After a day between games, the Calgary Wranglers and Tucson Roadrunners were back in action on Sunday afternoon to wrap up their two game series. This game came as Calgary’s sixth game in nine days since the holiday break, and this stretch was a marathon with some difficult opponents. The Roadrunners got out to a two goal lead in the first. Tucson added another in the third period and put one in the empty net to secure the win. Calgary was shutout by a final score of 4-0.
Lineup notes
Matvei Gridin made his return to the lineup for this game after missing the last four games with a minor upper body injury. Carter Wilkie came out of the lineup up front as a result. On the back end, Jeremie Poirier was scratched and Simon Mack came in. This altered the pairings and each blueliner ended up skating with a new partner.
Wranglers lines
William Stromgren – Rory Kerins – Dryden Hunt
Matvei Gridin – Clark Bishop – Martin Frk
Carter King – Sam Morton – Parker Bell
Alex Gallant – David Silye – Lucas Ciona
Turner Ottenbreit – Daniil Miromanov
Nick Cicek – Artem Grushnikov
Simon Mack – Etienne Morin
Arsenii Sergeev
Game at a glance
After giving Owen Say back to back starts, the Wranglers went with Arsenii Sergeev for this game. On the other end of the ice, the Roadrunners also switched things up in net with Jaxson Stauber getting the start. 90 seconds into the game, former Wrangler Ty Tullio took a delay of game penalty and the Wranglers got some early power play action.
After this man-advantage, the Roadrunners started to get going some more and scored the first goal of the game at 6:11. This play started with a shot from the point and the scramble in front allowed Ryan McGregor to score in front. A few minutes later, Etienne Morin was called for tripping at 10:48 and this penalty lasted all of four seconds before Cameron Hebig took a high-sticking penalty. The Roadrunners led the effort on the four on four but the score remained.
The Wranglers managed a few looks on Stauber in the second half of the period but Ty Tullio was left in front of Sergeev wide open to bury a rebound on the doorstep. Juuso Valimaki picked up one of the assists on this marker. Calgary made an effort to get things going the other way with a fury of shots towards the end of the period. Right at the buzzer to signal the end of the first, there was a scrum behind the net and out of this, Lucas Ciona was called for roughing. A call that carried into the second period. At the end of 20 minutes, the Wranglers were behind 2-0 and shots were 12-8 for the Utah Mammoth affiliate.
Calgary killed off Ciona’s penalty and ended up on a power play chance of their own when the Roadrunners were called for tripping at 4:10. The Wranglers put out five forwards for this power play and Rory Kerins and Sam Morton had the best chances on this opportunity. The high danger chances were not as prevalent for the 10 minutes following the Wranglers power play and there were a couple of instances where a shot from either side came a little after a whistle so it was drawing a crowd between the captains and again later in the period on the other end of the ice. Nothing to cause a penalty, however. Just some exchanging of words.
At 18:17, Artem Grushnikov put up a hit on Miko Matikka between the benches and it appeared to have injured Matikka. Maveric Lamoureux went after Grushnikov after this hit and it resulted in roughing minors against Lamoureux and Grushnikov. Artem Grushnikov was also called for an additional penalty for interference that Martin Frk served. At the end of the second period, the score remained 2-0 and the Wranglers were out-shot 9-6 in the middle frame.
The third period still had 17 seconds of Grushnikov’s penalty remaining, so he and Frk started the frame in the box. The Roadrunners came out shooting in the first few minutes of the third and at 3:05, Cameron Hebig took the legs out from underneath Clark Bishop and Bishop went back first into the boards. The Wranglers Captain was slow to get up and was helped off the ice by the athletic trainer. He didn’t go down the tunnel and remained on the bench. He just didn’t go out for a power play shift as Hebig was called for interference.
