Benn there, done that.
Not only did the Flames lose in overtime for the third time at home Thursday, they did so courtesy of Jamie Benn’s fourth game-winner against a Calgary club the Stars captain has dominated for years.
What also looked familiar at the Saddledome was the third-period comeback that earned the Flames a point in their ninth straight outing.
The big difference – as in six-foot-six, 235-pound big – on this night was the man who authored the Flames’ late, game-tying snipe:
Nikita Zadorov.
Pointless in the four games he hasn’t spent in the press box, Zadorov stepped in from the blue line with four minutes left in a game the Flames appeared destined to lose and snapped home a low beauty that knotted it 3-3.
The Flames had just squandered a pair of late power-play opportunities, and a Jacob Markstrom delay-of-game penalty threatened to end the team’s early-season points binge.
Then came the big blast from the man they call Big Z.
It was symbolic of the fact everybody on the Flames roster seems to be taking turns playing the hero early on – in this case stealing a point for a host club that had the type of slow start it was accustomed to last year.
“I don’t think we played our best hockey, so we’ll definitely take the point,” said Zadorov, the $3.75 million acquisition who has been a healthy scratch five times. “I accept the challenge. I’m playing hard and trying to help the team win hockey games. That’s my main focus.”
Milan Lucic, who redirected a Zadorov point shot past Anton Khudobin to tie the game 1-1, was philosophical of an outcome his team wasn’t happy with.
“It wasn’t our A Game, and I didn’t think we were very sharp, but what’s nice to see is we’re competing until the end of the game,” said Lucic, whose club spent last season panicking when down late in games.
“We’re not getting away from our game -- we are sticking with it and we’re getting ourselves back in games. It would have been nice to get two points, but it’s nice to get a loser’s point as opposed to getting nothing.”
They said the same thing two nights earlier when a superb effort against Nashville ended in similar fashion.
“You look at last year – we didn’t get these points at all,” added Lucic. “Maybe we didn’t deserve (the second point) tonight. We probably deserved it Tuesday. We’re a group that has a lot of pride and a group that likes each other – that helps as well. We have to keep that going.”
The Flames went up 2-1 on a Matthew Tkachuk power-play goal late in the second period before Blake Comeau silenced the crowd with an equalizer that squeezed past Markstrom with 5.6 second remaining in the frame.
Ninety seconds into the third Tyler Seguin deflected home the go-ahead goal the Flames tried desperately to erase.
“He played a strong game and tried to be a physical player, which is what we need from him,” said Sutter of Zadorov, who has rotated in and out of the lineup as a third pairing defender.
“He moved pucks quick. Dallas is a big, experienced team that plays a smart, hard game and that’s how you have to play against them, and I thought that’s what he did for us.”
Sutter said there were too many passengers on this night.
“When you don’t have your A Game you better have a good B game,” he said.
“We had some guys that didn’t have either tonight. We earned the point by those guys who made those hard plays to get us the point. We’re not going to win unless everybody is on top of their game.”
With a 1-3 record in overtime, Sutter was asked if his team’s three-on-three approach needed to change.
“If you check, we might have the best three-on-three record ever with that team in LA,” he said.
“You’ve got to play a close game, not a long game, even though our chances tonight came on long plays. Maybe the other team has got more three-on-three guys.”
Benn is certainly one of them, setting a franchise-record with his tenth overtime winner. He now has 19 goals and 34 points in 35 games against Calgary.
The Flames host the Rangers Saturday.
