Thomas Hickey saw a goal from a different perspective at the Calgary's Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday night.
The Calgary native had the tying goal near the midpoint of the third period, and Josh Bailey scored the winner late in overtime to lift the New York Islanders to a 2-1 victory over the Flames.
"I watched a lot of games in this rink and saw a lot of goals. You hope that it's you some day," said Hickey, who had his parents and several friends in the crowd. "You don't think about scoring on the Flames growing up, but it's a real cool moment for me and my family and my friends, too."
Matt Martin set up Hickey's first goal in 37 games by charging his way down the sideboards, evading checks from Mark Giordano and Sean Monahan, then sending a pass into the slot where Hickey put a backhand past Joni Ortio.
"It's always good to come back into your hometown and get one and it was a big one, too," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "We were looking for a little bit of offense and there's no better way for your defenseman and hometown kid to get it. It got us going, it gave us the surge that we needed."
The winning goal came with 18 seconds showing on the clock in the extra period, and less than a minute after Giordano hit the goal post at the other end.
On a 2-on-1 down low, Bailey was set up at the side of the net on a perfect feed from John Tavares.
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"It's a good play by them," said Ortio, who had 32 saves. "I knew he was going backdoor there but he got it up quick, got off a good shot and I just wasn't quick enough."
Making his second start in a row and just his fourth NHL start on the season, Ortio picked up where he left off on Tuesday when he made 35 saves in a 2-1 loss to Los Angeles.
"Orts was real, real good. He's tracking the puck real well, he's solid," Flames coach Bob Hartley said. "It's too bad. I felt we deserved better but that's the way it goes."
Jaroslav Halak had 31 saves for the Islanders. The 30-year-old has started and won the first three games of the season-high seven-game stretch of road games while stopping 88 of 90 shots.
"Your goalie has to fight for his space," Capuano said. "I'm not a goalie coach but I do know if you sit back, you're in trouble. You've got to get out, you have to challenge, you have to hack and whack at certain times in front to protect your area and he's done that."(backslash)
The islanders remained three points behind the rival New York Rangers for second place in the Metropolitan Division.
Jiri Hudler, with his 10th, scored the lone goal for Calgary, which fell to 1-5-1 in its last seven.
"We had a solid game. They're a good team, they've been on a hot streak and we matched up really well against them," Ortio said.
Calgary scored the only goal of the first period when Hudler finished off nifty three-way passing play with Gaudreau and Monahan.
After a disappointing first half, Hudler — a pending unrestricted free agency — has five goals and eight assists in his last 15 games. Key in the line's success lately has been Gaudreau, who has one goal and seven assists during a six-game points streak.
