SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Nazem Kadri had a goal and two assists, Joel Farabee added a goal and an assist and defenseman Mackenzie Weegar scored for her former team as the Calgary Flames overcame a sleepy start to beat the Florida Panthers 5-3 on Friday.
Yan Kuznetsov scored his first NHL goal and Morgan Frost scored the goal that gave Calgary the lead for good as the Flames won for the fourth time in five games. Farabee tied the score with an empty net with 1:03 left.
Devin Cooley missed the first two shots he saw and then stopped the next 30 for Calgary.
Evan Rodriguez and Sam Bennett scored in the first 2:58 for Florida, which blew a 2-0 lead (on home ice, no less) for the second straight game after losing 4-2 to Philadelphia on Wednesday. Brad Marchand scored midway through the third, his 15th goal of the season for Florida.
Before Wednesday, the Panthers were 9-0-0 this season in games when they led by two or more goals at any time and 9-1-0 when scoring first. Rodrigues scored in the first minute, Bennett made it 2-0 two minutes later and the Panthers, who have now lost three of their last four games overall and four of their last six at home, appeared to be gaining momentum.
Cooley changed all this in a hurry.
He made 17 saves before the end of the first period, and goals from Kuznetsov and Weegar, the second-line defensemen, tied the score at 2 heading into the second period. Calgary had a 5-on-3 power play that continued into the second period, giving Frost a chance to put the Flames up 3-2 early in the middle frame on a rebound off Florida's Daniil Tarasov.
Before the game, the Flames announced a two-year contract extension for general manager Craig Conroy.
Next
Flame: Visit Carolina on Sunday.
Panthers: Host Toronto on Tuesday.
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