Game Recap: Flames' Comeback Falls Short, Lose 5th Straight

The Calgary Flames and the Philadelphia Flyers met for the second and final time this season. The Flames won the first game of the season 2-1 in Calgary with Mikael Backlund scoring the overtime winner. The Flames have won the last three meetings between these two teams.

The two teams are meeting after today's trade deadline where the Flames made a couple deals while the Flyers made none. The Flames are without David Jones and Kris Russell as they were dealt to Minnesota and Dallas respectively. As the new additions to the team hadn't arrived in time, Garnet Hathaway made his NHL debut after being recalled from Adirondack of the ECHL.

1st Period:

The Flames and Flyers battled through a gritty opening 20 minutes. Following a long pre-game ceremony honouring former Flyer Jimmy Watson, the two teams game out flying (pun intended) in a physical period. The Flames took the lead on a powerplay goal from Sean Monahan following a beautiful pass from Johnny Gaudreau. TJ Brodie would register the other assist on the goal. The goal was Monahan's 20th of the season.

The Flyers looked to have tied the game but after video review a no goal call was upheld. However minutes later the Flyers would tie the game on a goal from Brayden Schenn outwaiting Jonas Hiller before snapping the puck home. The opening period was a physical battle that reached its highest point with Deryk Engelland bowling over Matt Read behind the Flames' net. Hits would finish 14-8 for the Flames, and shots 9-6 for the Flyers. 1-1 after 1st.

2nd Period:

Wayne Simmonds gave the Flyers the 2-1 lead on a powerplay goal following a nice setup from Claude Giroux just under 5 minutes into the period.The middle part of the period would be fairly uneventful with the neither team mustering much. Schenn would score his second goal of the game tipping in a pass from the point past Hiller. 3 minutes later Schenn would get the hat trick goal converting on a nice feed on the powerplay past to make it 4-1 Flyers. The third Schenn goal was the second powerplay goal allowed by the Flames and both penalty kills had a Flame with a broken stick being unable to cover the pass through the slot. The period ends with the shots 22-19 for the Flyers. 4-1 PHI after 2nd

3rd Period:

The Flames controlled most of the third period and outplayed the Flyers. However for most of the period they couldn't score to get back into the game. That all changed when Micheal Ferland scored his 4th goal of the season off a scramble in front of the Flyers net with just under 10 minutes to play in the period. 50 seconds later Michael Frolik would cut the deficit to 4-3 when his outside wrist shot squeaked in through Neuvirth's arm. The Flames would press hard but be unable to tie the game before the Flyers hemmed the Flames into their own zone for the last couple minutes, and scoring an empty netter while doing so. 5-3 PHI WIN

Flame of the Game:

Garnet Hathaway made his NHL debut in tonight's game and played very well. Despite being essentially an emergency callup from Adirondack in the ECHL, Hathaway played a very strong game starting out with generating many scoring chances, drawing a penalty, and throwing some big hits against a very physical Flyers team. A big hit by Hathaway led to a turnover which led directly to the Flames' 2nd goal of the game. Hathaway finished with 12:51 TOI and was a +1 with a shot on goal and three hits. Perhaps Hathaway might stick with the Flames for at least the remainder of the road trip if he can continue this type of play over the next couple games.

The Flames lose 5-3, their 8th loss in 9 games, and they play next on Tuesday March 1st in Boston at 5pm MST.