Flames score late tying goal, beat Panthers in shootout

Sean Monahan and Matthew Tkachuk scored in their shootout attempts, while neither of the Florida Panthers skaters could convert as the host Calgary Flames won a wild and crazy 6-5 shootout clash on Thursday. Calgary goalie David Rittich struggled through overtime with only 18 saves but denied both Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov in the showdown to close out a game in which multiple leads were lost by both teams.

Calgary Austin Czarnik's lucky power-play goal that opened the scoring at 8:17 of the first period -- his shot was going wide but banked off the skate of Florida's Aaron Ekblad -- was the first clue it would be a wild affair. But Huberdeau tied it at 4:28 of the second period when he stole the puck in the neutral zone and buried a shot from the wing on the ensuing rush. The clubs traded goals again in the second period. Tkachuk put the Flames ahead a second time just before the 12-minute mark when he rifled a shot from the wing, but Florida's Mackenzie Weegar evened the count at 15:15 by wiring a wrist shot from the high slot.

Tkachuk's second goal of the game -- a redirect of Michael Frolik's pass during a two-on-one rush -- 32 seconds into the third period put the Flames ahead a third time. Mark Giordano made it a 4-2 game at 5:16 with another goal off the rush, giving the hosts belief they were en route to victory. However, the Panthers not only tied it up but took a temporary lead. First, Josh Brown wired a point shot at the 6:20 mark, then Evgenii Dadonov converted during a two-on-one rush with Huberdeau a couple of minutes later and Mark Pysyk's first goal of the season with 5:01 left in regulation gave the Panthers a 5-4 lead.

But Sam Bennett pounced on a loose puck and chipped it home with 2:43 left to force extra time. Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves, and Barkov collected four assists for Florida, which is on a 3-0-4 run.