CALGARY – Two goals in the third period by the Calgary Flames rookies was the difference on Wednesday night at the Father David Bauer Arena as they defeated the University of Calgary Dinos 3-1 in front of a crowd of 1768 fans.

Looking to prove they can compete with National Hockey League prospects, the Dinos played a fearless game. The Dinos' goaltending kept the game even more than half way through, but goals by Austin Carroll, David Wolf and Curtis Gedig propelled the Flames to a win.

"A couple of turnovers really cost us on two goals," said Dinos head coach Mark Howell. "I told the guys, we demonstrated that we can play with big, strong, skilled players. For the most part we did a good job and played a pretty sound game."

"We played a pretty good game. For the most part we are a new team and guys are still getting to know one another," mentioned Cain Franson, who picked up an assist in the contest. "We know coming in that we'd need our best game to give ourselves a chance. For the most part, I think we did that tonight."

Even with a number of key names missing from both line-ups, the first period didn't disappoint. Each side brought a strong tempo to the opening frame, which generated chances at both ends. Kris Lazaruk was busy in the opening period, making fantastic saves on at least half of the Flames' nine shots.

At the opposite end, Mason McDonald also faced nine shots and stopped them all. The Dinos' best chance came when Elgin Pearce, Adam Kambeitz and Franson pressed a tired Flames team in their own end. No goals would come from it as the first 20 minutes ended scoreless.

McDonald and Lazaruk kept their opposing offences off the scoresheet when their nights came to an end at the 11:55 mark of the second period. The Flames' Doug Carr and the Dinos' Jacob DeSerres took over between the pipes and were challenged right away.

Off a giveaway in the Dinos' end, Carroll ended up the beneficiary. Taking a pass from Gedig, the seventh round selection from last year's NHL Entry Draft made no mistake wiring a shot past DeSerres at 12:46 of the second.

Starting to show fatigue, the University of Calgary squad continued to chip away and netted their only goal of the night with under five minutes to play in the middle frame. With Franson drawing defenders to him on the right side, the first-year forward dished the puck cross ice to Colton Grant. The veteran forward wristed a perfect shot that hit the top corner for a 1-1 tie.

Coming out of the second intermission, the Dinos looked reenergized, but it was the Flames that struck the back of the net. Barrelling into the offensive zone, Wolf launched a hard shot that grabbed a piece of DeSerres before passing the Dinos goaltender. John Ramage and Turner Elson picked up assists on the goal at 8:23.

With the Flames starting to take control of the game, the NHL hopefuls put the game away. Off a turnover outside the Dinos' end, Hunter Smith set up Gedig for his second point of the night to make it 3-1.

Things got physical as the game came to a close but no more goals were found as the Flames earned their third-straight decision over the Dinos.

"It was a good, quick-paced game," noted fifth-year forward Grant. "I've been part of three of these now and this was by far the best one. It was a lot of fun to play in and I am sure it was fun to watch."

The Dinos resume preparations for their regular season Thursday night as they host the Lethbridge Pronghorns at the Father David Bauer Arena. Game time is 7 p.m. The regular season kicks off on Sept. 26-27 when they welcome the Manitoba Bisons to Calgary.