FLAMES EXTRA
Each and every week during the season we dig deeper into Flames storylines with our long-read features. This week Your Flames Authority George Johnson looks at David Rittich's unusually fast journey from playing in Europe to the NHL.
"I'm not surprised at all actually. My first year I was playing in the USHL I was on an expansion team and we ended up winning it. I thought, for me personally, when I was on that expansion team it kind of felt like things came together pretty quickly and that's what's happening for them. So for me personally, I wasn't surprised at all because I've been part of something like that before."
Mark Giordano on facing the Golden Knights:
"They play fast and they work extremely hard and you know what? They're in first place for a reason. They've been great all year and it's a good test for us. We're not going to get away with not playing the right way tonight, for sure. We're looking forward to this game. One of the teams we haven't seen yet in the league, obviously a little weird 'cause they're in our division so we're excited to get this game going and test ourselves. I think they've put themselves in a position now where they're a good test for teams and a little bit of a measuring stick."
Giordano on former Flame Deryk Engelland:
"He's doing really well, playing great. It was tough to see him go and, again, I think it was a tough decision for him and for us to see him go but he's doing well, playing well. He's a great leader so I'm happy to see him doing well. Hopefully we can expose him a little bit tonight though."
Michael Frolik on reuniting the 3M LIne:
"Yeah, definitely [excited]. When we are at our best we can be pretty dangerous and we can be a good line.I just want to bring that chemistry and what we did in the past again together and hopefully it's going to work out down the stretch and we can have success the next few games."
Glen Gulutzan on William Karlsson's breakout season:
"This is a player that early on I though just looked fantastic out on the ice and he's carried on that season. Just looking at him now he looks like a real hot player and good on him. You didn't see that in Columbus and obviously [the Vegas] scouting staff (did) so good on them but yeah, he looks like a real dangerous player every night … You gotta play him tight like everybody else, right? So I think he's the type of guy that you're going to have to skate with and move with and be hard on and not give him a lot of space 'cause he's got a lot of speed."
Thanks to goals 10 seconds apart inside the final two minutes of play, the Vegas Golden Knights rallied from behind for a monumental victory on Tuesday night.
Erik Haula tied it and Jonathan Marchessault had the winner in a dramatic 4-2 win over the Calgary Flames.
In recording its 33rd win, Vegas ties both the 1993-94 Florida Panthers and 1993-94 Anaheim Mighty Ducks for the most wins in a season by a first-year expansion team. The Golden Knights still have 33 games remaining.
"We're a good team and we deserve a lot of the things that we've gotten," said Haula. "We try to play hard night after night and we have one of the best goalies in the league."
Vegas defeats Calgary 4-2 for their 33rd victory of the season. 0:20
The tying goal was a bizarre one. Calgary forward Michael Frolik got the puck in his own end and in trying to pass it back to his defenceman, put the puck on his own net instead. Smith stopped it with his pad but Haula buried the rebound, stunning the home crowd.
Frolik takes blame
"My fault," said Frolik in his first game back after missing 12 games with a broken jaw. "Puck came to me and I panicked a little bit. I should have turned and cleared the puck from our zone and I saw [TJ Brodie] there and I just tried to pass it to him, but I passed it to his backhand. You guys saw what happened. An awful play."
Off the ensuing faceoff, Marchessault got the puck off the boards, darted around Mark Giordano and beat Smith over his glove.
"Like the rest of you, I'm a little bit in shock," said Flames coach Glen Gulutzan. "It's games like this. They sting. They hurt. They hurt every guy. They hurt everybody here. But it's how you react to it and the good teams can get back after a tough one like this and that's what we're going to have to do."
It's the first time in the last two seasons that Calgary has lost in regulation when leading game after two. They entered the night 50-0-3.
"It's tough to swallow," said Flames winger Sam Bennett, who scored his seventh goal. "We played a great game up until the last two minutes. It shows you what can happen if you take your foot off for a second."
Golden Knights feeling good
David Perron put the puck into an empty net and Reilly Smith also scored for Vegas (33-12-4). The Golden Knights' six-game road trip continues in Winnipeg on Thursday night.
Matthew Tkachuk had his seventh goal in the last eight games for the Flames (25-17-8), who lost in regulation time for the first time in 12 games (7-1-4).
Picking up the win was Marc-Andre Fleury, who had 31 stops.
"It's fun when the goals are going in, not in your net, on the other side," said Fleury, who improves to 13-4-2. "I was looking at the bench to come out to get an extra guy on the ice and then Erik is celebrating. That was nice. [Marchessault] got a nice goal again. It was a good feeling. Awesome."
Vegas opens up an 11-point lead over San Jose atop the Pacific Division.
"Our guys were pretty fired up on the bench. When you don't play your best game and the other team is bottling you down, you just find a way to win," said Vegas defenceman Nate Schmidt.
Smith also had 31 stops. His record falls to 20-14-6.
Calgary took a 2-1 lead at 18:43 of the second on a beautiful wrap-around goal by Tkachuk.
The 20-year-old faked like he was carrying the puck behind the net and spun back the other direction. Not realizing that, Fleury left both feet to desperately dive headfirst towards the far post only for Tkachuk to tuck the puck inside the near post.