After the power play, Daniil Miromanov took a shot that was blocked and caused a breakaway for Owen Allard the other way that Sergeev managed to keep out. At 12:24, the Roadrunners extended their lead to 3-0 when Maveric Lamoureux took a shot that was screened pretty heavily in front. At 15:49, the Wranglers pulled Arsenii Sergeev for the extra attacker. At this point in the game, it felt more like a move to give Rory Kerins a chance to break the team record for points in 10 straight games. A point in this game would make Kerins the new record holder behind Jakob Pelletier and Matthew Phillips.
Kerins had a couple of setups for William Stromgren and Martin Frk, but they could not find the back of the net. At 17:20, the Roadrunners took the puck the other way and Sammy Walker scored on the empty net to make it 4-0. After this empty netter, the Wranglers accepted their fate and played out the remaining time. Rory Kerins wasn’t out on the ice much anymore, and he also accepted his run of points in 10 straight games also came to an end. The final score was 4-0 and shots finished 32-21 for the Roadrunners.
Highlights
Next up
The Wranglers’ brutal stretch has finished up and they’ll have a much lighter schedule for the rest of January. They won’t be back in game action until Saturday when they go on the road to play the Abbotsford Canucks. Their next game will be on Jan. 10 at 8:00 p.m. MT.
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As the Calgary Flames hit the ice for warm-up in advance of their game with the Seattle Kraken on Monday night, they announced a transaction. The club has called up goaltender Owen Say from the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers under emergency conditions. Netminder Devin Cooley is unavailable due to illness, so Say will dress as backup behind Dustin Wolf.
A product of London, Ontario, Say is a 24-year-old goaltender in his first year of pro with the Wranglers. He came up through Ontario minor hockey and then spent two seasons in the BCHL with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. He was named the BCHL’s top goaltender in 2021-22.
Then he moved onto college, where he spent two seasons with Mercyhurst University in the Atlantic conference before moving onto the University of Notre Dame for his junior year. He was named to the Atlantic conference’s all-rookie team in 2022-23 and was third team all-conference in 2023-24. His numbers improved every season in college, and he impressed enough that the Flames signed him to an entry-level contract at the end of the 2024-25 season.
Playing at first as backup to Ivan Prosvetov and more recently as part of a tandem with fellow collegiate product Arsenii Sergeev, Say has appeared in 18 games this season for the Wranglers. He’s posted a 6-7-5 record with a 3.33 goals against average, .891 save percentage and one shutout. He served as backup to Sergeev in Sunday’s 4-0 Wranglers loss to Tucson, so he’ll have the unique distinction of backing up in back-to-back games in the same building in two different leagues.
When we say “emergency conditions,” in this case it refers to the Flames exercising the “goaltender exception” to the 23-man roster limit to ensure that they have two healthy goaltenders available to play. With Say’s call-up, the Flames’ active roster is temporarily at 24 players – three goaltenders, seven defencemen and 14 forwards. Once Cooley is available to play again, Say will be required to be returned to the Wranglers.
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The Calgary Flames struggled to beat the Seattle Kraken goaltender, only getting one goal in a 5-1 defeat at home.
CF% – 57.44%|| SCF% – 52.75%|| HDCF% – 48.66%|| xGF% – 45.77%
It’s a Team Game – It was honestly the kind of game you would expect from two teams near the bottom of the standings. Neither squad has a player that pops out as a clear difference maker on a nightly basis, so I was expecting a bit more of a close match-up. Seattle eventually had the dam break open for them – a result of getting the more dangerous chances of the groups – and after that happened, they never looked back. Calgary was able to possess the puck, get shots off, and genuinely try and stay in things. Instead, the attack came off as weak and not as dangerous as it could be. NaturalStatTrick did have them at 17 high danger chances (I’m skeptical of that), but just one of them in the third period when they needed it most. Surrendering 18 high danger looks themselves undoes all the good that gaining 17 does.
No matter how many chances there were (or were not) someone still has to actually put the puck in the net – a process that continues to hinder the Flames weekly.
