Dougie Scores in OT as Calgary Flames Win Streak Hits Five in Arizona

The Flames took on the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night in the final game of a mini two-game road trip. Calgary entered riding high on a four game win streak while Arizona has lost five in a row. These two teams met earlier this season in Calgary with Michael Frolik scoring the winner in overtime.

Lance Bouma made his return to the lineup after missing 17 games with a shoulder injury, while Kris Versteeg was out following an apparent injury against Dallas on Tuesday. Freddie Hamilton and Tyler Wotherspoon were scratches for the Flames tonight.

Chad Johnson got the start for the Flames while Mike Smith countered for the Yotes. Smith has had a tremendous start to the season, looking much like he did back in his vintage years. One of the few Coyote bright spots.

1st Period

The Coyotes would get an early powerplay when Alex Chiasson was whistled for goalie interference. The Flames would kill it off continuing their penalty killing excellence.

However, just seconds after the puck would be bouncing around and five Flames would be flat footed as Max Domi scored. The Yotes lead 1-0 just over 7 and a half minutes into the period.

Lance Bouma would then make his triumphant return to the lineup by hitting Ekman-Larsson from behind, luckily Ryan White would take an instigating penalty when starting a fight with Bouma after the hit so the game would stay at even strength.

We’d get another fight later in the period when Micheal Ferland took on Connor Murphy and took him to the ice.

Calgary would get a late powerplay when Jokipakka was tripped by Anthony Duclair.

The Flames powerplay would stay hot as Mark Giordano would one-time a puck past Smith. Gaudreau with a great assist laying it right in Gio’s wheelhouse. Monahan continues his point streak with an assist on the goal as well. 1-1 with 2 minutes to go in the first.

After a lackluster start to the period, the Flames finish it well and sit tied with the Coyotes at 1-1. Shots in the period were 9-9.

2nd Period

Calgary would get another powerplay opportunity when Duclair would be whistled for holding on Matthew Tkachuk. This time the powerplay wouldn’t generate anything dangerous as the Coyotes killed it off.

The middle portion of the period would feature large swaths of defensive and systematic hockey with teams getting limited chances.

Calgary would get sent back to the powerplay when Ryan White was called for cross-checking. This powerplay would also struggle to get established before generating a few shots late, but nothing noteworthy.

We’d see the third fight of the game late in the period with Garnet Hathaway taking on Max Domi, and I’d have to say Hathaway got the W in the battle. Domi would also get the instigator on the fight, so Calgary would head to their 4th powerplay.

The period would end with the game still tied 1-1, with the Flames carrying over most of Domi’s instigator penalty to the third period. Shots sit at 23-17 in favor of Calgary.

3rd Period

Calgary wouldn’t score during the carryover of the powerplay as the PP hit ¹⁄₄ on the night.

A very scary moment for Flames fans would happen when Chad Johnson was hit up high with a shot and was down for a few minutes. Luckily he managed to fight through it and stay in the game.

Mark Giordano took a penalty on the play sending Arizona to the powerplay. The Flames would kill it off as their penalty kill continued it’s stellar streak.

Brodie would then called for tripping later in the period sending Arizona to another powerplay. Again though, another good kill.

The third period ends with both teams not generating a lot of chances and for the second time this year, these two teams head to overtime tied 1-1. Shots were 33-26 for Calgary in regulation.

Overtime

Johnny Gaudreau would get a early chance walking in but Smith made the save.

Dougie Hamilton would be fed the puck from Johnny and walk in through the Yotes and deke out Smith to score the game winning goal.

FLAMES WIN! Dougie with the goal and Johnny with the assist. Gaudreau has 6 points in 3 games since his return.

The Good

The Bad

The Ugly

The Flames have won five in a row and are sitting 15-13-2. They’re also now tied for 1st in the Pacific Division. Check out our Rate The Flames tonight! The Flames next hit the ice on Saturday when they host the Winnipeg Jets.

GO FLAMES GO!

by Michael MacGillivray