teams in ice time at 27:47 and that included playing an instrumental role in that pivotal penalty kill with less than seven minutes to go in the third after Coleman was given a double-minor.
“Our penalty kill had a really good night,” said Andersson, who had two assists. “Still need to get a little bit better five on five, but it was a tough game to play and it was nice to see that overtime goal go in.”
He set up the right guy with Toffoli, who also played for Sutter when the Kings won the Stanley Cup and is no stranger to big moments.
“He doesn't need many chances. Tyler's game is about checking and skating and when he touches the puck, usually something good happens,” said Flames coach Darryl Sutter, who coached in career game No. 1,402, moving him past Ron Wilson and into ninth place on the NHL's all-time list.
The Flames only allowed two shots during that extended penalty kill at the end of the third while generating two shots themselves.
“The penalty kill was unbelievable,” said Jacob Markstrom, who made 25 stops to improve to 3-0-0. “For everyone that was out there, I don't know how many different pairings on forward and D that was out there for that four-minute kill.
"That was huge for us and after that, we grabbed the momentum."
Nazem Kadri and Brett Ritchie also scored for Calgary (4-1-0) while Sebastian Aho and Calvin de Haan provided the offence for Carolina (3-1-1).
Antti Raanta made 29 saves in falling to 1-0-1.
In a battle between teams who both opened the season with three straight wins, but were coming off a loss, Carolina grabbed an early 2-0 lead with Aho scoring on their first shot of the game at 1:44 and de Haan adding his first of the season at 10:28.
A key moment in the game came at 13:07 of the first period when Carolina centre Jordan Staal took a tripping penalty on Kadri while the Hurricanes were once again buzzing in the offensive zone.
On the subsequent faceoff, Kadri won it to give the Flames possession and they never gave up the puck with the power play needing just 24 seconds to cut the lead in half with Kadri scoring his second of the season.
From that point forward, Calgary looked rejuvenated and it continued through the second period in which the Flames outshot Carolina 15-3 in pulling even.
It did look like Carolina had retaken the lead in the waning seconds of the second, but Burns' goal was overturned after replays showed that the Hurricanes had gone offside just before the goal.
“We had a pretty good first period, except we gave up a PK goal and didn't cash in on our power play,” Aho said. “At the end of the day, that was the game tonight. We get a huge opportunity at the end, four minutes on the power play, and we've got to make them pay there. Special teams got us. That's on us."
That squandered man advantage was also what Hurricanes' coach Rod Brind'Amour pointed to as the key moment.
“We needed to connect there. We didn't look very good. That was tough,” said Brind'Amour, whose club heads to Vancouver after losing both of its games in Alberta. “It wasn't our best, but I thought we worked really hard."
KADRI STREAKING
With his goal, Kadri has six points and becomes just the fourth player in franchise history to begin his career with the Flames with a five-game point streak. The others were Phil Housley (7 games, 1994-95), Sergei Makarov (7 games, 1989-90) and Sean Monahan (5 games, 2013-14).
QUIETING THE STORM
After picking up points in each of Carolina's first four games, the streaks for Carolina forwards Andrei Svechnikov (6-2-8) and Martin Necas (3-4-7) were both snapped. Svechnikov, who trailed only Steven Stamkos in goals to begin the night, was held without a shot.
UP NEXT
Hurricanes: Wrap up their five-game road trip in Vancouver against the winless Canucks on Monday.
Flames: Continue their season-high eight-game homestand against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2022.
Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press
