Calgary Flames grind out 4-3 shootout win over Pittsburgh Penguins

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Justin Kirkland scored the decisive goal in the sixth round of the shootout Tuesday night as the Calgary Flames prevailed 4-3 over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Nazem Kadri, Rasmus Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar scored in regulation for Calgary.

Andersson also had an assist and leads the Flames in scoring with eight points (three goals, five assists).

Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell and Noel Acciari scored for Pittsburgh, which opened a four-game Western Canada road trip.

Dustin Wolf, who was peppered with 38 shots, improves to 3-0-0. He clinched the win when he stopped Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh’s last hope in the shootout.

Alex Nedeljkovic made 22 saves.

Rakell and Rust scored in the shootout while Anthony Mantha, in his 500th NHL game, and Andersson had Calgary’s other goals.

Penguins: Calgary piled up an early 7-0 edge in shots but, after the sleepy start, Pittsburgh carried the play the rest of the night, outshooting the Flames 38-18 over that span.

Flames: Martin Pospisil, who has been skating between Jonathan Huberdeau and Mantha, was benched for the final 13 minutes of the second period after his second offensive zone penalty led to a power play where Rust scored and tied the game at 1-1.

Trailing 3-2 and with Wolf on the bench for an extra attacker, Andersson blasted a rising slapshot from the blue line that hit Acciari in front. When the puck fell to the ice, Kadri was right there to fire it past Nedeljkovic with 43 seconds left in regulation, sending the home crowd into a frenzy.

With 11 points in their first six games, the Flames are off to their best start in franchise history. The only blemish was their 2-1 overtime loss in Seattle on Saturday.

The Penguins visit the Edmonton Oilers on Friday. The Flames host the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Alex Nedeljkovic kicks the puck away from Calgary Flames' Matthew Coronato during the first period of an NHL hockey game on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in Calgary, Alberta. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, right, pushes Calgary Flames' Martin Pospisil away after he crashed into the net during the first period of an NHL hockey game on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in Calgary, Alberta. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

Pittsburgh Penguins' Rickard Rakell, second left, and Michael Bunting, third left, struggle to get at the puck as Calgary Flames goalie Dustin Wolf, center, and Matthew Coronato, center right, try to clear it as Daniil Miromanov, right, looks on during the first period of an NHL hockey game on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in Calgary, Alberta. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

Pittsburgh Penguins' Noel Acciari, left, screens Calgary Flames goalie Dustin Wolf, center, as Justin Kirkland defends during the second period of an NHL hockey game on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in Calgary, Alberta. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

Pittsburgh Penguins' Bryan Rust, right, celebrates his goal with teammatesduring the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in Calgary, Alberta. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

Pittsburgh Penguins' Kris Letang, right, is checked by Calgary Flames' Ryan Lomberg during the second period of an NHL hockey game on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in Calgary, Alberta. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

Pittsburgh Penguins' Noel Acciari, left, scores on Calgary Flames goalie Dustin Wolf, center, during the third period of an NHL hockey game on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in Calgary, Alberta. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

Calgary Flames goalie Dustin Wolf celebrates as Pittsburgh Penguins' Evgeni Malkin looks on after an NHL hockey game on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in Calgary, Alberta. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

Calgary Flames' Justin Kirkland (58) celebrates his goal with teammates during shootout of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in Calgary, Alberta. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

Calgary Flames goalie Dustin Wolf celebrates after defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins in an NHL hockey game on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in Calgary, Alberta. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.

The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.

The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.

The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.

The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”

The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.

Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.

The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.

On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.

Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.

“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”

Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.

Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.

“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.

Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)