Four down, one to go. The Calgary Flames (21-25-5, 47 points) will close out a five game homestand on Sunday evening when they host the Anaheim Ducks (27-21-3, 57 points). The Flames opened their homestand with an impressive win over the New York Islanders, but have dropped their past three games and struggled to score. Can they close out their run of five games with a win?
Today’s broadcast begins at 6 p.m. MT on Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 960 The Fan.
The Flames
Projected lines via Daily Faceoff (and Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg):
Connor Zary – Nazem Kadri – Martin Pospisil
Jonathan Huberdeau – Morgan Frost – Matvei Gridin
Yegor Sharangovich – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato
Joel Farabee – Justin Kirkland – Adam Klapka
Yan Kuznetsov – MacKenzie Weegar
Kevin Bahl – Zach Whitecloud
Joel Hanley – Hunter Brzustewicz
We’re projecting Dustin Wolf to start in net, backed up by Devin Cooley. The projected extra skaters are Brayden Pachal and Ryan Lomberg. And hey, the Flames have some new lines with some familiar pairings involved: Nazem Kadri’s line was used extensively in the past, Huberdeau/Frost and Backlund/Coronato are old classics, while the fourth line is just sort of a hodgepodge of whoever’s left. We’ll see how it works out against the Ducks.
The Flames are 3-7-1 since the calendar has flipped over to 2026. They’ve lost three in a row since the Rasmus Andersson trade, scoring three goals in that span. They know how they need to play to get results; fast, tenacious and structured defensively. But they just haven’t been doing that consistently enough to get wins of late.
Keep an eye on Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau in this game; both have struggled to generate scoring chances lately, and the Flames really need them to find their offensive swagger.
The Ducks
Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:
Alex Killorn – Mikael Granlund – Beckett Sennecke
Chris Kreider – Jansen Harkins – Ryan Strome
Jeffrey Veil – Ryan Poehling – Cutter Gauthier
Ross Johnston – Tim Washe
Jackson LaCombe – Jacob Trouba
Pavel Mintuykov – Drew Helleson
Olen Zellweger – Radko Gudas
Ian Moore
We’re projecting Lukas Dostal to start in net, backed up by Ville Husso. The projected extra skater is Sam Colangelo.
The Ducks opened 2026 with a five game losing skid. But they’ve also won six in a row since then, so… they’re a bit streaky. But man, they’ve been really strong lately, finding ways to beat a lot of good hockey teams. This is the second game of a western swing; they’ll visit Edmonton on Monday in the back half of a back-to-back set.
Unavailable players
The Flames are without Sam Honzek, Jake Bean, John Beecher, Zayne Parekh and Blake Coleman.
The Ducks are without Frank Vatrano, Troy Terry, Petr Mrazek, Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish.
The numbers
Flames Ducks 21 Wins 27 47 (.461) Points (%) 57 (.559) 48.7%
(23rd)xGF% 50.6%
(14th)15.3%
(32nd)PP% 16.9%
(24th)83.4%
(7th)PK% 78.1%
(21st)Head to head
This is the first of four meetings between the Flames and Ducks this season. They’ll meet again on Mar. 1 in Anaheim, Mar. 26 in Calgary and Apr. 4 again in Anaheim.
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Welcome to Instant Reaction, where we give you our instant reaction to tonight’s Calgary Flames game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below!
The Calgary Flames played a pretty good game on Sunday night against the Anaheim Ducks. They had a superb first period and a couple good periods after that. It just was not enough to get two points.
Beckett Sennecke scored a hat trick, including the game-winner in overtime, in a 4-3 Ducks win over the Flames.
The rundown
The Flames played quite well in the first period, skating well, moving the puck well, and generating a lot.
6:17 into the opening period, the Flames opened the scoring. Mikael Backlund made a nice play, driving the net. The rebound wasn’t controlled by anybody, though, and amidst the chaos, Jonathan Huberdeau jammed at the puck and it deflected into the Anaheim net off Jackson LaCombe’s skate to give the Flames a 1-0 lead.
The Flames made it 2-0 a couple minutes later. Justin Kirkland won an offensive zone draw and the puck was cycled back to Hunter Brzustewicz. Brzustewicz looked like he was trying to throw the puck to Joel Farabee for a back-door play… but the puck ricocheted off LaCombe’s stick and wobbled past Lukas Dostal to make it 2-0.
