Hear Them Roar!

SUNRISE, Fla. — They’ve only gone and done it again.

For the second time on this five-game road trip, the Flames engineered an impressive comeback win, rallying from an early two-goal deficit to beat the Panthers 5-3 Friday at Amerant Bank Arena.

Yan Kuznetsov got the offence started with his first NHL goal, before MacKenzie Weegar, Morgan Frost, Nazem Kadri and Joel Farabee added markers while Devin Cooley shook off a difficult start, making 37 to earn his third victory between the pipes over Calgary’s last five games.

Head Coach Ryan Huska praised his group's resolve post-game, pointing to some work in the crease from Cooley and Kuznetsov's marker as turning points in the contest.

"I thought it was really good after that,” Huska said of his group’s response to the early deficit. "The (first-period) powerplay that they had, they had us on their heels, and Cooley was excellent on that penalty kill for us. But then I thought our game got better.

"And when Kuznetsov scored that goal for us, I think it kind of shifted a little bit of the momentum in our favour."

"The turning point was definitely Kuzy’s goal," Weegar added. "It was big for our team. It kind of slowed their momentum down, because I know how we can get in here … it can get out of hand pretty quick and I thought Kuzy did a great job.

"I'm proud of him, but that's definitely what sparked the comeback."

In a part of the country where golf is a year-round activity, the Flames were afforded a couple of mulligans early on. Evan Rodrigues opened the scoring in the opening minute before former Flame Sam Bennett put Florida ahead by a pair 2:58 into the opening frame.

But the Flames stuck to the process, clawing back to within one on Kuznetsov’s first National League tally. He took a hard cross-ice pass from Blake Coleman at the Calgary blue line, then strode confidently down the middle of the sheet before snapping the puck low to Daniil Tarasov’s blocker side from the high slot.

Five minutes later, the teams were even Steven again, and the Flames had a former Panther to thank in Weegar, who accepted a hard pass from behind the net by Mikael Backlund at the right point, then stepped into a hard, low slapshot that found its way first through traffic, then through Tarasov’s pads.

Right off the hop, the Flames moved their feet. And their quickness paid off late in the opening frame when A.J. Greer and Aaron Ekblad were dinged for separate minor penalties on the same rush, the latter coming when Ekblad tripped up Ryan Lomberg as he tried to escape on a partial break in the Panthers zone.

Calgary used the full, two-minute 5-on-3 to their advantage, going ahead 55 seconds into the middle stanza when Frost batted home a net-front rebound after Tarasov spilled Rasmus Andersson’s point shot.

Kadri was all around it Friday, leading the Flames with eight shots on goal and 11 attempts, including a hit post on a 3-on-1 rush at the midway mark of period two.

And with 1:16 left on the second-period clock, his persistence paid off after some great work down low to win the puck along with linemate Joel Farabee. The puck was reset to Andersson at the point, and Kadri got his stick to the right point blast, deflecting the puck past Tarasov for his fifth goal of the campaign.

Brad Marchand got one back for Florida with just over eight minutes left the third period, but the Flames held firm the rest of the way, getting an empty-net marker from Joel Farabee to ice it with 1:03 to play. The insurance tally was Farabee's 100th career goal.

Cooley was strong yet again, appearing in his fourth game inside the past 10 days. The best of his 37 saves came during a first-period sequence on a Panthers powerplay, where he kicked out a deflected point shot with his right pad, then stymied Sam Reinhart on the rebound, going into a near-plank position to cover the low half of the net, keeping the puck - and the Florida forward - at bay.

The Lineup:

FORWARDS

Jonathan Huberdeau - Morgan Frost - Matt Coronato

Yegor Sharangovich - Nazem Kadri - Joel Farabee

Connor Zary - Mikael Backlund - Blake Coleman

Ryan Lomberg - John Beecher - Adam Klapka

DEFENCE

Yan Kuznetsov - MacKenzie Weegar

Kevin Bahl - Rasmus Andersson

Joel Hanley - Brayden Pachal

GOALTENDERS

Devin Cooley - starter

Dustin Wolf

They Said It:

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 34, FLA 40

Powerplay: CGY 1-2, FLA 0-2

Faceoffs: CGY 52.1%, FLA 47.9%

Hits: CGY 20, FLA 30

Blocked shots: CGY 28, FLA 12

5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 19, FLA 37

5-on-5 High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 10, FLA 17

Up Next:

Game Four of the trip is set for Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. MT against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Flames will then wrap up the road swing in Nashville Dec. 2 at 6 p.m. MT.