The Calgary Flames erased an early two-goal hole and beat the Florida Panthers 5-3 on Friday, handing the reigning Stanley Cup champs their second straight home loss after leading 2-0.
Nazem Kadri and Joel Farabee each had a goal and an assist, MacKenzie Weegar scored against his former team, and Farabee added an empty-netter with 1:03 left. Yan Kuznetsov notched his first NHL goal, and Morgan Frost scored the go-ahead marker as Calgary won for the fourth time in five games.
Calgary goaltender Devin Cooley surrendered goals on the first two shots he faced but rebounded sharply, stopping the next 30.
Evan Rodrigues scored in the opening minute for Florida, and Sam Bennett made it 2-0 less than two minutes later.
The Panthers, who were 9-0-0 this season when leading by two or more goals at any point and 9-1-0 when scoring first, let another home lead slip away after falling 4-2 to Philadelphia on Wednesday. Brad Marchand’s 15th of the season midway through the third brought Florida within one.
Cooley steadied the game with 17 first-period saves. Kuznetsov and Weegar struck to tie it at 2 heading into the second. A 5-on-3 power play that carried over into the middle frame set up Frost’s rebound goal, lifting Calgary to a 3-2 lead it never relinquished.
The Flames will now visit Carolina on Sunday, while the Panthers will host Toronto on Tuesday.
