Bluegers Threatens Calgary Goal Three Times Short-Handed, but Maple Leafs Lose 5-2 to Flames
In an NHL game, the Toronto Maple Leafs, including Latvian forward Teodors Bluegers, lost 5-2 away to the Calgary Flames. Bluegers took three shots, all while short-handed, but could not beat goaltender Devin Cooley.
In the National Hockey League (NHL) regular season, the Toronto Maple Leafs lost 5-2 on the road to the Calgary Flames. Latvian forward Teodors Bluegers plays for Toronto; he took all three of his shots on goal while his team was short-handed, but could not beat Calgary goaltender Devin Cooley. The defeat leaves the Maple Leafs with a 7-5-2 record this season.
Bluegers' game
Bluegers spent 14 minutes 27 seconds on the ice, including 4 minutes 21 seconds short-handed, the most among Toronto's forwards. He fired three shots on goal, blocked one opposing shot, made one hit and had one takeaway. In face-offs he won eight of 11 (72.7%), and he finished with a plus/minus rating of -1.
Bluegers played centre on the fourth line alongside Brandon Duhaime and Zach MacEwen. In the first period he attacked right after winning the puck, and he added two more shots in the third period. He was on the ice for both of Matvei Gridin's goals.
How the game unfolded
Calgary scored twice in the middle of the first period: Gridin opened the scoring, and 1 minute 45 seconds later Mikael Backlund made it 2-0. The Swedish forward returned to the lineup after missing two games with an injury and, with his 609th career point, moved level with Johnny Gaudreau in fifth place in Flames history. Gridin scored his second goal 25 seconds into the second period to make it 3-0.
Easton Cowan later pulled one back, and in the seventh minute of the third period William Nylander cut the deficit to 3-2. Toronto could not equalise: Joel Farabee and Martin Pospisil scored into the empty net in the final two minutes.
Other facts
Gridin finished with three points (2+1), becoming the first Flames player aged 20 or younger to do so since Matthew Tkachuk in December 2018. Cooley stopped 26 shots and won his fourth consecutive start. For Toronto, Auston Matthews reached 800 career NHL points with an assist, doing so in 703 games, the fastest in Maple Leafs history. Meanwhile, Kirill Marchenko left the game in the second period with a lower-body injury.
