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 For Florida Panthers left winger Tomas Fleischmann, it felt like
one.
Fleischmann scored the game-winner in a 6-5 victory Friday against
the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome, shoveling in a
rebound with just over three minutes remaining in regulation time.
"It's probably one of the best goals I've scored this year,"
Fleischmann said. "I'm really happy that we won the game. We
deserved it, I think. It should've been 5-1."
Instead, it was 5-5 after Flames center Matt Stajan had scored his
second of the night at the 16:06 mark of the third period.
Just 45 seconds later, Fleischmann pounced on a rebound and buried a
backhander, ending a back-and-forth affair that saw each team lead
three times.
"It's like boxing. You get a shot and you score and then you get
another goal scored against you," Fleischmann said. "It wasn't easy.
It wasn't easy for coaches for sure. Fun for fans, probably."
Fun for fans.
 Not fun for goalies.
Fleischmann, left winger Sean Bergenheim and centers Jonathan
Huberdeau and Brad Boyes each had a goal and assist for the Panthers
(19-11-9), while right winger Jimmy Hayes and defenseman Brian
Campbell also scored on Flames goaltender Jonas Hiller. The
Panthers, who registered a 3-1 victory Thursday in Vancouver, have
three wins in four stops so far on a six-game homestand.
Defenseman TJ Brodie had his first career two-goal game for Calgary,
while Stajan also scored a pair and Mikael Backlund added one and
had a helper. Left winger Lance Bouma contributed three assists for
the Flames (21-18-3), who have now suffered three straight losses.
Hiller finished with 29 saves on 35 shots, while Panthers netminder
Al Montoya stopped 25 of 30.
"It seemed like somehow every puck found the back of the net at both
ends," Hiller said. "It's tough to win if you give up six goals. I
thought that, especially in our zone, we weren't as solid as
usually. Sure, we were scoring goals, but if you give up more, you
still don't win."
There were a handful of ugly goals Friday, but none worse than
Campbell's go-ahead goal at 9:29 of the third period.
Hiller admitted he didn't see Campbell's floating shot until it was
too late, getting a piece of the puck with his blocker before it
bounced into the net. The goal was reviewed, with the Flames arguing
Bergenheim deflected it with a high-stick, but officials ruled there
was inconclusive evidence to overturn the initial call.
It wasn't Hiller's finest night, but Flames coach Bob Hartley
refused to blame the goalie.
"I don't think that as a team, we were good enough to win. Plain and
simple," Hartley said. "We had many breakdowns. We had quite a few
passengers. So to point one guy? You win as a team, you lose as a
team. It was a game that was right there for us, and we refused to
take it. We were just not good enough."
Panthers coach Gerard Gallant was even complimentary of Montoya, who
allowed a couple of soft goals but also made a key breakaway stop on
Flames right winger Paul Byron in the third period.
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"He battled back and he made some big saves when the score was 5-5
or 6-5 there," Gallant said. "He battled a little bit, but he found
a way to win the game, and that's what the bottom line is."
The Flames hit the scoresheet first in Friday's game, with Panthers
rookie defenseman Aaron Ekblad guilty of an ugly turnover as he was
smashed into the end-boards by Bouma. Stajan swiped Ekblad's bad
pass up the middle and ripped a one-timer past Montoya at the 2:42
mark of the opening period.
The Panthers tied it up just 106 seconds later. After Hiller whiffed
on a pass behind his own net, Boyes moved the puck to Huberdeau for
an easy finish.
That duo hooked up again at 13:12 of the first period, with
Huberdeau stealing an attempted breakout pass by Flames defenseman
Dennis Wideman and feeding Boyes for a re-direct.
However, that lead would last just over three minutes before
Brodie's wrist-shot from the blueline on a power play snuck past
Montoya for a 2-2 tie after 20 minutes.
Backlund capitalized on a second-chance opportunity at 2:27 of the
second period, but Bergenheim would even it up just 19 seconds later
when he banged in his own rebound.
After the Flames regained the lead on Brodie's slapper from the
point at 8:13, Hayes scored on a low shot from the slot not long
before the intermission for a 4-4 deadlock.
The hosts tied it up again after Campbell's goal in the third, with
Stajan scoring on a rebound.
The Flames have a reputation for comeback victories, but Campbell
was proud that his squad didn't let that happen Friday. Fleischmann
made sure of it.
"It's a nice way to respond," Campbell said. "I feel like we're
learning how to respond in games and coming up with our best
efforts."
NOTES: The Flames and Panthers completed a minor league trade just
over an hour before Friday's opening faceoff, with the Flames
acquiring C Drew Shore in exchange for C Corban Knight. ... The
Flames placed RW Brian McGrattan on waivers Friday. The 33-year-old
enforcer has appeared in only eight games so far this season, with
no points and four penalty minutes. ... Panthers C Aleksander Barkov
and D Dmitry Kulikov both missed Friday's game due to the flu, while
LW Shawn Thornton (groin) remains out. ... Flames D Ladislav Smid
returned to action Friday after missing 10 games with an upper-body
injury. C Josh Jooris (upper body) and Karri Ramo (upper body) are
currently on Calgary's injured list.
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