Corsi King – Connor Zary (69.66 CF%) is one of these players I’m talking about. Nazem Kadri (67.35 per cent) even more so and linemate Joel Farabee (68.35%) too. Having a 2-to-1 advantage in shot attempts is great, but if the offence is too infrequent it still doesn’t qualify as working. At least Zary worked his way back into playing with some scorers for now, but it has been a hard year for them. Farabee is on a current 6 game pointless drought and has 2 goals and 3 assists total since his last multi-point outing. That’s 5 points in his last 16 games getting over 15 minutes of ice time a night. This entire top 9 is not a long term functional top 9 for a competitive NHL team and they are showcasing exactly why in real time. Where the heck is Rory Kerins, who has deserved every single breath of a possible extended opportunity? Why do you have to sit Stromgren before playing in a game? Why do you sit every callup before inserting them into a game? They’ve played hockey their whole lives, is your team structure really so complicated a professional athlete can’t pick it up? It’s becoming more and more laughable and inexcusable with each passing day. How they handle Parekh’s return might really be the last straw because at this point something big has to give and soon.
Too many passengers getting too many passes with no accountability or explanations to the people that pay for tickets and merchandise as to why it’s this much of disjointed cluster.
Under Pressure –
Taken By Chance – Look what happens when Blake Coleman (59.58 SCF% // 63.84 HDCF%) can’t score every single night. A lot of responsibility for a 34-year-old winger with a career high of 54 points to be your entire offence. Do I want the Flames to move on from Blake Coleman? Not in the slightest. Would it be smart to capitalize on what seems to be an insane bidding war for his services? Yeah, without question. The only possible reason to keep him past this deadline is because you genuinely think you can compete for the Stanley Cup this year or next. If not, you have got to move on – it’s a business and you are in 30th place out of 32. Make the right business decision. Again, you have all these self-drafted players producing in the AHL – give them a real opportunity for once. It is not like any single current player on this team is producing at a rate that makes them a guaranteed nightly lock. (Okay maybe Andersson, but we all know that pending UFA is going to be on his way soon too.)
xG Breakdown –
xGF% – Brayden Pachal (39.78 per cent) got back into the lineup. I have never disliked his game and think he fits just fine as a third pairing, penalty killing NHL defenceman. Trouble for him is the Flames have some wicked youthful right-handed defenceman coming up. Weegar (52.34 per cent) isn’t likely to go anywhere and then you’ve got Brzustewicz and Parekh already pushing the door down with Henry Mews surely on his way when he gets done at Michigan in another 2-3 years. He was a waiver claim coming into this franchise so any sort of asset coming back is a win, but I think we might see him stay as the 6th or 7th guy with Brzustewicz going back down to the AHL for a while. It won’t hurt him, he’s shown he has the stuff to stick around in the show and the Flames know that now. His call-up’s been a great success, top line AHL deployment again won’t hinder his development.
Game Flow –
Game Score –
Shot Heatmap –
In The Crease – For those that read this regularly you may recall I suggested Cooley after Wolf’s down performance in Nashville. Well, this is why. Wolf has done well after getting resets and statistically Cooley is still ranked as one of the best backups in the league. Yes, this was a pretty important in division game for positioning, so I understand why they went to their starter. It did not work and now I’m going to say it again – start the road trip with Cooley. If you want to go into the playoffs, you’ll need the tandem.
The Goals –
FLAMES GOAL
Adam Klapka opens the scoring by batting the puck out of mid air into the back of the net!
Great work by Yan Kuznetsov to get the puck back and start that rush for Calgary.
: Sportsnet | #Flames pic.twitter.com/8M4SQSGzV2
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) January 6, 2026
Flash’s 3 Stars –
1) Joel Hanley
2) MacKenzie Weegar
3) Adam Klapka
(Stats compiled from Naturalstattrick.com // Game Score from Hockeystatcards.com // xG and Under Pressure charts from HockeyViz.com // Game Flow and Shot Heatmap from NaturalStatTrick.com)
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A familiar face has returned to junior hockey.
This is the Dec. 30- Jan. 6 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.
