"Just as everyone expected — No. 3 turned out to be the entire story.

But no, not Dion Phaneuf, former darling of the Calgary Flames, current captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who was making his hotly anticipated return to Scotiabank Saddledome ice.

Rather, it was three — as in goals . . . in a single 57-second outburst . . . that was the difference.

The Flames, turning deadlock into laughing stock in that second-period blink, waltzed to a 5-2 decision in National Hockey League action Thursday.

Bonus No. 3? Number of points for players that came to Calgary in return for Phaneuf. One goal, one assist for Niklas Hagman. One assist for Matt Stajan.

"Oh, it's great — those guys stepped it up," said Jokinen. "It wasn't just a normal regular-season game. We've been waiting for this for the last couple days. Emotions were high. We wanted to win this game for Staje and Haggie. They were both a big part of the Maple Leafs."