Avalanche vs. Flames: Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon Bury the Winless Flames in a 7-3 Rout

Cale Makar was born in Calgary, and on Thursday night he came home and treated the Saddledome like his personal rink. The Avalanche defenseman scored twice and set up another, Nathan MacKinnon matched him with three points, and the Flames spent the back half of the game wondering how a 1-1 tie turned into a rout.

The Colorado Avalanche beat the Calgary Flames 7-3, with Devon Toews and Jaden Schwartz also scoring twice apiece. It was the second night of a back-to-back for Colorado, which had lost 3-2 in Winnipeg on Wednesday, and it was a fourth straight loss to start the season for Calgary.

Even After One, Then a Second-Period Avalanche

The first period actually belonged to nobody. Toews opened the scoring at 15:54, getting his stick on a hard Makar pass in front for a tip-in past Devin Cooley, with Brock Nelson picking up the second assist.

Calgary answered at 17:30 with the prettiest goal of the night. Adam Klapka undressed Colorado defenseman Josh Manson with a toe drag and lifted a wrist shot over Scott Wedgewood's blocker. Jonathan Castagna earned the assist in his NHL debut and sounded like a guy still processing it.

"That was crazy," Castagna said. "Really happy that he did that, obviously. I didn't have to do much for it."

Tied 1-1 after 20 minutes, the Flames had reason to feel decent. Then the second period happened.

The Turning Point: 4:54 That Ended It

Colorado scored three times in 4:54 of the second and took the drama out of the building. Toews got his second at 6:45, firing from the point through a maze of bodies and over Cooley's right shoulder, with Noah Juulsen and Parker Kelly assisting.

"Sometimes they go in and sometimes they get blocked or the goalie saves it," Toews said. "Today, they went in."

Makar made it 3-1 at 9:16, picking his spot with a wrister from near the right faceoff dot, set up by MacKinnon and Brett Kulak. MacKinnon then teed one up from the high slot and blew it past Cooley's blocker at 11:39, with Zachary L'Heureux credited with the assist. Two minutes later, L'Heureux and Matt Coronato dropped the gloves at 13:46 and each took a fighting major.

Colorado's coach was happy to see his star defenseman produce in the city where he was born.

"He loves playing in Calgary," Jared Bednar said of Makar. "He obviously has lots of family and friends here and he was a big part of it tonight."

A Wild Third: Five Goals in 4:06

The third period was a highlight reel in fast forward. Makar got his second at 5:35, this one a slap shot, with MacKinnon and Nazem Kadri assisting. Fifty-nine seconds later, Schwartz took a bumper pass from T.J. Hughes in the slot and snapped it home at 6:34 for a 6-1 lead. The assist was Hughes' first NHL point, per NHL.com.

Calgary showed signs of life. Mikael Backlund tipped a Ryan Strome pass past Wedgewood at 7:17, and Kevin Bahl's shot from the slot glanced off Juulsen's stick and in at 8:28. Then Schwartz slammed the door at 9:41 when his wrister caromed in off Flames defenseman Jake Middleton, with Fedor Svechkov and Brent Burns assisting. That is five goals in 4:06 between the two teams, the kind of sequence that makes every fantasy manager's phone buzz nonstop.

"He's been really good for us," Bednar said of Schwartz. "A veteran guy. He's an incredible team guy. He does a little bit of everything for you. He's like a Swiss Army knife."

Makar, MacKinnon and a Debut for Wedgewood

Makar finished with two goals and an assist in 22:17 and was plus-2. MacKinnon had a goal and two assists in 18:42 and won 10 of his 17 faceoffs. Toews added two goals and a plus-3 rating, and Kulak chipped in two assists.

Wedgewood, making his first start of the season, stopped 26 of 29 shots. The AP noted the win came in his 200th career NHL game. On the other side, Cooley allowed seven goals on 30 shots and got little help once the second period turned.

The shots were nearly even, 30-29 in Colorado's favor, which tells you how much of this came down to finishing. The Avalanche also won 41 of 70 faceoffs.

Stats That Matter

• 3 in 4:54: Colorado's second-period burst that turned a tie game into a 4-1 lead.
• 5 in 4:06: Combined goals from 5:35 to 9:41 of the third period.
• 23-6: How badly Calgary has been outscored through four games, per the AP, a league-worst minus-17 goal differential.
• 12: Straight games in which the Avalanche have recorded a point against the Flames (11-0-1), dating to Jan. 18, 2023, per NHL.com.
• 0 for 5: Combined power plays. Both teams got all their goals at even strength.

What It Means

Colorado improves to 3-1-0 and 1-1-0 on the road, a strong response on the second half of a back-to-back. Toews summed up the mood.

"Mentally, it's a grind to play back-to-backs and I think we have a really good head on our shoulders as a team of where we are and what we need to do in order to have success on the second night," Toews said. "Winning's fun. It's what you're trying to do."

Calgary drops to 0-4-0, and according to the AP, the Flames are the only NHL team yet to record a point this season. Backlund, the Flames captain, did not sugarcoat it.

"It's obviously really tough and hard and frustrating to lose again," Backlund said. "We've got to learn from it, find a way to play a really solid 60 (minutes). We haven't done that yet and it's time we do that on Saturday (against the Anaheim Ducks)."

Coach Ryan Huska said the staff would revisit the game with the players at practice Friday. Colorado hosts Toronto on Saturday night, and Calgary hosts Anaheim the same night.

The Takeaway

The Flames played a respectable first period and then ran into the hockey equivalent of a buzzsaw with a Calgary address on its birth certificate. Makar, the Calgary native, did the most damage. For a team still waiting on its first point, the scary part is not that Colorado has stars. It is that Colorado did this on the second night of a back-to-back.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press and NHL.com; postgame quotes as reported by NHL.com.