Hunter Brzustewicz first NHL Goal
pic.twitter.com/M1CcAHNu0W
— FlamesNation (@FlamesNation) January 26, 2026
First period shots were 17-3 Flames. Via Natural Stat Trick, 5v5 scoring chances were 14-8 Flames and high-danger scoring chances were 7-6 Flames.
The Ducks cut into the Flames’ lead 3:22 into the second period off a nice bit of passing. Mikael Granlund deked around Nazem Kadri and threw a pass out front to Alex Killorn. Killorn deftly fed the puck over to Beckett Sennecke and he fired it past Dustin Wolf to make it a 2-1 hockey game.
Sennecke
Killer finds him and he slams it home! #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/dW3PmOZjQk
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) January 26, 2026
The Ducks tied it up a little while later. Morgan Frost’s line had an offensive rush that was broken up at the Ducks blueline, and play headed the other way. The Flames had defenders back, but they were frozen by some nice Ducks passing, allowing Sennecke to fire another puck past Wolf to tie the game at 2-2.
Beckett Sennecke double dips and we're tied in Calgary!pic.twitter.com/stnPF7X73J
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 26, 2026
The Ducks had a goal disallowed later in the second period, after Killorn whacked a puck out of the air with a high stick and it deflected off Sennecke into the Flames net.
Second period shots were 10-8 Flames. 5v5 scoring chances were 12-7 Ducks and high-danger scoring chances were 4-1 Ducks.
The Flames retook the lead on a third period power play. Matt Coronato received a slick pass from Matvei Gridin, standing at the side of the net to Dostal’s right. Coronato settled the puck and roofed it past Dostal to give Calgary a 3-2 lead.
But as the minutes wound down, the Ducks tied things up. A turnover up ice left Brzustewicz defending an odd-man rush, and Chris Kreider fired a pass from Ryan Poehling past Wolf to tie the game at 3-3.
Chris Kreider finishes on the two-on-one to tie the gamepic.twitter.com/mzKelhbosm
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 26, 2026
Third period shots were 8-6 Flames.
Overtime went back and forth, with Coronato have a couple cracks at getting the game-winner. But play went the other way, and Sennecke beat Wolf off the rush to give the Ducks a 4-3 victory.
Why the Flames got a point
Man, the Flames were fantastic in the first period (and the Ducks were slow). But much Friday night’s game with Washington, the Flames got a little worse after the first 20 minutes and the opponents seemed to wake up. The Flames were great in the first 20 minutes and they were perfectly fine for the last 40 minutes. They were just leaky enough defensively to let this game get to overtime.
Red Warrior
Mikael Backlund had an assist, won two-thirds of his face-offs, and was generally quite good throughout this game.
Turning point
Depending on your rooting interests, seeing the Flames give up a one goal lead in the waning minutes of the third period had to hurt. (Or not, again, depending on your rooting interests.)
This and that
The Flames rolled out new lines for this game. (Yes, again):
- Zary – Kadri – Pospisil
- Huberdeau – Frost – Gridin
- Sharangovich – Backlund – Coronato
- Farabee – Kirkland – Klapka
It was announced during this game that the practice rink at Scotia Place will be sponsored by Esso and be named Esso Community Arena.
Brzustewicz’s first career goal was the fourth such goal for a Flames player this season, following Matvei Gridin (Oct. 8 at Edmonton), Sam Honzek (Oct. 28 at Toronto) and Yan Kuznetsov (Nov. 28 at Tampa Bay).
After Burner
Join Mike and Jordan from the In The Dome podcast right after the game for After Burner!
Up next
The Flames (21-25-6) are headed on the road. They’ll face the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.
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Gang, the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy begin on Feb. 5. We’ll get two awesome hockey tournaments featuring the top women’s (Feb. 5-19) and men’s (Feb. 11-22) national teams in the world.
And between now and then, the Calgary Flames have four games left on the docket before we break for the Olympics. As we prepare for the homestretch before the Olympics, let’s dive into the mailbag!
Honestly, a few things happened that have piled up on them a bit.
