Flames Fall To Caps
Calgary drops 5-2 decision to Washington
By Ty Pilson
@typilson CalgaryFlames.com
March 19, 2024
Chances, they had them.
They just couldn't convert enough of them.
Kevin Rooney and MacKenzie Weegar scored for the Flames, but they fell 5-2 to the Washington Capitals Monday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
The Flames outshot the visitors 36-33 and finished with 11 high-danger chances, but Washington captain Alexander Ovechkin - still chasing down Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals mark - scored a pair to pace the visitors.
Calgary went 0-3 with the powerplay, while Washington was 2-for-3.
Dustin Wolf got the start, making 28 saves, while Charlie Lindgren had 34 stops in the tilt.
Shots were knotted at three near the midway point of the first period before the Flames put the pedal down and had created some good chances, notably a give-and-go between blueliners Rasmus Andersson and Oliver Kylington, the latter breaking down mainstreet to get a good shot that Lindgren denied.
Not long after, Martin Pospisil flung a shot from the halfboards that bounced around like a pinball, eventually going off the skate of a Caps defenceman and almost handcuffing Lindgren.
Dylan Strome opened the scoring at 14:59, finishing off a quick passing play with a wrister that found twine shortside above the glove of Wolf.
Ovechkin’s first of the second period came at 5:58 on the powerplay when he slipped into the slot and tipped a pass from Max Pacioretty high.
His second also came when a man-up at 9:16 when he scored from his office with a one-timer slapshot.
Calgary got on the board at 10:41 off a rush, when Rooney tipped home a no-look shot on net by Brayden Pachal, Matt Coronato getting the other helper.
Washington took a timeout and then challenged the marker, citing goalie interfence. Upon review, the call of a good goal stood.
Pachal sets up for Rooney for the backdoor tap
The Caps, though, would restore the three-goal cushion when Hendrix Lapierre batted a puck home at 14:22.
Weegar made it 4-2 at 7:12 when Mikael Backlund won a faceoff in the Caps zone right back to the blueliner, who took a handful of strides and stepped into a howitzer that beat Lindgren shortside.
Weegar launches one past Lindgren to cut the deficit
Tom Wilson would round out the scoring with an empty-netter at 17:31.
Forwards
Jonathan Huberdeau - Nazem Kadri - Martin Pospisil
Dryden Hunt - Yegor Sharangovich - Andrei Kuzmenko
Andrew Mangiapane - Mikael Backlund - Blake Coleman
A.J. Greer - Kevin Rooney - Matt Coronato
Defence
Oliver Kylington - Rasmus Andersson
MacKenzie Weegar - Daniil Miromanov
Joel Hanley - Brayden Pachal
Goaltender
Dustin Wolf - starter
Dan Vladar
They Said It:
"Special teams got beat tonight"
"We just couldn’t find the net a couple more times"
"I thought we did some things that we liked"
Shots: CGY 36, WSH 33
Powerplay: CGY 0-3, WSH 2-3
Faceoffs: CGY 52.2%, WSH 47.8%
Blocked Shots: CGY 24, WSH 23
Hits: CGY 15, WSH 10
5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 29, WSH 30
5-on-5 High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 11, WSH 9
Go inside the glass and get a close-up look at the action against Washington. Photos by Gerry Thomas
The Flames don't play again until Saturday when they face the Canucks in Vancouver. They return home the next day to host the Sabres Sunday at the Scotiabank Saddledome at 7 p.m. (Click for tickets)