Backlund breaks late tie, Flames beat Golden Knights 3-2
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Mikael Backlund broke a tie with 4:29 left in the Calgary Flames’ 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night.
Elias Lindholm and Tyler Toffoli also scored and Jacob Markstrom made 19 saves to help the Flames improve to 3-0 and drop Vegas to 3-1.
Jonathan Huberdeau, acquired in an offseason trade with Florida, assisted on Calgary’s first two goals. Kadri, signed as a free agent in August, had an assist.
“These guys work really hard,” Flames forward Jonathan Huberdeau said. “I think they created so many opportunities and they put us on the power play three or four times in a row in the second.
“That creates momentum for us and that’s how we came back in the game. The first two lines weren’t going too well and then these guys came in and gets us going. That’s what we’re going to need all year.”
William Carrier and Brett Howden scored their first goals of the season for Vegas. Logan Thompson stopped 37 in his hometown.
“We’ll definitely respond,” Thompson said. “It’s a veteran group here, right? We know what we’ve got to do. We’ll be better, we’ll get back to practice and get back to work.”
After the Flames killed off a pair of hooking minors in the third period, Backlund netted the winner. Blake Coleman collected the puck off the glass and shoveled it out front to Backlund on Thompson’s doorstep.
Vegas newcomer Phil Kessel played his 986th consecutive NHL game, leaving him three back of Philadelphia defenseman Keith Yandle’s record set in April.
UP NEXT
Golden Knights: Host Winnipeg on Thursday night.
Flames: Host Buffalo on Thursday night.
___
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
