Mikael Backlund scored the game-winner with 4:29 remaining as the Calgary Flames rallied from a two-goal, first-period deficit to defeat the visiting Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 on Tuesday night.
On the winning play, Blake Coleman retrieved the puck behind the net and then fed Backlund on the edge of the crease between Vegas defensemen Alec Martinez and Alex Pietrangelo. Backlund then scooped a shot over the glove of Golden Knights goalie Logan Thompson for his second goal of the season.
Elias Lindholm and Tyler Toffoli also scored goals and Jonathan Huberdeau had two assists for Calgary, which improved to 3-0-0 to start a season for the first time since winning their first four in 2009-10. Jacob Markstrom made 19 saves.
William Carrier and Brett Howden scored goals for Vegas, which took its first loss in four games this season. Thompson finished with 37 saves.
Vegas took a 1-0 lead at the 3:55 mark of the first period. Carrier scored his first goal of the season on a long wrist shot from above the left circle that Markstrom whiffed on while trying to make a glove save.
The Golden Knights made it 2-0 near the end of the period. Howden redirected Brayden McNabb’s shot from the left point past Markstrom’s glove side for his first goal of the campaign.
Calgary, taking advantage of six Vegas penalties in the second period, rallied to tie it 2-2 with a pair of power-play goals. The Flames had a third goal in the period disallowed because of goalie interference.
Lindholm scored at the 4:39 mark on a rebound of a Nazem Kadri shot, but Vegas successfully challenged that Kadri, who fell into Thompson in the crease, had interfered.
Lindholm, with a little help from Martinez, eventually did cut the gap to 2-1 midway through the period. Lindholm’s rebound shot went fluttering high above the crease, and Martinez, trying to clear it, accidentally swatted it into his own net. It snapped a shutout streak of 97 minutes, 45 seconds for Thompson, who had blanked the Chicago Blackhawks in his previous start.
Calgary then tied it on Toffoli’s rebound of Rasmus Andersson’s blast that caromed off defenseman Zach Whitecloud to Toffoli at the bottom of the right circle. Toffoli then fired a wrist shot inside the right post at 13:19 for his second goal of the season.
–Field Level Media
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