Editors’ note: This week will feature a new format, let me know which one you prefer in the comments.
College
Of the 20 players covered in the Flames Prospect Roundup, nearly half of them play in college. Four of them play in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference: Cullen Potter (Arizona), Eric Jamieson (Denver), Cade Littler (North Dakota) and Cole Reschny (North Dakota).
Starting with North Dakota, they were in action against Mercyhurst for two games this past weekend, winning 2-0 and 6-1. Littler picked up an assist in their shutout win, while Reschny was busy winning the bronze medal in the 2026 World Juniors. This season, Littler has four goals and nine points in 18 games, while Reschny has two goals and 18 points in 16 games. North Dakota is back in action this week against Colorado College, playing two away games at the school.
Also in NCHC action, Potter and the Arizona Sun Devils won both games they played in, defeating Alaska Anchorage 7-2 and Air Force 5-2 to win the Desert Hockey Classic. Potter scored a hat trick in their 7-2 win (with an assist), then picked up a goal and an assist in their 5-2 victory. Potter now has 12 goals and 25 points in 22 games, surpassing his 22 points in 35 games last season. The Sun Devils play two games against Miami (Ohio) at home this weekend.
Cullen. Potter.
He ties it for @SunDevilHockey with his 4th goal of the tournament and 10th in 9 games
: https://t.co/ZyUdpPaF0J#theNational // #BeTheTradition pic.twitter.com/Pbj84zKSXF
— The NCHC (@TheNCHC) January 4, 2026
The last NCHC play in action this past week was Jamieson with Denver. They played two games against Jaden Lipinski’s Maine, falling 5-2 and 4-3 in a shootout. Jamieson was held pointless, giving him six goals and 13 points in 21 games this season. Denver hosts Western Michigan for two games in NCHC action this weekend.
Maine won both games they played against Denver, but Lipinski was held pointless. The 21-year-old right-shot centre has three goals and eight points in 19 games this season. This week, they’ll play two in-conference match-ups, both against Providence in Hockey East action.
The other Flames’ prospect in Hockey East is Trevor Hoskin, who plays for Merrimack. They beat Brown to extend their winning streak to four games, as Hoskin picked up an assist to give him four goals and 19 points in 18 games this season. Merrimack plays one game this week, a matchup against Holy Cross on Saturday.
There are two Flames’ prospects in ECAC Hockey, Quinnipiac’s Ethan Wyttenbach and Harvard’s Aidan Lane. Starting with the former, Quinnipiac defeated Harvard 9-1, then beat Dartmouth. Wyttenbach scored twice in their win over Harvard, giving him 11 goals and 27 points in 20 games this season. Quinnipiac faces Union on Friday and RPI on Saturday, both are in-conference games.
As for Lane, he was held pointless in Harvard’s 9-1 loss to Quinnipiac, as well as their 5-3 loss against Princeton. Through 13 games this season, the Flames’ sixth-rounder in 2025 has five goals and an assist. This week, Harvard played Dartmouth on Friday and Boston University on Monday.
Lastly, there are two Flames prospects in the Big East Conference, but Michigan’s Henry Mews is out for the season. That leaves Penn State’s Luke Misa, who fell 1-0 to RIT, but won the second game against them by a score of 7-3. Misa was held pointless in both games, giving him two goals and four points in 18 games this season.
So how do the standings shake up? North Dakota sits first in the NCHC with 25 points, while Denver isn’t far behind with 24 points. Arizona State ranks fifth with 13 points. Eight of the nine teams in the conference make it to the playoffs in a 1-8 format.
In Hockey East, Hoskin’s Merrimack sits eighth in the conference with 13 games played in 11 games, while Maine is fourth with 16 points in 11 games played. The three teams between Merrimack and Maine have eight or nine games played. All 11 teams in the conference make the playoffs, with the first through fifth teams earning a bye.
