Kadri helps Flames rally to edge Coyotes 6-5
By Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press on April 14, 2024.
CALGARY – Nazem Kadri scored the tying and winning goals in the third period while also adding an assist on Sunday night to lead the Calgary Flames to a 6-5 comeback victory over the Arizona Coyotes. Andrei Kuzmenko, Matt Coronato, Connor Zary, and Yegor Sharangovich also scored for Calgary (37-38-5), which has won three of its last four games. Dylan Guenther with a pair, Alex Kerfoot, Matias Maccelli, and Josh Doan scored for Arizona (35-41-5), which was swept in the three-game season series with the Flames. Clayton Keller chipped in with a pair of assists. Dustin Wolf, the busier of the two goaltenders, had 30 saves to win his third straight start. He’s 6-7-1 on the season. At the other end, Connor Ingram had 25 stops in falling to 22-21-3. Ingram was replaced by Karel Vejmelka with 2:40 left in the third period after he received an errant stick from Coronato in the mask. Down 5-4 headed to the third period, it took Kadri only 1:14 to tie it. After chasing down a puck near the corner, his shot from a sharp angle squeaked in between Ingram and the post. Calgary took its first lead of the night at 5:43 on the power play when Kadri deflected in MacKenzie Weegar’s point shot for his 29th goal of the season. Kadri’s 74 points leads the club. It’s the 10th time the Flames have come back to win when trailing after 40 minutes, which is tied with the Colorado Avalanche and the New York Rangers for most in the league. Tied 3-3 in the second period, Guenther’s second of the game at 15:14 – one-timing a cross-ice setup from Jan Jenik – gave the Coyotes their third lead of the night. Doan’s goal just over a minute later made it a two-goal cushion and while Sharangovich responded 33 seconds later cutting the lead back to one at 5-4, that was as close as Calgary would get in the second period. Doan, son of longtime Coyote great Shane Doan, has made an immediate impact in his first month in the NHL. The 22-year-old second-round pick from 2021 has racked up five goals and nine points in his first 10 games. Arizona got off to a quick start on goals 1:19 apart from Kerfoot and Maccelli giving the visitors a 2-0 lead before the game was four minutes old. At that early stage, the Coyotes held a 7-1 edge in shots. But back roared the Flames with a pair of goals just over two minutes apart to tie it 2-2 at the halfway point. Guenther’s first of the night on the power play at 17:54 gave Arizona a one-goal lead headed to the first intermission. Calgary again tied it at 9:07 of the second when Zary buried a setup from Dryden Hunt. KUZMENKO CRUISING Kuzmenko, who came over from Vancouver as part of the trade return for Elias Lindholm, had a goal and an assist and is up to 14 goals and 26 points in 29 games with the Flames. At the time he was acquired, he had eight goals and 21 points in 43 games with the Canucks. POWER-PLAY PROWESS The Flames went 1-for-3 on the power play to improve to 13-for-31 (42 per cent) over their last nine games, dating back to March 28. That’s No. 1 in the NHL over that span. Before that, Calgary ranked 30th. They’ve now moved up to 24th. UP NEXT Coyotes: Host the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday. Flames: Visit the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 14, 2024. 24-23
