MONTREAL — Matt Coronato scored the tying goal and the overtime winner in a dramatic finale, but video coach Jamie Pringle was the hero Tuesday night.

Before Coronato powered a Calgary Flames comeback, Brendan Gallagher appeared to give the Montreal Canadiens a 3-1 lead with 8:24 left in the third.

Pringle, however, immediately flagged the goal for offside. Then the Flames contested successfully, and Coronato did the rest as Calgary flipped the script and won 3-2 in overtime.

“I was just saying a post is normally a goalie’s best friend, but I think the video coach is number two now,” Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf said.

Canadiens forward Josh Anderson had put Gallagher on an odd-man rush, although it was unclear in real time whether Anderson had full control of the puck when he moved backward into the zone. Flames.

The roof of the Bell Center nearly exploded and Canadiens fans were celebrating like it was a sure thing, but Pringle thought otherwise.

“We’ve always had confidence in Jamie,” Flames head coach Ryan Huska said.

“We will not achieve this victory without the courage he showed. You have a great guy in this chair for a reason. And Jamie did a great job for us, keeping us in this game tonight. »

Pringle, a 49-year-old from Picton, Ontario, also known as “Chips,” is in his 14th season with the Flames.

And it wasn’t the first time he played a crucial role in a victory this season.

In Calgary’s 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 13, the video coach managed to contest two goals, including a Corey Perry deflection that the hockey world said should have counted.

Pringle still made the snap decision, even though a missed challenge would put his team shorthanded.

“He’s hot this year,” forward Blake Coleman said. “You know what? He needed to redeem himself after a tough last year. We had great talks down the stretch, and he was on fire.

“I would say out of all the guys on our team, he’s probably the one who hasn’t missed a single night so far.”

Coronato arrived at just the right time on Tuesday.

The 21-year-old winger tied it with 2:46 left in regulation when he rushed into the slot and came off the post and in. He then buried the winning goal seven seconds into overtime, one second from tying the score. the fastest overtime goal in NHL history.

“He’s outstanding. He had so many opportunities to score, and he kind of got bitten a few times,” Wolf said. “Seeing him score on two incredible shots, it’s a scouting report on him, his shot is deadly.”

“The kid can shoot it,” Coleman added. “A few big ones.”

Coronato, the 13th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, spent most of last season in the American Hockey League with the Calgary Wranglers.

This season, he played two games in the AHL and eight in the NHL. And with performances like Tuesday’s, he can expect a lot more in the big leagues.

“Sometimes with younger players, you put them in the American League for a while and it’s tough for them,” Huska said. “There’s definitely a long-term plan. We know how good he’s going to be for us. We just want to make sure we put him in situations where he’ll be ready and able to succeed.

“He did a great job preparing to play and we saw the results of his efforts tonight.”

The Flames (7-5-1) picked up their second win in seven games to kick off a three-game road trip. Meanwhile, the Canadiens (4-7-2) lost their fourth straight game before four away games.

“We didn’t throw up tonight, but we still have a little stomach ache,” said head coach Martin St. Louis, referring to his postgame assessment he delivered after a 6-3 loss last week in Washington.

The Canadiens didn’t paint a doom and gloom picture in the locker room, even though they came within minutes of scoring two points and ending their skid, but St. Louis said its players should leave this game ” hungry” to achieve victory. column.

“If I was in their shoes, I would have liked us to play tomorrow,” he said. “That’s what I want to feel. This is how I want to be.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published November 5, 2024.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press