Quinnipiac currency sits fourth in the ECHC standings, but it’s a log jam at the top of the standings as Princeton, the leaders, have just 19 points. Harvard is two points behind Quinnipiac for fifth in the conference. All 12 teams make the end-of-season tournament, with teams one through four earning a bye in the first round.
Michigan sits second in the Big 10 conference, but Mews is out for the season. Penn State currently sits fifth in the conference with 13 points, just two behind Michigan State for third. All seven teams play in the end-of-season tournament, with the first-placed team getting a bye.
Junior
There are two big news stories relating to Flames prospects playing in junior hockey. First off, Jacob Battaglia was traded from the middling Kingston Frontenacs to the Flint Firebirds, one of the best teams in the Ontario Hockey League.
The other piece of notable news is that Andrew Basha was sent down from the American Hockey League, re-joining the Western Hockey League’s Medicine Hat Tigers as they look to win their second consecutive Ed Chynoweth Cup.
Starting with Battaglia, the Frontenacs played three games with the Frontenacs, it doesn’t really matter how they did. Battaglia scored twice and picked up two assists in the three games. The Firebirds were 2-1 this week without Battaglia, and will take on the Sarnia Sting on Wednesday, the Saginaw Spirit on Friday, and the Frontenacs on Saturday, you can’t make this up. Battaglia has 14 goals and 27 points in 36 games this season.
Basha’s Tigers played three games this week, smashing the Red Deer Rebels 8-0, before defeating the Medicine Hat Tigers 6-3 and 5-1. Basha played in the latter two games, scoring a goal in the 6-3 win and picking up an assist in their 5-1 win. The Tigers host the Seattle Thunderbirds on Friday and the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday.
WELCOME BACK ANDREW BASHA!!!@NHLFlames | #Flames pic.twitter.com/feQumX867J
— Medicine Hat Tigers (@tigershockey) January 3, 2026
The two other junior players in the Western Hockey League are Calgary Hitmen’s Axel Hurtig and Saskatoon Blades’ Hunter Laing. Starting with the Hitmen, they fell 4-3 to the Victoria Royals in a shootout, but defeated the Prince George Cougars 4-2. Hurtig was held pointless and was a -2 in their win, giving him three goals and eight points in 32 games. The Hitmen also host the Thunderbirds (Saturday) and the Hurricanes (Sunday).
Laing and the Blades won both games they played against the Brandon Wheat Kings, winning the away game 3-2 and the home game 5-1. Laing scored in their 3-2 win, and then scored twice and picked up an assist in their 5-1 win to give him 17 goals and 35 points in 35 games this season.
The Blades respond on the power play!
Hunter Laing buries it in front to tie the game for the @BladesHockey.@NHLFlames | #Flames pic.twitter.com/L5iptJJm5m
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) January 1, 2026
In United States Hockey League action, the Green Bay Gamblers’ extended their winning streak to 14 games with a 5-4 win over the Madison Capitols, but were finally beaten by the Des Moines Buccaneers on Jan. 3. They got their win back the following day, beating them 2-1. Flames’ prospect Mace’o Phillips was held pointless in two of those games, giving him a goal and three points in 21 games this season. The Gamblers play two games this week, both against the Fargo Force over the weekend. Phillips won’t take part, though, as he’s serving a three game suspension related to a late fight in the Jan. 3 game with Des Moines.
As for the standings in junior, the Firebirds currently sit third in the OHL’s Western Conference. They have the same number of points as the Windsor Spitfires, but with an additional game played. The second-placed team, the Kitchener Rangers, have 50 points, but are the leaders in their division. Teams 1-8 in each conference make the post-season.
The 1-8 format is the same for the WHL. All three Flames’ prospects in the WHL play in the Eastern Conference. Basha joins a Tigers team who sit first in the conference with a 27-6-5 record, one of three teams in the conference who have a realistic chance of finishing first.
