Flames 5, Maple Leafs 2: Gridin's breakout night ends a four-year drought
Two goals from 20-year-old Matvei Gridin gave Calgary a fourth straight win and its first over Toronto since 2022 — on the night Auston Matthews reached 800 points.
For nearly five years the Calgary Flames couldn't solve Toronto. On Monday night at the Saddledome they didn't just solve them — a 20-year-old did it almost single-handedly. Matvei Gridin scored twice and added an assist in a 5-2 win over the Maple Leafs, Calgary's first victory over Toronto since February 10, 2022, per NHL.com. The Leafs had won eight straight in the series.
How it happened
Gridin opened the scoring at 10:05 of the first, Mikael Backlund — back from a two-game injury absence — made it 2-0 less than two minutes later, and Gridin struck again on the power play just 25 seconds into the second period for what stood as the winner. Toronto clawed back through Easton Cowan and a William Nylander third-period goal, but Joel Farabee and Martin Pospisil sealed it into an empty net.
It was the first three-point game of Gridin's NHL career, making him the first Flame aged 20 or younger to record one since Matthew Tkachuk in December 2018, and he now has four goals in his last four games, per CP24.
The milestones
Even in defeat, Auston Matthews made history: his assist on Nylander's goal was his 800th career point, in 703 games — the fastest any Maple Leaf has reached the mark, beating Darryl Sittler's 742. Backlund's goal tied Johnny Gaudreau for fifth on Calgary's all-time points list at 609.
What it means
Calgary has won four straight after a rough start, sits 5-6-0, and Devin Cooley is the quiet engine: 26 saves for a fourth consecutive start and win, with a .955 save percentage over the run. "We look like a faster team right now, because I think we're doing things the right way," coach Ryan Huska said. Toronto (7-5-2) saw its own four-game streak snapped and lost Kirill Marchenko to a lower-body injury in the second period. The Leafs visit Seattle on Wednesday; the Flames head up the road to Edmonton.