Big first interval carries Flames previous Kraken

Morgan Frost scored his first goal with his new team as the Calgary Flames held on to defeat the host Seattle Kraken 3-2 on Sunday night.

Yegor Sharangovich had a goal and an assist and Jonathan Huberdeau also scored for the Flames, who won for just the second time in their past five games. Goaltender Dan Vladar made 29 saves to earn his first victory since Dec. 10.

Kaapo Kakko and Brandon Tanev scored for Seattle, which dropped 10 points behind the Flames in the race for the Western Conference’s second and final wild-card spot. Joey Daccord stopped 32 of 35 shots.

The game was effectively decided in a four-minute span late in the first period, after Seattle had a goal disallowed because of goaltender interference.

Frost, who came to Calgary along with Joel Farabee on Thursday as part of a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers, opened the scoring at 14:03 of the first. Frost took a pass from Sharangovich at the offensive blue line, split a pair of Kraken defenders to get to the high slot and scored on a wrist shot.

Just over a minute later, Calgary’s Brayden Pachal leveled Andre Burakovsky with a high hit near center ice. Seattle’s Jared McCann took exception and jumped Pachal, with McCann getting a double-minor for roughing and Pachal getting a two-minute penalty during the scrum.

On the ensuing power play, Mikael Backlund fed a short pass from the offensive blue line to Sharangovich as the latter streaked toward the net. Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak hooked Sharangovich’s right arm before he could get off a shot, but the puck slid between Daccord’s pads at 16:43.

The Kraken challenged the call, claiming Sharangovich hit Daccord’s stick and pulled his catching glove away from his body as the goaltender attempted to make the save. After a video review, officials determined there was no interference, and the goal stood.

That not only made it 2-0, but it also gave the Flames a five-on-three power play with the penalty to Oleksiak and a delay of game penalty against the Kraken for the failed review.

Calgary cashed in on the two-man advantage, as Nazem Kadri fed Huberdeau for a one-timer from low on the right wing at 17:56 to extend the Flames’ lead to 3-0.

The Kraken got goals from Kakko at 14:31 of the second and Tanev at 5:41 of the third but were unable to get the equalizer.

–Field Level Media