- On Nov. 4, Yan Kuznetsov was called up to the Flames. Kuznetsov is a superb two-way defender and he’s so good at calming down games in the defensive zone and killing penalties. Games tend to get a little more shaky defensively without his stabilizing presence on the back end.
- On Dec. 2, Ivan Prosvetov got injured. Prosvetov is an experienced pro goaltender with a bunch of NHL games under his belt and, like Kuznetsov, having him in net is a big calming presence. In Prosvetov’s absence, the Wranglers have leaned on Owen Say (until he got injured) and Arsenii Sergeev, a pair of rookies. There’s a drop-off in terms of how well they can manage games.
- On Dec. 8, Hunter Brzustewicz got called up to the Flames. Brzustewicz is more of an offensive specialist than Kuznetsov, but he’s also a guy that can play a lot against top players and generate more chances than he’ll give up.
Take away your top two blueliners and your starting goaltender and your team will be a bit shaky for awhile.
Let’s assume that Zayne Parekh maxes out his two weeks in the AHL and returns to the Flames starting around the start of February. That’ll leave 28 games on the docket. I would aim to play Parekh in at least half of those games and basically give him a steady dose of power play time. (The only reason I’d say not to play him in every game is so he has a bit of physical recovery and development built into things.)
He’s not a complete player and he’ll need some time to bulk up in the gym. But man, the tools are there, and it’s just about helping him catch his body and his on-ice execution up to his hockey mind. The kid is flat-out brilliant and once the tools and the toolbox are aligned, the sky may be the limit.
Alexander Nikishin is a 24-year-old left shot blueliner who has 21 points this season with Carolina and will be a restricted free agent after this season. He’s gonna get paid. Nazem Kadri is older, yeah, but he’s cost-controlled and could help Carolina out.
I really want to suggest a one-for-one trade. It saves Carolina from having to figure out Nikishin’s next contract. It gives them a centre. (Would the Flames need to throw in a mid-to-late round pick to avoid retaining salary?)
I like this idea, but I’m not sure how the balance value and risk between the two sides properly.
Who’s on an expiring deal and who could get dealt next from Calgary?
— Ed Helinski
(@MrEd315) January 25, 2026
Hardly anyone is on an expiring deal, except for Ryan Lomberg, Jake Bean and Justin Kirkland.
I would not be shocked if Blake Coleman is moved. Maybe even Nazem Kadri, given all the chatter all the insiders seem to be hearing.
Honestly, it may just be as simple as Mark Giordano was working for the Toronto Maple Leafs at the time and if you’re going to make a big hubbub about his retirement, you’d want to find a way to be involved in it in some way. He was a heck of a player and one of the better captains in club history.
The smart people at The Athletic do forecasting of standings based on their statistical modelling, and they are projecting the Flames to finish 31st overall in their most recent projections.
Got a question for a future mailbag? Contact Ryan on Twitter/BlueSky at @RyanNPike or e-mail him at Ryan.Pike [at] BetterCollective.com! (Make sure you put Mailbag in the subject line!)
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Another trade was made ahead of the upcoming roster freeze.
On Saturday, the Carolina Hurricanes traded defenceman Gavin Bayreuther to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Russian forward Viktor Neuchev.
Neuchev, born in Chelyabinsk, Russia (yes, where the meteor hit in 2013) was drafted in the third round of the 2022 draft. After spending his first season after being drafted in Russia, the left winger came stateside, playing 57 games with the American Hockey League’s Rochester Americans in 2023-24. He potted 11 goals and 28 points in 57 games.
Last season, the 22-year-old scored seven goals and 22 points in 39 games, and through 34 AHL games this season, he has six goals and 16 points.
Bayreuther has National Hockey League experience, as the undrafted defenceman has played 122 NHL games, 19 with the Dallas Stars where he scored two goals and five points in 2018-19, and the rest with the Columbus Blue Jackets. His best season was in 2022-23, as the 31-year-old scored two goals and 14 points in 51 games.
He hasn’t played in the NHL since 2022-23, instead playing the 2023-24 and 2025-26 seasons in the AHL, as well as the 2024-25 season in Switzerland.
Filip Chytil returns after lengthy absence for Canucks
On Saturday, Vancouver Canucks forward Filip Chytil dressed for the team for the first time since their sixth game of the season, a 44-game absence.
