Calgary Flames score five goals in first period in back-to-back games

The Calgary Flames scored five goals in the first period… again… to help them beat the Winnipeg Jets by a score of 6-3.

The Calgary Flames scored five goals in the first period yet again. The last time they did that was *checks watch* two nights ago. The time before that an NHL team did that? 1993. The last time an NHL team scored five goals in the first period in back-to-back games? 1989. So that’s pretty cool. Who needs a good third period when you’ve got the first now?

On top of the 6-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets, Dillon Dube finally recorded his first NHL goal! Our large adult son finally did it, everyone. And Big Save Dave improved to an 8-1-0 record on the season so far which is incredible.

But the good news doesn’t stop there! After the last game, five Flames had 20+ points becoming the only NHL team to do so this season so far. After tonight, three Flames have 25+ points through the first 22 games of the season which is the first time this team has done that since 1992-93.

Let’s check out how the Flames got here tonight.

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First period

Right after the opening faceoff, Andrew Copp made a good play behind the Calgary Flames net to protect the puck, got the puck to Brandon Tanev in front of the net waiting for the puck, he shot it, it was stopped but Tanev got his rebound and made it 1-0 just 15 seconds into the game. Well, this is a much different game than the last one against the Vegas Golden Knights. Or so we thought…

Less than two minutes later, the fourth line was putting in good work down low and with a nice pass from Mark Jankowski, Dillon Dube finally recorded his first NHL goal!

After that goal, there was some back and forth between the two teams before the second line, still with Sam Bennett on the wing, put some pressure in the offensive zone and Bennett gave them their first lead of the game.

Just a few minutes later, Garnet Hathaway made a good defensive play which helped the Flames clear the zone, then there was a line change for the second line and Matthew Tkachuk made it 3-1. That goal was enough for the Jets and they decided to relieve Connor Hellebuyck, a goaltender who was on a four-game win streak.

Less than three minutes later, Jankowski shot the puck which deflected off of Tyler Myers‘ skate and in. It’s now 4-1 and Dube, Bennett, and Janko have all scored in the same period which means the world is ending, I think.

With less than a minute left in the period, the first line finally got on the scoresheet and Johnny Gaudreau scored his eighth of the season. That’s now back-to-back games for the Flames scoring five goals in the first period of the game. The last time a team scored five goals in the first period (before the game against Vegas) was in 1993. The last time a team scored five goals in the first period in back-to-back games was in 1989. Good job Flames.

The Calgary Flames outshot the Jets 14-9 that period and, since that initial goal, basically dominated the rest of the period in terms of shot-attempts and scoring chances. Let’s head to the second period.

Second period

The Jets came out strong to start the period (again) but this time David Rittich was ready for it and made two great saves. The Jets continued to apply pressure and Rittich had to make a couple more good saves. Because of this pressure, the Jets got a powerplay (uh oh).

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While the Jets normally have a largely successful powerplay and had a couple of shots, the Calgary Flames kept them at bay. However, seconds after killing off the penalty and Bennett came out of the box, he took another penalty. Oh boy. But no need to panic, because this penalty-kill was even better than the first one and the Jets didn’t even manage a shot.

A few minutes later, both teams took coincidental minors so we saw some 4on4 action where both teams had great chances. At one point, Rittich stopped the puck and was laying down holding the puck under his glove when Dustin Byfuglien came and tried to poke it out. That didn’t sit well with Rittich and he right away tried going after Byfuglien.

Late in the period, the Flames took a penalty but they had a good shorthanded chance. Of course, it was Hathaway and he shot it wide. Shortly after, the Jets continued to add pressure on their PP and just as it expired, Patrik Laine cut the lead to three.

This period finished 5-2 and the Jets dominated this period.

Third period

The Calgary Flames top line came out strong and Gaudreau with Elias Lindholm, both had two good chances due to a giveaway at the Flames’ blue line. Moments later in the Flames zone, Bennett blocked a shot from Byfuglien and winced off the ice. Bennett did return to the bench a few minutes later, so that’s a relief.

A few minutes later, the Flames took yet another penalty. On the PP, Blake Wheeler shot a great shot but it hit the crossbar (thank goodness). However, as Elias Lindholm was prepared to cleanly clear the puck, his stick broke in the process so the Jets got another chance and of course, the most dangerous PP shooter, Laine, cut the lead to two.

A few seconds later, it looked like the Jets scored another goal and cut the lead to just one with still plenty of time left on the clock. But hold on, Rittich started complaining right away, and after looking at the review, it was clear that Bryan Little tripped up Rittich which is the reason he couldn’t make the save. The refs said no-goal to which Paul Maurice challenged it, it didn’t take long for the refs to determine that the call on the ice stands and it’s not a goal, so the Jets lost their timeout. However, this was a wakeup call to the Flames that they need to tighten up their play a bit. And they did.

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While they didn’t score until the Jets took out the goalie for the extra attacker, they really came back a little bit more and didn’t let the Jets get as many chances as they were in the second period and the first half of this period. The Flames finished with an empty-net goal to finish this game 6-3. The Jets came back hard but Rittich kept the Flames in the game and improved to 8-1-0 so far this season.

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