Flames edge Avalanche; rookie goalie gets first win
DENVER -- Rookie David Rittich made 24 saves for his first NHL win, Micheal Ferland and Mikael Backlund scored goals 22 seconds apart, and the Calgary Flames beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Saturday night.
Backlund added an assist and Dougie Hamilton also scored for the Flames, who finished their six-game road trip 3-2-1.
Mikko Rantanen and Nikita Zadorov scored for Colorado and Jonathan Bernier stopped 25 shots in his fourth game in seven days.
Rittich, who was recalled Friday from Stockton of the AHL, was thrown into action and responded with a solid performance. He looked sharp against a Colorado team that was 7-1-1 at home entering Saturday.
Rittich's best save came on Colorado's second power play when he gloved a shot by Alexander Kerfoot with 6:27 left in the second period. He made another big save on Carl Soderberg at 13:55 of the third period to keep it a two-goal game, but Zadorov made it 3-2 with a goal at 17:06 of the third.
Bernier came off for an extra skater with 1:25 left in the third.
The score was tied 1-1 as the second period was winding down when the Flames took control. Ferland broke the tie with his 10th goal of the season at 19:09 and Backlund made it 3-1 with his sixth of the season at 19:31.
Rantanen beat Rittich from the top of the left circle at 14:32 of the second to tie the score at 1. It was his seventh of the season.
It was the only blemish on a strong season debut for the rookie goaltender. Rittich got into one game for Calgary last season where he stopped 9 of 11 shots in 20 minutes in his brief NHL debut.
Ferland nearly scored in the opening minutes, but his shot hit the crossbar. Hamilton did give the Flames the early lead when he scored his third goal on the power play at 17:23 of the first period to give Calgary the early lead.
NOTES: Flames RW Johnny Gaudreau has at least one point in 18 of his team's 23 games. ... Colorado G Semyon Varlamov missed his fourth straight game because of illness, but he is expected to return for Wednesday's game against Winnipeg. Varlamov took part in Saturday's option morning skate and said he is feeling better. ... The Flames have won three straight at Pepsi Center dating to the 2015-16 season and four in a row overall against Colorado. ... The Avalanche had scored at least three goals in each of their first nine home games before being held to one Saturday.