Chytil was held pointless in both games since his return, as he now has three goals in eight games. Drafted by the New York Rangers with the 21st overall pick in the 2017 draft, Chytil consistently put up 22 or 23 points in his first four full seasons, before exploding for 22 goals and 45 points during the 2022-23 season.
Unfortunately, he played in just 10 games with the Rangers in 2023-24 before an injury, and played an additional six games in the post-season. In 2024-25, Chytil played 41 games with the Rangers, scoring 11 goals and 20 points before being traded to the Canucks for J.T. Miller. After the trade, the left-shot centre scored two goals and six points in 15 games.
Although Chytil’s return does make the Canucks stronger, the 2025-26 season has quickly spiralled into one to forget for the British Columbia-based team. Through 52 games in, their 39 points are the fewest in the league, with the next closest team being the St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets with 47. The Rangers aren’t doing much better, as they have 48 points this season.
Malkin wants to play in 2026-27
Evgeni Malkin wants to play one more year in the NHL, according to the Russian centre after the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 6-2 defeat over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.
The Magnitogorsk, Russian forward has proved to be one of, if not the most, underrated players of the last generation. Now 39 years old, Malkin was drafted second overall by the Penguins in 2004, one pick behind fellow Russian Alexander Ovechkin. Over his 20 NHL seasons, Malkin has 527 goals and 1,386 points in 1,249 games.
He’s a two-time Art Ross Trophy winner, a Conn Smythe Trophy winner, and a Hart Trophy winner, as well as winning three Stanley Cups with the Penguins. To prove how underrated Malkin is, he wasn’t named as a top 100 player of all time in 2017 to celebrate the league’s 100th birthday.
After scoring 16 goals and 50 points in 68 games last season, the veteran is back to being over a point-per-game in 2025-26, scoring 13 goals and 40 points in 36 games.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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Andrew Basha’s return has been huge for the Medicine Hat Tigers.
This is the Jan. 20-26 edition of the Flames prospect round-up, where we look at how Calgary Flames prospects have done every week. Specifically, we’ll look at players playing overseas, in junior hockey, or at the college level, as the American Hockey League prospects will have an article of their own in the Wranglers Recaps.
We’ll take a look at the games which were played last week, what’s next for all the players, and look at the standings.
College
The Flames have 11 prospects playing in college in four different conferences. Two of those prospects, Arizona State’s Cullen Potter and Michigan’s Henry Mews, are out with season-ending injuries.
Here’s how the college players did, what games are coming up this week, and what the standings look like.
NCHC
With Cullen Potter’s season-ending injury, there are only four prospects in action in the NCHC conference for the rest of the season. Three of those prospects play for North Dakota, who defeated Potter’s Arizona State in two games this past week, winning 7-4 and 5-3.
Despite the 12 goals between the two games, Flames prospects combined for just two points, as Abram Wiebe had an assist in the 7-4 win and Cole Reschny had an assist in the other win, while Cade Littler was held pointless. This season, Reschny has four goals and 25 points in 22 games, Littler has four goals and 11 points in 24 games, and Wiebe (a defenceman) has three goals and 15 points in 26 games.
Eric Jamieson’s Denver played St. Cloud twice this past weekend, falling 4-2 in the first game but getting their revenge with a 6-0 victory. Jamieson picked up an assist in their win, giving him six goals and 14 points in 27 games.
This week, North Dakota is off, but returns the following weekend with two games against Minnesota Duluth on February 6 and February 7. Denver is in action, as they host Minnesota Duluth for two games on the typical schedule of Friday and Saturday.
Looking at the standings, North Dakota has 38 points in 16 in-conference games, posting a 12-4-0 record. Second in the conference is Denver, who have a 10-6-0 record and 30 points in 16 games. Although it doesn’t matter now that Potter is out, Arizona State is sixth in the conference. The top eight teams in the nine-team conference make the end-of-season tournament.
Hockey East
In Hockey East action, Trevor Hoskin’s Merrimack played two games against Northeastern, winning Thursday’s game by a score of 4-1, followed by a 3-1 win on Friday. Hoskin only picked up an assist in Thursday’s win, dropping him to below point-per-game this season. Overall, he has six goals and 22 points in 23 games.
