CALGARY – The Leafs couldn’t stop the Flames' momentum, so their coach did it for them.
Just when it appeared Connor Zary had tied a wildly entertaining game midway through the third period, a lengthy challenge on a missed hand pass overturned the goal and robbed a raucous Saddledome crowd of a memorable finish.
The Calgary Flames weren’t able to complete the two-goal comeback, and the Toronto Maple Leafs left town with a 4-3 win.
But while the second war room ruling of the night was a significant talking point, it wasn’t what cost Calgary the game.
Auston Matthews did.
“If you give Matthews a pinky, he takes the whole hand,” said Rasmus Andersson, who just watched the game’s best pure scorer add three more to a haul that has him at 37 goals already.
“That’s the way he is.
“He’s a hell of a player and he showed it tonight.”
With the Leafs down 2-0 in the first period, Matthews scored late to kickstart a second-period surge that saw him complete his fourth hat trick of the season.
He also added an assist.
And while no one disputes the man on pace for 71 was the biggest reason the Flames’ four-game winning streak is over, coach Ryan Huska made it clear he felt the superstar got plenty of help from the hosts.
“I thought we did some stupid things in the neutral zone tonight in the second period, which allowed them to get back in the game - that’s all on us,” said Huska, who was happy with a first period that saw Mikael Backlund come a goalpost away from making it 3-0.
“Teams that have high-end skilled players, that’s what is going to happen.
“To me I look at it as a selfish thing, that’s the unfortunate thing for us.
“When you’ve got a player like that on the ice you need to take care of the puck.
“Same thing we’re going to see here in a couple of nights.”
No one in Calgary needs reminding that Connor and Leon will skate south Saturday to punctuate Hockey Day In Canada.
“I think we’re playing a similar team Saturday, so we’ve got to learn from tonight’s second period,” said Backlund, whose club had the blue and red crowd in a frenzy early, after Yegor Sharangovich and Nazem Kadri continued their hot hands.
“We were playing well, but it can turn quickly.”
Late in the second period Andrew Mangiapane responded to the Leafs’ four straight goals with a redirect off his foot that needed a league review to deem it was a goal by virtue of hitting Timothy Liljegren’s stick just before it crossed the line.
The Flames looked poised to add to their league-lead in third-period comebacks when Zary circled the Leafs net and banged in his own rebound with 11 minutes left.
The Leafs called a timeout to review whether a clearing pass bounced off Blake Coleman’s hand and onto Jordan Oesterle’s stick earlier in the play.
Indeed it had, making Sheldon Keefe’s challenge a game-saver for a team that had coughed up late leads in their previous four losses.
“I saw it hit something and I thought maybe it was a hand, but kept playing obviously,” said Backlund, who had a bad feeling during the lengthy review.
“We scored, but I had in the back of my head they might look at it.
“I thought we had a little bit of a push after that, but not what we usually have.”
Rasmus Andersson said his squad was well aware of Toronto’s inability to preserve leads of late, but credited the visitors for playing a smart third, which included a savvy challenge.
“It sucks, but those are the rules now, you can challenge,” said Andersson, whose coach agreed it was the right call.
“But we don’t lose the game there. We lose the game in the second period. Way too many turnovers in the second period.”
The game could have been over long before that, as Dan Vladar’s second-straight start included two spectacular saves on Mitch Marner and Max Domi, who both sped in alone early in the third.
While Vladar’s 23-save effort makes him a strong contender to start again Saturday against the Oilers, Huska said after Thursday’s loss there was a possibility Jacob Markstrom would be ready to return from injury by then.
The team is off Friday, so we won’t know until Saturday.
The Flames aren’t quite as optimistic about Martin Pospisil’s return from an injury he suffered in the first period, when he clipped skates with Matthews and fell backwards into the boards. Having spent the bulk of his last four years battling various injuries, it was troubling to see the awkward impact, and how long he remained on the ice in discomfort before being helped off by teammates.
“It didn’t look good, but from what I understand he’s doing okay,” said Huska, who will almost certainly be giving Thursday call-up Adam Klapka his first NHL start Saturday.
“I haven’t gotten an official update yet, but hopefully it’s not something that will keep him out a long time.”
