On Thursday evening, a desperate Calgary Flames team continued their road trip against the New Jersey Devils. Jacob Markstrom aimed to grab a win against his former franchise but was unable to do so, as Dustin Wolf stopped 26 of 29 in a Flames’ 5-3 victory. They improve to 32-25-11; the Devils fall to 37-27-6.
Right off the bat, the two teams made it clear that some previous bad blood was still relevant. There were three early penalties – two against the Devils and one against the Flames – all a direct result of chippy play. It settled down a little bit and then Nico Hischier scored on a wraparound for his 29th of the season, putting the Devils up 1-0.
A few minutes into the second, Erik Haula doubled the Devils’ lead as his shot deflected off Kevin Bahl and in. But the Flames answered right back with a Matt Coronato power play goal. Then with 28 seconds left, Paul Cotter showed off some sweet mitts to restore the Devils’ two-goal lead.
It should come as no surprise that the Flames would not go down without a fight. With about 13 minutes left in the third, Connor Zary wristed one that squeaked through Markstrom to make it 3-2. Then Daniil Miromanov sniped one home to tie it at three with just under five minutes to go. Just seconds later, Jonathan Huberdeau capitalized off a turnover to make it 4-3 Flames.
And just like that, the lead is ours
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) March 21, 2025pic.twitter.com/z9OsG0Pp38
Markstrom came off for the extra attacker, but Nazem Kadri hit the empty net to seal it. Devils fans headed for the exits in stunned silence as the clock ticked down to zero.
The Devils will return to action on Saturday evening (7:00 PM ET) to face the Ottawa Senators; the Flames will also play on Sat. as they head to Long Island to face the New York Islanders (4:00 PM ET).
