The Florida Panthers completed its four-game road trip with a 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome.
Calgary got its goals from four different players and goaltender Dustin Wolf turned aside 24 of 25 shots to earn the game’s First Star.
After a scoreless opening frame, the Flames struck first 7:44 into the second when Blake Coleman collected a Sam Bennett turnover and shoveled a backhand pass off the right boards to Joel Farabee. Farabee moved a little closer to the net and fired a shot from the half-wall that caught Niko Mikkola’s leg on its way past Daniil Tarasov.
Victor Olofsson made it 2-0 for the home side just 2:26 later. Adam Klapka backhanded the puck from below the goal line to Olofsson in the slot and he spanked a one-timer home for his first goal since being acquired from the Colorado Avalanche on deadline day. Olli Määttä picked the secondary assist.
A.J. Greer, who also scored Thursday night in Edmonton, halved the deficit 4:17 into the third, ripping a shot from the left circle by Wolf’s glove after taking a pass from Donovan Sebrango after the defenseman was fed at the point by Tomas Nosek.
Unfortunately, Greer would later lose his cool, racking up 17 penalty minutes by first hooking Connor Zary, then knocking him to the ice from behind to receive a five-minute major for interference and a game misconduct.
After Nosek called got called for tripping Matt Coronato, Morgan Frost made the Panthers pay on the subsequent 5-on-3 by stuffing the puck in at 16:59 to put the Flames up by two, with the assists going to Yegor Sharangovich and Zayne Parekh.
With Nosek still in the box, Coronato would complete scoring with a breakaway goal with 2:30 left on the clock following two beautiful passes from Coleman and Matvei Gridin.
A disappointing result for the Panthers, who were firmly in the game until Greer’s trangressions, worsened by Nosek, helped the Flames pull away late. That’s seven-straight defeats for the Cats in Calgary, who also lost Mikkola to a serious-looking knee injury after he collided with Ryan Strome. Fading Florida will get a few days off before they host the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday.
The Five Hole
- A.J. Greer scored in consecutive games for the first time this season. In addition to his notching his 13th marker on his only shot on goal. Greer was also credited with four hits.
- Daniil Tarasov lost for the sixth time in his last seven starts. He made 32 saves, including ten of the high-danger variety.
- Tomas Nosek’s secondary assist on Greer’s goal was his first point of the season. Nosek logged 14:21 of ice time and dished out two hits.
- Nosek, Donovan Sebrango and rookie Mike Benning were only Cats to finish the tilt with a plus-one rating.
- Newcomer Cole Reinhardt matched Calgary’s Martin Pospisil with a game-high five hits. Reinhardt also registered three shots on goal.
Stat Card