Jaden Lipinski’s Maine was in action this week, playing two games against UMass Lowell. They won both games, winning 2-0 on Friday and 6-5 in overtime on Saturday. Unfortunately, Lipinski has been out of action since January 10, as he remains on three goals and eight points in 21 games this season.
Merrimack played a home-and-home against New Hampshire this weekend, hosting them for the first game on Friday, before heading to Durham on Saturday. It’s unclear when Lipinski will return to the lineup, but Maine hosts Providence on Saturday in Hockey East action.
All 11 teams in Hockey East make the end-of-season tournament, with the five-best teams earning a bye. Maine sits sixth with 21 points in 15 games, while Merrimack has 19 points in 15 games.
ECAC Hockey
In ECAC Hockey action, Quinnipiac played in the Connecticut Ice tournament, defeating Sacred Heart 5-1, but falling 4-2 to UConn. To the surprise of no one, Flames prospect Ethan Wyttenbach had a strong week, scoring a goal and picking up an assist in the win, and picking up an assist in the loss. The fifth-rounder has 14 goals and 36 points in 26 games this season, just incredible.
Snipe City#BobcatNation x #NCAAHockey pic.twitter.com/qLgsDxq7fG
— Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey (@QU_MIH) January 23, 2026
Harvard’s Aidan Lane was also in action, as they defeated Colgate 3-1, but fell 4-1 to Cornell. The Flames’ sixth-rounder in 2025 was held pointless in both games, giving him five goals and seven points in 20 games this season.
Quinnipiac hits the road this weekend, taking on St. Lawrence on Friday and Clarkson on Saturday, both games have a 5:00 PM MT start time. Lane and Harvard take on RPI on Friday and Boston College on Monday.
After 12 games this season, Quinnipiac are at the top of ECAC Hockey’s standings with 28 points thanks to a 10-2-0 record. Harvard is second in the conference, with 27 points in 14 games and a 9-5-0 record. All 12 teams make the end-of-season tournament, with teams 1-4 earning a bye.
Big Ten
Lastly, Luke Misa’s Penn State was in action this week, defeating Wisconsin twice. On Friday, they won 7-2, then picked up a 3-1 win on Saturday to extend their winning streak to seven games. Misa was held pointless, as the fifth-rounder in the 2024 draft has four goals and 11 points in 24 games.
This week, Penn State hosts Michigan State for two games. Friday’s game has a 4:00 PM MT start time and Saturday’s game has a 11:00 AM MT start time. Penn State currently has 31 points, tied for the top of the conference with Henry Mews’ Michigan. All seven teams in the conference make the end-of-season tournament.
Junior
The Flames have five players in junior hockey, three in the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference, one in the Ontario Hockey League, and one in the United States Hockey League.
Let’s take a look at how their weeks went, their next opponents, and how the standings shape up as of Tuesday.
WHL
Andrew Basha and the Medicine Hat Tigers played three games this past week, defeating Axel Hurtig and the Calgary Hitmen 4-3, losing 3-2 in a shootout to Hunter Laing and the Saskatoon Blades, and falling 5-1 to the Prince Albert Raiders. Basha had a point in all three games, scoring a goal and an assist in the win, and scoring a game in each of their losses. Since he was sent down from the American Hockey League, Basha has five goals and 16 points in 10 games.
ANDREW BASHA!!! Sneaks one in and gives the lead right back to the Tabbies!@tigershockey | @NHLFlames | #Flames pic.twitter.com/x2bFF2gdkR
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) January 24, 2026
Along with their 3-2 shootout victory over the Tigers, the Blades defeated the Victoria Royals 3-1, but fell 5-1 to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Sunday. Laing returned to the lineup, picking up a goal in the 3-2 shootout win to give him 18 goals and 36 points in 39 games this season.
HUNTER LAING!!! FROM AN IMPOSSIBLE ANGLE!!!
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) January 24, 2026
As for the Hitmen, Hurtig’s team lost 4-3 to the Tigers, but responded with a 5-1 victory over the Red Deer Rebels, followed by a 6-3 victory over the Regina Pats. Hurtig picked up an assist in the loss and the 5-1 win, along with a fight in their 6-3 victory over the Pats. This season, the seventh-rounder in the 2023 draft has three goals and 12 points in 40 games.
