CALGARY — Desperately trying to stay in the playoff hunt, the resilient Calgary Flames picked up an important point on Saturday night.
Down 2-0 to the Vegas Golden Knights late in the second, Calgary fought back to get the game to overtime before succumbing 3-2 on a fluky bounce.
On the winning goal at 4:31, Reilly Smith curled behind the Flames net then tried to backhand a pass into the slot. Instead, the puck deflected off the skate of Calgary defenceman MacKenzie Weegar and redirected on net where it bounced in the net off the arm of an unsuspecting Dustin Wolf.
“It sucks,” said the Flames rookie goaltender, who had 31 stops. “I feel like we haven't gotten any bounce to go our way in a numerous amount of games. How many times has a puck just sat on the line and just not crossed?”
Wolf was referring to what looked like a Flames goal in the second period when Blake Coleman's deflection trickled over the line. However, video review showed that when the puck came to rest, it wasn't entirely over the line.
The video looked identical to a play in Calgary's 3-1 loss in Utah on Tuesday when Mikael Backlund thought he had scored only for the puck to once again end up 99 per cent over the line, but not all the way over.
“I always feel like they even out over the course of a year, so maybe we're going to get ours (lucky bounces) coming up here in the next six games,” said Flames coach Ryan Huska. “That's the way you have to look at it. When you work, you eventually get your bounces. So, to me, it's a matter of time. One's gonna go in for us, or one will go off a skate and not go in, put it that way.”
For the first couple periods, it looked like Calgary was on its way to another loss with Vegas staking itself to a 2-0 lead and outplaying the Flames by a significant margin. The Golden Knights had taken the first two games between the teams by a combined score of 8-0.
But Calgary finally broke through when a slick passing sequence culminated in Joel Hanley's second goal of the season with eight seconds left in the second period.
The Flames tied it 43 seconds into the third when Backlund beat Jack Eichel on a faceoff and drew the puck back to Matt Coronato who fired his 21st goal of the season just inside the goalpost.
“They're a top team for a reason and we didn't play our best hockey in Vegas this year so to find a way to get a big point tonight, again, resilient group, finding a way to get points is huge this time of year,” Backlund said.
After failing to capitalize on two third-period man advantages, Calgary then put Vegas' No. 1 ranked power play on the ice with 1:29 left in regulation when Kevin Bahl went off for tripping.
But Calgary's 25th ranked penalty kill came up big to get the game to extra time.
“Massive penalty kill at the end of the game to allow us to get to the situation to get a point,” said Huska. “Unfortunately, it's a bounce that goes against you again.”
The Flames are chasing the Minnesota Wild who occupy the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Calgary is four points back with a game in hand.
“One point is better than no point. Obviously I think we deserve better, but the hockey gods aren't really helping us out a whole lot right now with the bounces, but at some point it's going to turn,” said Wolf.
“We're fighting for our lives every day, and I think we have a real good opportunity to do something special here the last couple weeks.”
Calgary is back in action on Monday when they visit the San Jose Sharks to begin a two-game California road trip. On Wednesday they play the Anaheim Ducks and then it's back home for a big showdown on Friday against the Wild.
“It's like playoffs. No matter the result, you've got to turn the page tomorrow and just focus on the next game, find a way to win the next game,” said Backlund.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 5, 2025.
Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press
