Matvei Gridin scored twice as the Calgary Flames beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday night. It was Calgary's fourth straight win, per the AP recap carried by Yahoo Sports and ESPN. Mikael Backlund also scored for Calgary. Joel Farabee and Martin Pospisil added empty-net goals.
Sportsnet's video highlight shows Gridin's second goal coming off a stretch pass from Zayne Parekh. Gridin finished it and then did the griddy celebration. Our box score has Parekh with one assist in the game. Sportsnet's Eric Francis wrote that the youngsters set the tone for Calgary in what he called a "Griddy" win. He wrote that Gridin may be remembered for the dance if he keeps growing his game as he has lately.
The box score backs up the idea that Gridin is trending up. He had two goals and an assist on five shots in 16:11, including 5:59 on the power play, and finished plus-2. He has scored in three of his last four games: one against Carolina on Oct. 18, one against Detroit on Saturday and the two on Monday. The game box lists his year-to-date goals at four. One caution: our season-totals table shows him at one goal in eight games. That figure doesn't match the game log, so we're relying on the game-by-game numbers here.
The score is a little more lopsided than the game was. The Flames outshot Toronto 35-27, but Devin Cooley stopped 25 of 27, and the Leafs blocked 16 shots to Calgary's five. Calgary went 1-for-5 on the power play and Toronto went 0-for-2. Farabee and Pospisil each had a goal and an assist, and Matt Coronato had two assists. For Toronto, Easton Cowan and William Nylander scored. Sportsnet's Luke Fox wrote that Cowan tried to take the blame for the loss. We don't have Fox's full column, so we can't say what Cowan said or why. The box score shows Cowan with two minors and four penalty minutes, but no outlet we have connects that to his comments.
The win leaves Calgary 5-6 and sixth in the Pacific Division. Before Monday the Flames had beaten Detroit 4-1 on Saturday and Minnesota 2-1 on Thursday. Toronto is 7-5, third in the Atlantic, and its streak is now one loss. That follows a 7-2 win at Edmonton on Saturday and a 5-4 win over the Rangers on Thursday.
5-66th in Pacific DivisionStreak W4
Both teams play again on Wednesday. Calgary goes to Edmonton and will try to stretch its streak to five. Toronto plays in Seattle, and the Flames host the Kraken on Friday.
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