Calgary Flames end season with 7-1 win over Vegas Golden Knights

They didn’t get the results they wanted this season, but at least the Calgary Flames finished the year off on a high note.

That was a fun night, hey? After the tragic events that took place the night before and with all the players with heavy hearts, the Calgary Flames managed to go out there and leave it all out on the ice. With a 7-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights, the 2017-18 season is a wrap.

Mark Jankowski not only got his first ever hat trick, but he had a four-goal night! The last Flame to do that was Sam Bennett, with his four-goal night, also in his rookie season, in the 6-0 win over the Florida Panthers in 2016. Which was also the last time the Flames won by a six-goal lead.

Jon Gillies stopped 26 of 27 shots to also finish this season on a high-note for the rookie goaltender. The other goalies on the other end of the rink… not so much. Let’s check out how the Flames got here.

First period

Less than a minute in, Jon Marchessault gets a breakaway and Jon Gillies was forced to make an early save. Right after the four-minute mark, Micheal Ferland stole the puck in the Knights’ zone, got it over to Johnny Gaudreau who easily put it past Marc-Andre Fleury.

10 seconds later, right off the faceoff, Michael Stone gets it to Gaudreau and slid it over to Mark Jankowski who got it past Fleury. That’s now 2-0 early on for the Calgary Flames. Wow, looks like they’re on the other side of those two goals in 10 seconds against Vegas now, hey?

That’s Gaudreau’s 60th assist of the season! That’s the first time a Flame has gotten at least 60 assists in a season since 1992-93.

Shortly after, the Flames went on the powerplay and Gaudreau had a great shot that went slightly high. He’s on a roll tonight, hey? The second PP unit came out, and right as the PP expired, Janko snuck the puck under Fleury’s pads. That’s two goals for him on the night!

The Flames took their turn on the penalty-kill shortly after their third goal, but they killed it off successfully. With a little over five minutes to go, the Flames went on their second PP of the night.

The Flames had two decent chances on the PP but couldn’t capitalize. This period ended 3-0 for the Flames which is something we haven’t been able to say in a while. Both teams had six shots on net and despite the 3-0 lead, the Knights had the slight edge in puck-possession at 5v5. Let’s head to the second frame.

Second period

Early on, Spencer Foo had a good chance on Fleury, but he stopped that. Right after off the faceoff, Gaudreau had a bad giveaway to Cody Eakin who went down the ice on a breakaway and got it past Gillies. The Knights have cut the lead to two.

Less than three minutes into the period, the Calgary Flames took a penalty. Vegas had some good looks on that PP and had three shots, seven shot attempts, and two scoring chances. The score was still 3-1 when their PP ended.

Brayden Mcnabb got a good shot within the circle and the rebound went right to Ryan Reaves in front of an almost open net and Gillies got over in the nick of time and made a huge save to keep this a two-goal game.

At around the midway mark, the fourth line put in some work with a great shift and they got rewarded. Garnet Hathaway scores his fourth of the year to give the Flames a three-goal lead again. But that three-goal lead didn’t last long (in a good way)!

Less than two minutes later, Backlund tried putting the puck past Fleury, he stopped it, Mikael Backlund got the rebound, Fleury stopped it again and it went to Foo who put it past Fleury. That’s now the second goal of his NHL career in just three and a half games! Everyone at the ‘Dome was chanting “Fooooooo”. That’s now 11 different Flames skaters with points tonight about midway through the game. This is fun. Papa and Mama Foo were having some fun after that goal too.

Later in the period, Vegas went on the powerplay. The Flames got a good shorthanded chance, Mark Jankowski put it on the net, Fleury tried to get it out of the zone but accidentally passed it to Janko who easily got it past him. That’s a shorthanded goal and a Jankowski hat trick!

With six seconds left in the period, Vegas took a penalty, so the Flames would start the third period on the PP. Vegas outshot the Flames 14-12 this period but were still outscored 3-1 this frame. Let’s head to the final period.

Third period

Vegas finally had a goalie switch to start this period off, so goodbye Fleury (sorry). Malcolm Subban started this period off.

The Calgary Flames started this period out on the powerplay and, since everything was going right tonight, they got a powerplay goal! By none other than the wonderful Mark Jankowski. That’s now a four-goal night for him. Everyone was cheering for him to get five goals so one lucky Safeway shopper can win $1 million. And of course, Matthew Tkachuk had to make fun of him for the way he held the pucks:

That’s also three different strengthed-goals this game: Two even-strength, one PP, one shorthanded. Talk about a rookie of the year candidate.

At one point, Matt Stajan lost his helmet and was playing old-school style hockey, but it was hard to see since his bald head was very blinding.

Later in the period, Jankowski was going for his fifth of the night and almost won someone that million dollars, but alas, no goal. This game ended 7-1 for the Flames with them outshooting the Knights 31-27 and having a slight edge in puck-possession.

Next: Flames come up short in final road game of season

Way to end the year with a bang, boys.

Is it October yet?