That doesn’t mean that the Hitmen or the Blades are slouches either, as the Blades have 45 points and the Hitmen have 44 points (with three fewer games played). They’re in a battle for fourth place, which would give them home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
As for the USHL, the Green Bay Gamblers sit first in the Eastern Conference with 49 points, two ahead of the Youngstown Phantoms. Six of the eight teams in the conference earn a playoff berth, with the top two teams earning a bye.
Overseas
Finally, we have overseas action, which includes Sweden (Theo Stöckselius, Jakob Leander) and Russia (Yan Matveiko, Kirill Zarubin, Yegor Yegorov). Both Stöckselius and Matveiko are out with injuries, Stöckselius for a while and Mateviko since Dec. 6.
Additionally, Leander’s HV71 U20 doesn’t return to action until Jan. 10 against Rögle BK U20. They play the Malmö Redhawks U20 the following day. That leaves the two Russian netminders, Zarubin and Yegorov, who both played on Jan. 6.
Starting with Zarubin, he allowed three goals on 10 shots in Mikhailov Academy’s 6-3 loss to SKA-1946. This season, he has a .931 save percentage and 2.02 goals against average in 27 games. Mikhailov Academy play SKA-1946 again on Thursday, as well as JHC Dynamo SPB.
Yegorov played Jan. 6’s game for JHC Spartak-MAX, falling 4-3 to AKM-Yunior. He stopped 31 of 35 shots for an .886 save percentage and 4.04 goals against average, giving him a .921 save percentage and 2.97 goals against average this season. They’ll play Krasnaya Armiya on Friday, which happens to be Matveiko’s team.
So do the playoffs work overseas? Starting with Sweden, the top 10 teams from the two conferences make it to the winners’ stage, while the other 10 play in the losers’ stage. Of the 10 teams in the losers’ stage, six make the playoffs and are seeded 11-16. Djurgårdens IF U20, the team Stöckselius plays for, is fourth in their conference and have a two-point lead over the sixth-placed team, while Leander’s HV71 U20 sit second last in their division.
Russia’s standings system is arguably more confusing. There are two divisions in two conferences, the Gold Division and the Silver Division. The top five teams in the Gold Division get a bye, while the sixth, seventh, and eighth-placed teams face the top three teams of the Silver Division. As it stands, Matveiko’s Krasnaya Armiya sit third in the Gold Division, Zarubin’s Mikhailov Academy sit sixth, and Yegorov’s JHC Sparktak-MAX sit fourth in the Silver Division, all in the Eastern Conference.
Fun, right?
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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On Monday, Calgary Flames defender Zayne Parekh captured a bronze medal at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He also set a Canadian record for most points by a defenceman in a single World Junior tournament, missing the overall blueliner points record by a single point. He also was named to the tournament’s media all-star team.
Later on Monday, Sportsnet’s Eric Francis reported that Parekh would be rejoining the Flames during their road trip.
On Tuesday, just as Francis had said would happen, Parekh was officially recalled back to the Flames – he’s meeting the team in Montreal ahead of their first game of the trip against the Canadiens.
The 19-year-old Parekh was a first-round pick of the Flames in the 2024 NHL Draft, taken ninth overall. He’s put together a heck of a resume as an under-20 competitor. In addition to his bronze medal and Canadian World Junior single tournament blueliner points record, he tied the Canadian single tournament record for goals by a blueliner, too. On the club level, he’s won a Memorial Cup with the Saginaw Spirit, had back-to-back 33-goal seasons and a 100-point season, both incredibly rare feats by a defender in Canadian major junior hockey.
After debuting in the final game of the 2024-25 season – and scoring a goal – Parekh joined the Flames full-time this fall. He hasn’t been amazing, posting just one point in 11 games before suffering an upper body injury off a hit from Chicago’s Nick Foligno in early November. That said, the entire Flames team looked out of sorts for the first five weeks of the season, so we’re not prepared to make sweeping declarations about Parekh’s NHL readiness quite yet.
