
The Calgary Flames haven't had the best luck on the second night of back-to-backs, usually picking up a win on night one and then dropping the second night.
However, the Flames threw that script out the window this weekend. They lost to the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday but followed that up with a grueling 3-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Sunday.
The win was a significant two points for Calgary, who maintain a one-point lead over the Vancouver Canucks to remain entrenched in the Western Conference's second wild-card spot.
The Kraken opened the scoring in the first period, only to have the goal called back on goalie interference. That gave the Flames new life as Morgan Frost sniped his first with his new team to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Shortly after, Yegor Sharangovich scored to put Calgary up 2-0, which Seattle challenged and lost. Although there was contact with Joey Daccord, the NHL upheld the goal, putting the Kraken down on a 5-on-3.
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Jonathan Huberdeau scored his 20th of the year on the ensuing two-man advantage, and the Flames were spotted a 3-0 lead heading into intermission. All the bounces went their way until one play later in the third.
Later in the third, the puck never even made it to the Kraken goal line on an icing call. The home team made things interesting with a goal off the face-off, forcing the Flames to dig deeper to maintain their one-goal lead in the dying minutes.
On a night of crazy bounces and favorable coach's challenges, the hockey gods were very busy in this one.
Dan Vladar was on a lengthy six-game winless streak and has often been the starter on the second night of a back-to-back, where the Flames are running on fumes.
In arguably one of his better performances of the season, Vladar survived an early goalie interference call and, despite surrendering two goals later in the contest, made all the necessary saves to preserve a much-needed victory on the road.
Vladar's .935 SV% on Sunday was his third-best performance of 2024-25, excluding his two shutouts over New Jersey and Columbus.
Despite a comfortable lead, he let the Kraken back into the game, but he didn't give up that crucial third goal when it mattered the most.
Roughly 48 hours after pulling on a Flames sweater for the first time, Frost carried the puck into the Kraken zone and sniped one to the top corner past Daccord for his first goal with his new team.
Since debuting on Saturday, Frost has proven to be a great addition to the Calgary lineup. Not only can he win face-offs, but he's also got the skills to play on the power play and is not afraid to carry the puck into the opponent's zone, an area that needs improvement.
Meanwhile, Joel Farabee came to the Flames in the same deal as Frost, proving to be a valuable addition. After a quiet game against Detroit, Farabee was more active in his second outing, collecting three shots, winning a couple of face-offs, and playing physically.
It's still too early to judge their performances after six periods, but the early returns indicate that Thursday night's trade benefited the Flames organization.