This week, the Tigers host the Blades on Tuesday, then the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday. On top of that road game against the Tigers, the Blades hit the road to play the Hurricanes on Wednesday, before a home-and-home against the Raiders on Saturday and Sunday. The Hitmen play the Oil Kings on Wednesday, followed by a game against the Hurricanes on Friday.
With a 1-1-1 week, the Tigers are now second in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with 70 points, four fewer than the Raiders. Sitting in fourth are the Hitmen with 55 points, meaning they’d get home ice in the first round if the post-season were to start today. The Blades are in reach of the Hitmen though, as they have 52 points and are sixth in the conference. Eight of the 12 teams make it in a traditional 1-8 format.
OHL
Jacob Battaglia and the Flint Firebirds played two games against the Windsor Spitfires this past week. They won the away game 4-2, but dropped the home game 4-1, with Battaglia being held off the scoresheet in both games, including a -3 in the loss. It’s been a tough season for the Flames’ second-rounder in 2024, as he has 17 goals and 31 points in 44 games this season. Since joining the Firebirds, he has three goals and four points. For context, Battaglia scored 40 goals and 90 points in 68 games last season.
The Firebirds and Spitfires exchanged points, meaning they both have 66 points for a tie at the top of the OHL’s Western Conference. However, the Spitfires have a hire point percentage of .717 percent. Like the WHL, the top eight teams in each of the two conferences make the post-season. This week, the Firebirds host the Barrie Colts on Friday and the Sarina Sting on Saturday.
USHL
Mace’o Phillips and the Green Bay Gamblers played two games against the Muskegon Lumberjacks this past week, losing a game 3-2 and winning the other one 3-1. The Flames defence prospect picked up an assist in their win, giving him a goal and seven points in 25 games this season.
The Gamblers sit second in the USHL’s Eastern Conference with 56 points in 40 games. That’s good news for the Gamblers, as the top two teams earn a bye, with six of the eight teams in each conference making the playoffs. On Saturday, the Gamblers face off against the Dubuque Fighting Saints.
Overseas
And finally, we have overseas. The Flames have five prospects playing in two different leagues, three in Russia’s junior league and two in Sweden’s U20 league.
Let’s take a look at how the prospects did, their upcoming games, and how the standings shape up.
Sweden
Theo Stockselius was in action with Djurgårdens IF U20 this week, as they defeated AIK U20 by a score of 4-3 in overtime. The Swedish prospect was held off the scoresheet, giving him three goals and 14 points in 10 games this season, after missing a large chunk of it due to injury. He also played a game with their SHL game, where he was held pointless in six minutes of action.
Jakob Leander and HV71 U20 were in action this week, falling 4-3 to Örebro HK U20 and 5-4 in overtime to Färjestad BK U20. The Flames defence prospect was held pointless in both games, giving him two goals and eight points on the season.
It’s unclear how long Stockselius will remain with Djurgårdens IF, but their U20 team takes on Skellefteå AIK U20 on Saturday and Luleå HF U20 on Sunday. HV71 U20 take on Linköping HC U20 on Friday.
The 27-game limit has been reached, meaning that the standings split up now. Djurgårdens IF U20 finished in the winners’ stage (also known as the top 10), while HV71 U20 finished in the losers’ stage (also known as the continuation stage).
Djurgårdens IF U20 will play in the playoffs, but they’ll be jockeying for position, while HV71 U20 is currently fighting to avoid relegation, needing to make up six points to make the playoffs. Four teams miss the playoffs, with the bottom two teams playing a relegation season with the two teams from the second tier.
Russia
This past week, Kirill Zarubin and Mikhailov Academy played just one game, a 6-1 victory over AKM-Yunior. Due to their light schedule, Zarubin played the second half of the game, stopping all 15 shots he faced. This season, the 20-year-old has a .930 save percentage and 2.06 goals against average in 31 games.
