In their 9-6 Game 1 win over the Edmonton Oilers, the Calgary Flames made some NHL history. The Flames were able to record the fastest two goals ever to open a playoff game when they lit the lamp twice in the opening 51 seconds of the first period for an early advantage.
Center Elias Lindholm scored the opening goal just 26 seconds in off of a feed from defenseman Rasmus Andersson. Just 25 seconds after that, fellow winger Andrew Mangiapane scored off a pass from veteran center Mikael Backlund from behind the net.
The previous record that the Flames broke was held by Pittsburgh Penguins forwards Mario Lemieux and Rick Tocchet, who scored goals 54 seconds apart to open Game 5 of the 1993 Divisional Finals.
In addition, the two opening goals were just 25 seconds apart, which is the sixth-fastest time that two playoff goals were scored in Flames history. That record is 14 seconds, which was set by Backlund and Matthew Tkachuk in Game 1 of the First Round back in 2019.
Only two teams in NHL history have registered two goals to start any playoff period in fewer than 51 seconds. The New York Islanders accomplished the feat in 35 seconds of the third period in Game 5 of the 1984 Stanley Cup Finals against the Edmonton Oilers, while the Penguins did it in 40 seconds of the third period in Game 3 of the 1999 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the New Jersey Devils.
The Flames were able to grab the early 2-0 lead and even stretched it out to a 5-1 advantage early in the second period. However, the game was not over. The Oilers completely rallied back to tie the game at 6-6 thanks to a goal from winger Kailer Yamamoto just 1:28 into the third period.
Despite coughing up the massive lead, the Flames still managed to score three unanswered goals to clinch the victory. In the process, Tkachuk registered a hat trick, which included an empty-netter to cement the win. Tkachuk became the first Flames player since Theo Fleury in 1995 to record a playoff hat trick.
