CALGARY – Matthew Tkachuk scored three goals to set a career-high in a season with 37, and the Calgary Flames came back for a 5-3 win over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday.
Noah Hanifin, with a goal and an assist, and Andrew Mangiapane also scored for Calgary (45-19-9), which scored four unanswered goals in the third period to add its fifth consecutive victory.
Johnny Gaudreau had two assists and set a career high with 101 points.
Ryan Donato’s 15th career goal, Victor Rask and Adam Larsson scored for Seattle (23-44-6), which was swept in a four-game series of the season.
The Kraken return home after Wednesday’s game in Winnipeg was postponed due to a winter storm. Seattle returns to action on Saturday when it hosts the New Jersey Devils.
Dan Vladar (11-5-1) started the third period in goal and stopped all seven shots he faced in relief of Jacob Markstrom to earn the victory. His best save was a blocker’s save on Karson Kuhlman in a shorthanded breakaway that would have made it 4-2.
Markstrom stopped 12 of 15 shots.
Chris Driedger (7-12-1) had 26 stops for the Kraken.
Down 3-1 after two periods, the Flames scored twice in the first six minutes of the third to tie it.
On a four-on-three power play, Tkachuk’s attempted pass through the top of the box hit Larsson and returned and he squashed his second goal of the night.
Gaudreau reached the 100-point mark for the first time in his career with the main assist. His best run had been 99 points in 2018-19.
He is the seventh player in franchise history to reach 100 points and the first since Theoren Fleury in 1992-93.
Tkachuk turned to Gaudreau and gave him a big hug after the milestone as the Saddledome crowd roared. His parents, Guy and Jane, who had just arrived in Calgary for the first time since before the pandemic, hugged and celebrated with relatives in the crowd.
Hanifin, who fired a slapshot into the top corner on a power play at 14:10 of the third for the game winner. He has seven points (one goal, six assists) in the last three games.
Tkachuk capped off his night with an empty goal in the last minute.
Tied 1-1 after 20 minutes, the Kraken scored the only two goals of the second period to go up 3-1.
Seattle took its second lead of the night when Rask overcame a Kole Lind setup from the front.
The Kraken took a two-goal lead late in the period when Larsson’s low shot screeched through Markstrom’s pads.
Seattle opened the scoring at 14:13 of the first period on a perfect play by rookie Matty Beniers, making his NHL debut.
Beniers took the puck into the cupboards and threw a pass through the slot that Donato got past Markstrom for a time.
Calgary equalized less than three minutes later when Tkachuk deflected Noah Hanifin’s spiked shot in the air.
Beniers, a Hobey Baker finalist and second overall pick in the 2021 NHL draft, signed with Seattle on Monday, shortly after Michigan lost to Denver on Thursday in the NCAA Frozen Four semifinal.
In 61 games over two seasons with the Wolverines, he scored 67 points (30 goals, 37 assists).
The 19-year-old’s night began with the usual rookie solo lap before the rest of the Kraken took to the ice to warm up. He then spent the night centering the club’s top line with Donato and Jordan Eberle.
Notes: Besides Fleury (twice), Calgary’s other 100-point seasons came from Kent Nilsson (twice), Joe Mullen, Hakan Loob, Al MacInnis and Mike Bullard… Calgary C Jarnkrok Street (non-COVID illness) came back after five games to go. His return brought Ryan Carpenter to the press box … Flames improve to 2-12-2 in games trailing after two periods.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on April 12, 2022.
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