Calgary Flames score nine goals in a game for the first time since 2011

The Calgary Flames battled the Columbus Blue Jackets for what was a wild game, especially in the second period. Let’s check out how happened.

Literally the definition of wild from start to finish. We saw all four goaltenders in the game, we saw like a million goals, and we saw a comeback. The Calgary Flames saw themselves down 4-1 early in the second period. Not only did they manage to tie the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, but they made it 6-4 and finished this game 9-6.

The Flames top line had a combined 10 points tonight. Their five goals in the second period made it the fourth time they’ve scored five goals in one period this season. The rest of the league combined? Three.

The Flames’ nine goals was also the first time they’ve scored nine goals in a game since February of 2011. Let’s check out how they got here tonight.

First period

The Calgary Flames took an early too many men penalty in the first minute of the game, so they had to kill it off. While the Blue Jackets had some decent pressure in the first half, the Flames had a shorthanded chance after, so they managed two shots on that PP.

Right after, Lukas Sedlak had a great chance on David Rittich that he stopped, so he had to be sharp early on in the game.

A couple minutes later, the Blue Jackets had yet another good chance due to a giveaway. The Jackets had a two-on-one breakaway by Nick Foligno and Boone Jenner, but Jenner couldn’t quite handle the puck.

Right after, the Flames had a bit of an odd-man rush with Sean Monahan drop-passing the puck to Johnny Gaudreau and he opened up the scoring. That’s a five-game point streak for Johnny now. Also, it was somewhat lucky since the Flames were quite sloppy to start this game off, but hey, we’ll take it. Especially since the Flames are 8-0-1 whenever Gaudreau scores this season.

A few minutes later, Travis Hamonic shot from the point which Sergei Bobrovsky let a bad rebound, Mikael Backlund got it had, an incredible chance, but it went slightly wide. The Flames continued to add some pressure, but nothing resulted in a goal.

Around the midway mark, the Blue Jackets applied some pressure and Oliver Bjorkstrand shot it, which Rittich made the initial save, but it was clear he wasn’t quite sure where the rebound went and Zach Werenski got the rebound and tied the game up.

Later, the Blue Jackets went on the powerplay. The puck was at the boards with both teams fighting for it. Backlund finally managed to get the puck out but accidentally passed it right to Josh Anderson who quickly shot it past Rittich and made it a two-goal game.

In the final couple of minutes, the Blue Jackets didn’t let up the pressure. As they tried clearing, the Flames really needed a change, and Derek Ryan had the chance to clear the puck deep but couldn’t. So the Blue Jackets went the other way again and Cam Atkinson made it 3-1 with just 17.8 seconds left in the game. It wasn’t that great of a shot and something Rittich should have had, and he was clearly mad at himself after that goal.

This period ended 3-1 for the Blue Jackets and it was definitely not a great period for the Flames. They were extremely sloppy and the Blue Jackets really outplayed them at 5v5.

Second period

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Mike Smith started the second period which isn’t that surprising. Three goals on 14 shots and a bad one to let in late in the period for Rittich, maybe Smith can help turn this momentum around. But on the other hand, the Flames haven’t done that much when Smith plays terribly, so I’m not completely for this idea.

…And I was right to not like the idea.

Just 49 seconds in, Atkinson made it 4-1 for the Jackets.

Shortly after that goal, the Blue Jackets took a penalty, which is good news for the Calgary Flames because their powerplay has been quite good as of late. And it proved. Right off the faceoff, the puck was passed to Mark Giordano who shot it from the point and Monahan tipped it in for the goal. It’s now a two-goal game less than two minutes into the period. But that’s not all.

51 seconds later, the Flames had another rush with Hamonic joining the rush, passed it over to Elias Lindholm who didn’t really have a man on him and it became a one-goal game not even three minutes into the period. With an assist from Monahan, that’s now his third of the night so far.

Later in the period, the Flames powerplay went to work again. Lindholm initially got the puck to the net, Bob made the initial save but the puck snuck behind his pad and Matthew Tkachuk found it and got the go-ahead goal. That’s now a tie-game! But wait, they’re not done.

50 seconds later, Tkachuk had a glorious between-the-legs pass over to Noah Hanifin who made it 5-4. About a minute later, Gaudreau shot the puck on Bob again and TJ Brodie found the rebound and got it to the back of the net. It’s now 6-4 and the Flames scored three goals in 1:53 to completely turn this game around. What is going on?

About thirty seconds later, Foligno stole the puck and had a bit of a breakaway and got the puck past Smith with the backhand. The Flames took a powerplay shortly after, but it was nowhere near as successful as their first two, so it went scoreless.

This period finished 6-5 for the Flames (I’m still confused) for a total of seven goals scored between both teams and five goals for the Calgary Flames in that frame. Before this game, they were dead last in the league for goals scored in the second period with just 19. After this, they have now scored more than 20% of their second-period goals in this game. They now also have four five-goal periods which leads the NHL. The rest of the league has three combined.

Third period

The Blue Jackets started the third period on the powerplay since the Calgary Flames took a late penalty. While the Jackets didn’t have that great of chances on the PP, Anderson took a penalty with just13 seconds left of the PP, so there was some 4on4 for a bit before the Flames headed on their dangerous powerplay.

It took them about 40 seconds, but Monahan scored his second goal of the game on the powerplay for his second of the night. Minutes later, Gaudreau deked around a few CBJ defenders and made it 8-5, so we finally saw a goaltending change. Smith also got an assist on that!

That’s now ten points for the Flames top line and Giordano with three points tonight.

Less than two minutes later, Atkinson tipped the puck in front of the net to score and record a hat-trick. It’s a two-goal game again with over 11 minutes to go. With less than seven minutes to go, Austin Czarnik wristed it to make it 9-6. This is the first time in almost eight years that the Flames have scored nine goals in a game.

This game finished 9-6 for the Flames in what was a wild game, truly from start to finish. The Calgary Flames continue to lead the Pacific Division with 36 points.