Flames catch fire in 3rd period, burn Senators 6-3
By The Associated Press on January 10, 2024.
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) – Yegor Sharangovich and Blake Coleman each scored twice and the Calgary Flames scored four unanswered goals in the third period to defeat the Ottawa Senators 6-3 on Tuesday night. Noah Hanifin had a goal and two assists for Calgary, and rookie Connor Zary also scored. Nazem Kadri added two assists to give him 600 points in the NHL. Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves to improve to 11-11-2. “We did a good job of handling our emotions,” Hanifin said. “Sometimes coming off a road trip like that out East, coming off a couple of tough losses for us, these can be tough games coming back home and I thought we had a really mature game out there and a great third period, obviously.” The Flames come back to win when trailing after two periods for the sixth time, tied with Colorado for the league lead. Jacob Bernard-Docker, Dominik Kubalik and Brady Tkachuk scored for Ottawa, which has dropped the first four on its five-game trip. The Senators have lost nine of their last 10 away from home. “There’s nobody else to look at and there’s nobody else to blame. There’s not one guy better than anybody else on this team. We’re all in this situation,” defenseman Thomas Chabot said. Joonas Korpisalo made 30 saves for the Senators. Down 3-2 entering the third period, it took just 47 seconds for Calgary to tie it, with Hanifin swooping in front from off the point and sending a backhand inside the far post. “It was pretty silky,” Coleman said. “I don’t know if he surprised himself, but the bench got pretty fired up about that.” Hanifin was also involved in the go-ahead goal at 8:57, only in a much different way. When his stick broke on a shot attempt from the blue line, the puck still trickled forward. Coleman corralled it and fired it past Korpisalo. “Nice shot “¦ pass “¦ broken stick. We’ve been working on that one for a while,” Coleman said with a laugh. Hanifin, also smiling, acknowledged it was a fortuitous bounce. “I tried shooting it and the stick just exploded,” he said. “Luckily Colesy was there. He’s hot right now so he’s the guy to be in front of the net that time.” Hanifin has seven goals and 22 points this season. He was plus-five against the Senators, equaling his career high. Sharangovich’s second of the game at 15:45 made it a two-goal cushion and Coleman wrapped up the third-period barrage with his team-leading 17th goal into an empty net at 17:12. Ottawa welcomed back Mathieu Joseph after he missed 10 games with a lower-body injury. He played on the Senators’ top line with Tkachuk and Josh Norris. Exiting the lineup due to illness was D Artem Zub. “I think it can be really hard to stay positive at times, but we’re really left with no other option,” Ottawa defenseman Jeff Chychrun said. “We just need to continue to put the work boots on and find a way out of this hole.” UP NEXT Senators: Wrap up a five-game trip at Buffalo on Thursday. Flames: Visit the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday. ___ AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL 24-23
