Flames vs. Maple Leafs: Matvei Gridin Scores Twice as Calgary Rolls to a Fourth Straight Win

Matvei Gridin found the top corner on Sergei Bobrovsky in the first period, then went back upstairs on the other side 25 seconds into the second. By the time the kid was finished, the Calgary Flames had a fourth straight win and something they had not tasted since Feb. 10, 2022: a victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Calgary beat Toronto 5-2 at the Saddledome on Monday night, with Gridin scoring twice and adding an assist for the first three-point game of his NHL career. A little over two weeks ago the Flames were 0-5-0. Now they own the hottest streak in Alberta, and the Leafs left town with their four-game winning streak and their eight-game run against Calgary both in the shredder.

A Fast Start, Then a Power-Play Dagger

The game tilted midway through the first. Gridin opened the scoring at 10:05, ripping a shot from a tight angle on the left side over Bobrovsky's blocker. Less than two minutes later, Mikael Backlund, back after missing two games with an upper-body injury, took a cross-ice feed from Matt Coronato and beat Bobrovsky from the left circle for a 2-0 lead. That was point No. 609 of Backlund's career, which pulled him even with Johnny Gaudreau for fifth on the franchise's all-time list.

"It's always a good atmosphere against the Leafs here at home, and we wanted to quiet their fans and make it our building," Backlund said. Consider the building claimed.

The real gut punch came 25 seconds into the second period. With Calgary on the power play, Gridin went glove side from the left circle for his second of the night. Zayne Parekh got the primary assist, and the secondary went to Devin Cooley. Yes, the goalie. It was Cooley's first assist of the season, the kind of stat-sheet cameo that makes fantasy managers scream at their phones.

Parekh summed up the vibe around his teammate perfectly. "He's just a kid having fun, and we're having fun as a team and this hockey's a lot of fun right now," he said.

Toronto Pushes, Cooley Holds

To Toronto's credit, a 3-0 hole did not turn into a blowout. Easton Cowan got the Leafs on the board at 12:54 of the second, redirecting a Troy Stecher slap pass past Cooley for his sixth goal. Then, at 6:06 of the third, Jack Roslovic slid the puck across the crease and William Nylander lifted it home with Cooley stretched out in desperation. Suddenly it was 3-2, and the remaining 13:54 felt a lot longer.

That Nylander goal also delivered a milestone. Auston Matthews picked up the secondary assist for his 800th career point, made up of 437 goals and 363 assists, in his 703rd game. That makes him the fastest player in Maple Leafs history to reach 800, ahead of Darryl Sittler, who needed 742 games. Among U.S.-born players, only Pat LaFontaine got there quicker.

The Leafs never found the equalizer. Cooley did not allow another goal, and once Toronto emptied its net, Joel Farabee scored at 18:35 and Martin Pospisil added another at 19:21, with Gridin setting up the latter for his third point.

Where It Actually Turned

Toronto's comeback bid makes the second-period power-play goal look even bigger in hindsight. Without Gridin's quick strike, Nylander's goal ties the game instead of cutting the lead to one. Bobrovsky, making his 800th NHL start, said as much. "Three goals, it's tough to recover, but I thought that guys did a great job," he said.

Matthews pinpointed when the night slipped away, and it lines up exactly with Calgary's opening burst. "I think they just got to their game really quick," he said, adding that Toronto was "a little bit loose with the puck halfway through the first period." Coach Jim Hiller was blunter. "Turned the puck over way too much," he said. "It was there in spades tonight and you can't win in the League if you do that, and we saw that."

The Kid, the Goalie and the Streakers

Gridin, a first-round pick at No. 28 in the 2024 NHL Draft, now has three goals and two assists over his past two games. NHL.com noted he is the first Flames player to post a three-point game at age 20 or younger since Matthew Tkachuk did it on Dec. 4, 2018. Coach Ryan Huska raved about the release. "He's a talented young man and he shoots the puck really well," Huska said.

Cooley made 26 saves on 28 shots, improved to 4-2-0 and has now won four consecutive starts. Farabee, who also had an assist, and Coronato, who had two, each pushed their point streaks to five games. Simon Nemec chipped in two assists, and Farabee logged 24:08 of ice time.

Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 32 shots, which was not the problem.

Stats That Matter

• 3 points: Gridin's two goals and an assist, a career first.
• 34-28: Calgary's shot advantage, even with Toronto blocking 16 attempts to Calgary's four.
• 1 for 5 vs. 0 for 2: the power-play split, and Calgary's lone conversion was the 3-0 goal.
• 58.6 percent: Toronto's faceoff rate, proof that winning draws means very little when you keep giving the puck back.
• Eight: the Leafs' winning streak against Calgary, now over.

The Standings Picture

Calgary is 5-6-0 with 10 points and has won five of its last six. The Flames finished their four-game homestand 4-0-0, beating Carolina, Minnesota, Detroit and now Toronto. "We look like a faster team right now, because I think we're doing things the right way," Huska said. Next up is a trip to Edmonton on Wednesday, and the Battle of Alberta should have a little extra juice this time.

Toronto fell to 7-5-2 with 16 points, two nights after a 7-2 rout in Edmonton. The bigger worry might be Kirill Marchenko, who left in the second period with a lower-body injury after taking a hit from Yegor Sharangovich. "He couldn't come back and finish the game, so that's never a good sign," Hiller said. The Leafs visit Seattle on Wednesday.

Calgary's Redemption Arc Is Officially a Series

Every good comeback story needs a training montage, and the Flames are living in one. They have a young sniper who just announced himself, a goalie collecting assists and a locker room that sounds like it is having the time of its life.

"Four (wins) in a row, we're playing great hockey right now and just keep doing that," Gridin said. Simple plan. So far, it is working.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Postgame quotes from NHL.com's game recap; additional details as reported by the Associated Press and NHL.com.