Fellow Russian netminder Yegor Yegorov was incredibly busy with JHC Spartak-MAX this week. They fell 3-1 and 1-0 to Amurskie Tigry, then 2-1 in a shootout to Sakhalinskie Akuly, before avenging their loss with a 4-2 victory the following day. Yegorov appeared in three of those games, posting a .938 save percentage in the 1-0 loss, a .969 save percentage in the 2-1 shootout loss, and a .933 save percentage in the 4-2 win. This season, the 20-year-old netminder has a .927 save percentage and 2.59 goals against average in 24 games played.
Yan Matveiko’s Red Army played two games against Dinamo-Shinnik, winning one game 6-5 in overtime, before dropping the other game 5-1. The Flames prospect picked up an assist in the win and was a -1 for the week, as the 19-year-old now has 13 goals and 30 points in 34 games, and is a +20.
This week, Mikhailov Academy plays SKA-1946 for two games, one on Thursday and the other on Friday. They also play JHC Dynamo SPB on Monday and Tuesday. Yegorov’s JHC Spartak-MAX plays HC Kapitan on Thursday, Almaz on Sunday, and Loko on Tuesday. Matveiko’s Red Army plays JHC Atlant on Wednesday, Tolpar on Friday, and Loko on both Sunday and Monday.
I spent a good 30 minutes attempting to figure out what was going on in Sweden’s standings, but Russia is far easier, albeit still complicated. The top five teams from the Gold Division earn a bye, while teams six through eight play the top three teams from the Silver Division. Right now, Red Army is third in the Gold Division, Mikhailov Academy is sixth in the Gold Division, and JHC Spartak-MAX is fourth in the Silver Division, eight points back of a playoff spot with five games in hand.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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The New York Islanders have acquired a defenceman from the New York Rangers.
On Monday, the Rangers began their sell off, trading defenceman Carson Soucy to the Islanders for a 2026 third-round pick. It’s just the fourth time the two rivals have traded since the Islanders entered the league during the 1972-73 season.
The teams are heading in opposite directions. After making the Eastern Conference Finals in 2024, the Rangers began trading core players like Jacob Trouba and Chris Kreider, ironically both to the Anaheim Ducks. Their star, Artemi Panarin will likely be traded as well.
On the other hand, the Islanders got incredibly lucky in the draft lottery, landing the first overall pick. With that pick, they selected Matthew Schaefer, who has turned their fortunes around immediately. As it stands, the Islanders are third in the Metropolitan division, with a 28-19-5 record, while the Rangers sit at the bottom of the conference with 50 points.
Soucy, 31, was having a decent season with the Rangers, scoring three goals and eight points in 46 games. While it was well below his career-best of 10 goals and 21 points set in 2021-22, he’s a solid depth addition for the Islanders.
Oilers defencemen score a hat trick in back-to-back games
On Monday in a game against the Anaheim Ducks, Edmonton Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm scored his first career hat trick thanks to an empty netter in a 7-4 win. Two nights before, Evan Bouchard scored a hat trick in a six point game. This was the first time in National Hockey League history that two defencemen on the same team have scored a hat trick in back-to-back games.
The funny thing is, the Oilers most recent hat trick before Bouchard’s on Saturday was over 20 years ago, when Marc-André Bergeron scored all three of the Oilers goals in a 5-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators.
Not just that, but the Oilers also set a different record in Monday’s game, scoring the four quickest goals by defenceman, as Ekholm scored twice, Darnell Nurse scored once, and Spencer Stastney scored his first goal as an Oiler in a span of three minutes and 49 seconds. It’s just the sixth time in league history that a team has gotten four goals from defencemen, and the first time since November, 2000.
Still, the Oilers don’t look like the team they have been the past two seasons, as they are the lone team in the league who hasn’t managed a three-game winning streak.
Kings and Blue Jackets postpone Monday’s game
On Monday afternoon, the NHL announced that the game between the Los Angeles Kings and Columbus Blue Jackets will be postponed to Mar. 9.
The game was postponed due to a major storm that hit a large part of North America, ranging from North Mexico to Eastern Canada, hitting many states in the east along the way. It’s the first postponement of the season, after two postponements in 2024-25. One of those games included both the Calgary Flames and Kings, as that was postponed to the end of the season due to the South Carolina wildfires.
