Frolik's OT goal pushes Flames past Coyotes
CALGARY, Alberta -- Right winger Michael Frolik scored 49 seconds into overtime to lead the Calgary Flames to a 2-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday.
Frolik snapped a perfect shot to the top corner behind Arizona goalie Mike Smith, helping the Flames (7-10-1) to their second win in as many nights.
Rookie left winger Matthew Tkachuk also scored for the Flames, who trailed 1-0 after two periods.
Making his second consecutive start for the Flames, goalie Chad Johnson finished with 20 saves to improve his record to 4-2-1. Just one night earlier, Johnson stopped all 27 shots he faced to backstop the Flames to a 1-0 road win over the Minnesota Wild.
Right winger Tobias Rieder scored for the Coyotes (5-9-1), who have dropped three straight decisions.
Smith made 22 saves in a losing cause. Despite sitting out Arizona's past 12 games with a knee injury, Smith looked sharp in his first game since Oct. 18.
The Coyotes opened the scoring when Rieder deposited a rebound past Johnson with just 17.6 seconds remaining in the middle frame.
Left winger Jordan Martinook did a good job to keep the puck in at the point before firing a desperation shot on net that Johnson stopped, but Rieder snuck in behind the defensive pairing of Dennis Wideman and TJ Brodie to get himself into perfect position to get to the puck first.
Tkachuk pulled the Flames even at 6:40 of the third when he lifted a shot from a sharp angle into the top corner over Smith's left shoulder.
The Coyotes carried the majority of the play in the first period and held a 5-1 advantage in shots through the first 10 minutes of the game.
Late in the first, Smith had to be sharp to stop a shot fired by defenseman Dougie Hamilton that was deflected by Coyotes left winger Lawson Crouse.
Before the middle frame was even a minute old, Smith kicked out his left pad to turn aside a shot off the stick off Flames right winger Michael Frolik and then made a shoulder save to deny a scoring attempt by Brodie.
Just past the five minute mark of the second, Smith made a great glove grab to stop a shot from the slot by Frolik.
NOTES: Flames LW Johnny Gaudreau had surgery on Wednesday to repair a fractured finger he sustained after scoring the game-winning goal in Calgary's 1-0 road win over the Minnesota Wild the night before. ... With Gaudreau out, C/LW Sam Bennett moved into his spot on Calgary's top line with C Sean Monahan and RW Troy Brouwer. ... After being scratched on Tuesday, RW/C Linden Vey started Wednesday's game on a line with C/LW Matt Stajan and RW Alex Chiasson. ... The Flames scratches were D Jyrki Jokipakka and C Hunter Shinkaruk. ... The Coyotes assigned G Justin Peters and C Christian Dvorak to the AHL's Tucson Roadrunners on Tuesday making room for G Mike Smith and C Martin Hanzal to return to the lineup. ... Arizona scratched C Dylan Strome, D Connor Murphy and D Jakob Chychrun. ... While the Flames played their second game in as many nights, the Coyotes will do the same as they head to Vancouver to play the Canucks on Thursday.