Joel Farabee and Martin Pospisil each had a goal and an assist for the Flames (5-6-0), who went 4-0-0 on their four-game homestand. Matt Coronato and Simon Nemec each had two assists, and Devin Cooley made 26 saves to win his fourth consecutive start.
“We look like a faster team right now, because I think we’re doing things the right way,” Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. “We’re playing a simpler brand of hockey and it’s resulting in more opportunities and guys are now having success, so you can see the confidence starting to grow.”
Mikael Backlund scored in his return for Calgary after missing the past two games with an upper-body injury.
“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. “The boys were excited and they were playing well, carrying over from last game.”
William Nylander and Easton Cowan scored for the Maple Leafs (7-5-2), who had won four straight. Sergei Bobrovsky, who was making his 800th NHL start, made 29 saves.
“They played a pretty good, disciplined game and we put ourselves in a deficit,” Bobrovsky said. “Three goals, it’s tough to recover, but I thought that guys did a great job. We didn’t open up in the third, we didn’t cheat the game. That’s the big sign.”
Auston Matthews recorded his 800th career point (437 goals, 363 assists) with an assist for Toronto, becoming the fastest in franchise history to reach the mark (703 games).
“I think they just got to their game really quick,” Matthews said of the Flames. “They played simple. I thought we were a little bit loose with the puck halfway through the first period and just got away from what’s making us successful over the last week or so, and they definitely took advantage of it.”