With the game postponed to Mar. 9, it will extend a home stand to four games for the Blue Jackets, and also be the first game of a back-to-back. On the Kings’ end, it’ll kick start what is now a five-game Eastern Conference road trip.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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Calgary Flames forward Blake Coleman will remain sidelined through the upcoming Olympic break with an upper-body injury, per head coach Ryan Huska.
Speaking after the Flames practiced at the Saddledome on Wednesday, Huska announced that the club will keep Coleman sidelined for the final four games prior to the break. The 34-year-old winger has not played since Jan. 8 while recovering from an upper-body injury; the Flames will play their first game after the Winter Olympics on Feb. 26 in San Jose.
“Unfortunately, now, we’re going to shut him down until the break, so we won’t see him until after the break,” Huska said in his post-practice availability on Wednesday. “He’s an important piece of our team for sure, so we miss him.”
Coleman has taken part in recent Flames practices while sporting a yellow “no contact” jersey, but it appears the club is electing to play it safe — particularly with all the rumours of potential trade interest from other clubs in the 5’11” winger.
Through 44 games with the Flames this season, Coleman ranks second on the club with 13 goals and has 21 points. His plus-10 rating is also among the best on the team, and his partnership with captain Mikael Backlund remains as formidable as ever at 5-on-5 and on the penalty kill.
The Flames originally signed Coleman to a six-year, $4.9 million-AAV contract as an unrestricted free agent from the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021. The Plano, Texas product has been consistently strong at both ends of the ice throughout his tenure in Calgary and scored a career-high 30 goals with the club in 2023-24.
In Coleman’s absence, the Flames have turned to Matt Coronato, Yegor Sharangovich, and Joel Farabee to carry more of the load on the Backlund line and the PK. The Flames currently sit in 30th place in the NHL with a 21-25-6 record and 48 points through 52 games.
Through 668 career games over 10 seasons with the Flames, Lightning, and New Jersey Devils, Coleman has amassed 163 goals and 311 points; he’s added 31 points in 65 playoff games, winning the Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in 2020 and 2021. He has a year-and-a-half left on his current contract with the Flames.
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Gang, no matter what anybody tells you, the primary goal of every team when each National Hockey League season begins is to win the Stanley Cup.
Yes, some teams have a more realistic chance at winning each season than others, but nobody enters the season going “Oh boy, I hope our team struggles.” Everyone is hoping for the best, though many of the teams likely know that their hopes could be a bit of a long-shot.
The Calgary Flames entered the 2025-26 season hoping to make the playoffs after a 2024-25 season that saw them miss the final playoff spot on a tiebreaker. (We wouldn’t say that they expected to make the post-season, but they saw several potential areas for improvement that they felt could get them over the line.)
Well, uh, that’s not how it’s played out so far. The Flames got out to their worst start in franchise history. And while they’ve recovered somewhat since then, they have 48 points through 52 games (for a .462 points percentage). With 30 games left to go, they are 14th in the Western Conference and 30th in the NHL’s overall standings.
When you control for games played differences, the Flames are 10 points back of the Los Angeles Kings (.559 points percentage) for the final Western Conference playoff spot. A .559 points percentage translates to 91.7 points over 82 games. To reach that total, the Flames would need to play their final 30 games at a .728 points percentage clip.
Four media outlets publish public points projections, and we’ll use those to frame up how steep the Flames’ path to the playoffs would be:
- The Athletic has the last West playoff spot at 91.8 points, requiring a .730 finish to reach.
- Moneypuck has the last West playoff spot at 91.4 points, requiring a .723 finish to reach.
- Evolving Hockey has the last West playoff spot at 89.8 points, requiring a .696 finish to reach.
- HockeyViz has the last West playoff spot at 87.3 points, requiring a .655 finish to reach.
If you average out the four models, you get 90.075 points. That would require the Flames to finish at a .701 clip to reach, winning 21 of their remaining 30 games (or getting a boatload of overtime points).
We won’t say it’s impossible. Lots of weird stuff happens in professional sports and we won’t say that weird stuff won’t continue to happen in the future. What we will say is that finishing the last 30 games at a .701 clip is an extremely tall order for any hockey team, let alone one that’s gone .462 over their first 52 games.
It’s not impossible, but finishing in a playoff spot is extremely, extremely unlikely.
A high draft choice is a much more likely outcome.
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