By Canadian Press

Seattle Kraken come from behind to edge Calgary Flames 5-4

Nov 1, 2022 | 8:59 PM

CALGARY — Three goals in a span of just under five minutes in the third period spurred the visiting Seattle Kraken to a 5-4 win over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.

Yanni Gourde scored short-handed with Carson Soucy, Morgan Geekie, Daniel Sprong and Matt Beniers also contributing goals for the Kraken (5-4-2) in their first win over the Flames.

Oliver Bjorkstrand had a pair of assists and goaltender Joey Daccord stopped 36 of 40 shots for the win in his first start of the NHL season.

Tyler Toffoli had a goal and an assist for the Flames (5-3-0) to reach 400 career points.

Nazem Kadri, Nikita Zadorov and Trevor Lewis also scored for the Flames, with Elias Lindholm contributing a pair of assists to the victory.

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Dan Vladar stopped 21 of 26 shots in the loss.

Flames head coach Darryl Sutter switched up his forward lines to start the game with Kadri at centre flanked by Jonathan Huberdeau and Andrew Mangiapane in an effort to produce more even-strength scoring. 

Sutter continued to mix and match, although he stuck with Milan Lucic on the left wing of Elias Lindholm and Tyler Toffoli.  

During one first-period shift, Lucic checked Soucy into the offensive-zone boards, knocked Jordan Eberle down in the neutral zone and flattened Beniers in the defensive zone.

Calgary scored twice in a 17-second span starting at 1:34 of the third period for a 4-2 lead, but Seattle responded with power-play, short-handed and even-strength goals to pull ahead.

Beniers on an odd-man rush scored on a feed from Eberle at 13:26. Gourde stripped Kadri of the puck in the neutral zone for a short-handed breakaway at 11:26.

With Calgary’s Brett Ritchie serving an interference minor, Alex Wennberg at the side of the net fed Sprong for a one-timer at 8:31.

Lindholm flipped the puck to Toffoli for a one-timer glove side at 1:34. Seattle then turned the puck over along the boards for Lewis to score from the slot with Adam Ruzicka providing a screen.

Outshot 10-7 in the opening period, the Flames turned the tables with a 20-8 margin in the second.

Seattle trailed 2-1 when Geekie scored at 13:10 on an odd-man rush with Jamie Oleksiak.

Kadri scored his team-leading fifth goal for the Flames at 8:12. He drove the net and recovered the loose puck to tuck a sharp-angled shot past a sprawling Daccord for his team-leading fifth goal.

Seattle lost a subsequent goaltender interference challenge for Flames power play.

Zadorov drew the Flames even at 6:28 of the second period off the rush. Toffoli whipped a cross-ice pass down low to the defenceman to clip a sharp-angled shot by Daccord.

Calgary killed off Seattle’s two-man advantage midway through the opening period, but the visitors led 1-0 on Soucy’s first goal of the season at 14:58. 

The defenceman’s rising wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle beat Vladar far side. Seattle’s Oleksiak and Calgary’s Zadorov traded punches following Soucy’s goal. 

NOTES

Kadri, signed as a free agent in the off-season, has a team-leading 10 points (five goals, five assists) in eight games for Calgary … Ritchie’s assist on Lewis’s goal extended his point streak to four straight games (two goals, two assists). With three goals and three assists in eight games, Richie surpassed his point total of last season … Seattle’s Beniers extended his point streak to five games (four goals, one assist) … Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol has taken a page from Sutter’s book in not naming a captain this season. The four Kraken alternates are Jordan Eberle, Yanni Gourde, Adam Larsson and Jaden Schwartz.

UP NEXT

Kraken: Continue three-game road trip Thursday against Minnesota Wild.

Flames: At home Thursday to the Nashville Predators in the sixth of eight straight games at home. Calgary’s last meeting with the Preds on April 26 featured 56 penalty minutes (including two fights), 74 hits and Matthew Tkachuk’s tying goal with one-tenth of a second left. Elias Lindholm scored in OT for the 5-4 Flames win.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2022.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press