Kadri scores in 1,000th game as Flames win 5-1
Nazem Kadri was determined to collect the win in his 1,000th NHL game.
And in Wednesday’s second period, he seized the moment, converting on an odd-man rush to help send the Flames on their way to a 5-1 victory over the Blue Jackets, while simultaneously sending the Scotiabank Saddledome into a frenzy.
Kadri – honoured by the club for reaching the impressive milestone in a pre-game ceremony – put the homeside ahead 3-1 with his marker, while Morgan Frost, Blake Coleman, Adam Klapka and Mikael Backlund also scored, helping Calgary capture its second win on the spin.
The goaltending from Dustin Wolf was just as good; Calgary’s netminder stopped 42 of the 43 Columbus shots he faced, including 22 during the visitors’ third-period push.
Kadri honoured before game in the C of Red
The game could not have started any better for the Flames. Frost tipped home a Jonathan Huberdeau point shot just 56 seconds into the contest to put the locals ahead 1-0, then 36 seconds later Coleman spun and fired from the left circle for his team-leading sixth goal of the campaign.
Frost scores 56 seconds into tilt against Columbus
Columbus got one back before the period was through on a Kirill Marchenko breakaway, but the Flames took a 2-1 lead into the break.
Dustin Wolf was called upon to help his team maintain the lead, and he did so with a trio of high-danger saves. He stoned former Flame Sean Monahan on a breakaway, then parried away a rush from Kent Johnson before turning aside an Adam Fantilli chance from in tight, after the Blue Jackets forward cut past a defender and found himself through on goal.
And that’s when Kadri took his chance, and made good. Joel Farabee pounced onto a loose puck in the neutral zone and strode down the right wing on a 2-on-1.
Everyone inside the Scotiabank Saddledome knew exactly where the puck was going – right onto Kadri’s tape – and once he received it, the man of the hour made no mistake, ripping it into the top corner past a lunging Jet Greaves, becoming just the second of the 13 Calgary skaters to play their 1,000th game as a Flame to also score in said appearance (a feat equalled by Martin Gelinas in 2003).
Go ice level with No. 91 after he scored in 1,000th game
The quick strikes kept coming. Klapka made it 4-1 with a snapshot low to Greaves’ glove side just 37 seconds after Kadri’s marker, and Calgary took a 4-1 lead into the second intermission.
Klapka cashes in off second-period rush
The third period was Wolf’s show.
He turned aside 22 shots – 10 in the first five minutes of the frame alone – to keep the Blue Jackets at bay. On an early penalty-kill, he made a shoulder stop off Johnson, then kicked out the pad to deny a low drive from Ivan Provorov.
Backlund iced it with an empty-netter in the final minute.
Defenceman Yan Kuznetsov, recalled from the AHL’s Wranglers Tuesday, appeared in his second career NHL game on a pairing with Brayden Pachal. He recorded his first NHL point – an assist – on Klapka’s second-period marker.
As part of the festivities, Kadri also took a solo lap at the start of pre-game warmup, and the team skated out in identical No. 91 sweaters, six of which are now available for auction with proceeds benefitting the Calgary Flames Foundation’s CSEC Inclusion Program.
Our signed Nazem Kadri jersey auction is live! You can own a player-owned, Kadri-signed jersey from warm-ups from his 1000th NHL game!
Bid now: https://t.co/bqTAOEc4Nl pic.twitter.com/NxADqMxxKu
FORWARDS
Connor Zary – Nazem Kadri – Joel Farabee
Jonathan Huberdeau – Morgan Frost – Matt Coronato
Sam Honzek – Mikael Backlund – Blake Coleman
Ryan Lomberg – Yegor Sharangovich – Adam Klapka
DEFENCE
Kevin Bahl – Rasmus Andersson
Joel Hanley – MacKenzie Weegar
Yan Kuznetsov – Brayden Pachal
GOALTENDERS
Dustin Wolf – starter
Devin Cooley
Coming soon.
Shots: CGY 26, CBJ 43
Powerplay: CGY 0-2, CBJ 0-1
Faceoffs: CGY 41.2%, CBJ 58.8%
Hits: CGY 24, CBJ 18
Blocked shots: CGY 22, CBJ 9
5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 18, CBJ 21
5-on-5 High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 7, CBJ 10
The Flames will contest their next three games against Central Division opponents, beginning with a home fixture against the Blackhawks Friday at 7 p.m. MT. GET TICKETS
After Friday’s game, the team will hit the road for matchups in Minnesota Nov. 9 and St. Louis Nov. 11.