Calgary, Alberta (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres dug themselves a first-period hole on Monday night in Calgary; a hole the team never escaped from. The Flames held, at times, four one-goal leads. Every single time, Calgary scored the next goal to apply constant pressure in what was eventually a 7-4 decision at Scotiabank Saddledome.
Halfway through the first period, the Flames opened the scoring. Defenseman Mackenzie Weegar's point shot was deflected by a body in front. That body happened to be teammate Yegor Sharangovich, who received credit for the Calgary goal.
The Flames doubled their lead minutes later, while boasting a 5-on-3 powerplay advantage. Defenseman Rasmus Andersson took a one-timer in which his stick exploded during the attempt. Due to the malfunction, Andersson's shot came off his stick much weaker than intended, and the reduced speed of the fluttering rubber fooled Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen enough to make it a 2-0 contest.
Still a 2-0 early in the second period, the Sabres finally got on the scoreboard. On a powerplay, Josh Norris hooked up with Tage Thompson with a wicked east-west pass that Thompson wired home past goalie Dustin Wolf.
Two-and-a-half minutes later, though, Calgary responded and re-upped the lead back up to two. Veteran forward Jonathan Huberdeau tipped a puck home to vault the Flames to a 3-1 edge.
The Sabres kept close in the rearview mirror. With 6:17 left in the middle stanza, patience paid off for Owen Power. The defenseman waited for a shooting lane to appear, and once one did, Power scored his third goal of the season to make it 3-2 Flames.
Calgary hit the gas once again just 30-seconds later, and yet again thwarted hope for the blue and gold to tie the game. A giveaway led to a tic-tac-toe for the Flames, which ended with a tap-in for Nazem Kadri.
The script followed suit again two-minutes later. For the third time on the night, the Sabres trimmed a two-goal deficit to one. Captain Rasmus Dahlin tapped home Buffalo's third goal, set-up by Josh Doan and Josh Norris.
Less than a minute later, as one could expect at this point, Calgary pulled away with another greasy goal. Defenseman Yan Kuznetsov jammed home the Flames' fifth goal, as the home side extended its lead to 5-3 late in a wild period of hockey.
The insanity died down in the third, and some of that was contributed to the presence of Alex Lyon in net for the Sabres. Lyon relieved Luukkonen to start the period, and stopped the four shots he saw from the Calgary offense.
Meanwhile, the Sabres got within a goal for a FOURTH time on the night, without being able to bunch goals together to tie the affair. In the late stages with a two-man advantage, Alex Tuch tipped home a Dahlin shot to, yet again, make things interesting enough in Calgary at 5-4 Flames.
Calgary salted things away from there with two empty-net goals from Mikael Backlund and Sharangovich.
After tonight's 7-4 loss, the Sabres are now 0-3-0 halfway through the road trip.
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SCORING SUMMARY:
First Period:
BUF: NONE
CGY: 9:54 - Yegor Sharangovich (5) (Mackenzie Weegar, Nazem Kadri); 13:22 - Rasmus Andersson (7) PPG (Matt Coronato, Nazem Kadri)
Second Period:
BUF: 4:24 - Tage Thompson (13) PPG (Jason Zucker, Josh Norris); 13:43 - Owen Power (3) (Peyton Krebs, Jacob Bryson); 16:32 - Rasmus Dahlin (2) (Josh Doan, Josh Norris)
CGY: 7:05 - Jonathan Huberdeau (6) (Matt Coronato, Morgan Frost); 14:14 - Nazem Kadri (6) (Joel Farabee, Yegor Sharangovich); 17:27 - Yan Kuznetsov (2) (Blake Coleman)
Third Period:
BUF: 17:29 - Alex Tuch (10) PPG (Rasmus Dahlin, Jason Zucker)
CGY: 18:12 - Mikael Backlund (5) ENG (Unassisted); 19:53 - Yegor Sharangovich (6) ENG (Yan Kuznetsov)
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Blue Star Home Services Three Stars of the Game:
1. Nazem Kadri - CGY
2. Yegor Sharangovich - CGY
3. Rasmus Dahlin - BUF
What's Next:
The blue and gold visit the Edmonton Oilers tomorrow night, December 9. Puck drop at Rogers Place is set for 9 p.m. EST with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call.