Toffoli’s overtime goal gives Flames 3-2 win over Hurricanes

Capping off an exciting overtime, Rasmus Andersson carried the puck up the side boards and deep into the Hurricanes’ end before zipping a pass into the slot that Toffoli one-timed inside the post for his third of the season.

In a battle between two teams with identical records, who both got there the same way — three consecutive wins to begin the season and then a loss in their previous outing — Carolina controlled the play for much of the third period, outshooting Calgary 12-8, but couldn’t break a 2-2 tie. Included was a four-minute power play with less than seven minutes remaining when Blake Coleman got his stick up into the mouth of Brent Burns.

But Calgary effectively diffused the 5-on-4 holding the Hurricanes to two shots while generating two of their own.

A key moment in the game came at 13:07 of the first period when Carolina centre Jordan Staal took a tripping penalty on Kadri while the Hurricanes were once again buzzing in the offensive zone. The shots were 8-2 in favour of the visitors at the time, who also owned a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard.

On the subsequent faceoff, Kadri won it to give the Flames possession and they never gave up the puck with the power play needing just 24 seconds to cut the lead in half with Kadri scoring his second of the season.

From that point forward, Calgary looked rejuvenated and it continued through the second period in which the Flames outshot Carolina 15-3 in pulling even.

The tying goal from Ritchie came at 2:31 when he got the puck alone in the corner, spun, and fired a shot on net from a sharp angle that slipped past Raanta.

The Flames dominated most of the second with the only mistake coming in the waning seconds when a lapse in defensive coverage allowed Burns to stroll in from the blue line and snap in what appeared to be the go-ahead goal. But Calgary challenged it for offside and upon video review, the goal was overturned leaving the score tied after 40 minutes.

Calgary fell behind 1-0 1:44 into the game when Aho scored on the Hurricanes first shot. After a turnover by Andrew Mangiapane, Aho beat Noah Hanifin and slipped a shot through the five-hole on Markstrom.

It was an auspicious start for Markstrom, who has struggled to begin the season after being the runner-up for the Vézina Trophy last season. Last game, he was pulled after the first period.

The Hurricanes grabbed a 2-0 lead at 10:28 with de Haan’s point shot finding its way in. It was another frustrating moment for Markstrom, who didn’t have his stick after losing it earlier in the sequence.

KADRI STREAKING

With his goal, Kadri has six points and becomes just the fourth player in franchise history to begin his career with the Flames with a five-game point streak. The others were Phil Housley (7 gm, 94-95), Sergei Makarov (7 hm, 1989-90), Sean Monahan (5 games, 2013-14).

QUIETING THE STORM

After picking up points in each of Carolina’s first four games, the point streaks for Carolina forwards Andrei Svechnikov (6-2-8) and Martin Necas (3-4-7) were both snapped. Svechnikov, who trailed only Steven Stamkos in goals to begin the night, was held without a shot.

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: Wrap up their five-game road trip in Vancouver against the Canucks on Monday.

Flames: Continue their season-high eight-game homestand against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2022.

Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Toffoli’s overtime goal gives Flames 3-2 win over Hurricanes

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