Simply put: Parekh is an exceptional offensive blueliner at the junior level, essentially a hockey unicorn. And there’s no standard playbook on how to integrate a player like Parekh into the NHL as a 19-year-old because he’s such a unicorn. It’ll take some time, and some growing pains, for Parekh to fully integrate himself at the NHL level.
After all the moves on Tuesday, here’s how the Flames roster looks:
- Goaltenders (2): Dustin Wolf & Devin Cooley
- Defencemen (8): Kevin Bahl, Rasmus Andersson, MacKenzie Weegar, Yan Kuznetsov, Brayden Pachal, Joel Hanley, Hunter Brzustewicz and Zayne Parekh
- Forwards (13): Connor Zary, Nazem Kadri, Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, Jonathan Huberdeau, Yegor Sharangovich, Mikael Backlund, Blake Coleman, Matt Coronato, Ryan Lomberg, Justin Kirkland, Adam Klapka and William Stromgren
- Injury Reserve List (4): John Beecher, Sam Honzek, Jake Bean and Martin Pospisil
The Flames have over $17 million in cap space available to them. The Flames have zero open roster spots at present, but Brzustewicz and Stromgren are both waiver exempt and can be assigned to the Wranglers without going through waivers if the Flames need to open a spot.
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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 entered Wednesday night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre looking to improve upon their league-worst road record. It didn’t go as they had hoped, as a fleet-footed Canadiens team ran circles around the Flames for much of the three periods of action.
The Flames were chasing for much of the contest en route to a 4-1 loss to the Habs to open up a five game eastern road trip.
The rundown
The Flames were on their heels for much of the first period, as Montreal used their speed to attack in the offensive zone – both with the puck and on the forecheck. As a result, the Flames didn’t have the puck a lot and were defending a lot. Dustin Wolf was busy.
First period shots were 14-7 Canadiens. Via Natural Stat Trick, 5v5 scoring chances were 11-5 Canadiens and high-danger scoring chances were 4-2 Canadiens.
Montreal opened the scoring 3:10 into the second period. A couple passes in the Flames zone got the puck onto Alexandre Texier’s stick as he straddled the goal line. Rather than pass the puck back to Alexandre Carrier, he slightly pivoted and picked the top corner on Wolf, short-side, to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead. (Texier had way too much time and space to operate, as it seemed like the Flames got crossed up regarding who was supposed to be checking who in their own zone.)
Montreal takes a 1-0 lead. Alex Texier gets the goal.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) January 8, 2026
The Flames got a power play, as William Stromgren drew a hooking minor. The Flames didn’t score on that man advantage. After the penalty ended, Montreal got a couple chances the other way as several tired Flames were stuck on the ice defending after the power play. The initial Montreal chance was stopped, but they won the puck battles and Phillip Danault fed Lane Hutson for a one-timer in the slot that beat Wolf to make it a 2-0 Canadiens lead. (The power play skaters were tuckered out and Montreal used their speed well to open up gaps.)
Montreal scores after killing off a brutal Flames power play.
It's 2-0 Habs
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) January 8, 2026
Off a neutral zone face-off, Nazem Kadri got the puck inside his own zone. But as Juraj Slafkovsky pursued him Kadri lost his footing – the Flames felt it was a trip, the Canadiens did not – and Slafkofsky recovered the puck and fired it on net. Wolf made the initial save but Oliver Kapanen deposited the rebound into the Flames net to make it 3-0 Canadiens. (The Flames were a bit caught up ice on this sequence defensively and after Kadri was toppled, there wasn’t really much opportunity to defend.)
3-0 Canadiens.
This is looking like the October version of the Flames.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) January 8, 2026
With 2:21 left in the second period, Joel Farabee got the Flames on the board. He sniped a shot from just inside the offensive blueline that seemed to fool Jacob Fowler – perhaps he was having trouble tracking it due to the distance or a possible screen from one of his defenders – and that cut the home side’s lead to 3-1.
Joel Farabee, the only dangerous Flame tonight, gets Calgary on the board.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) January 8, 2026
Second period shots were 14-9 Flames. 5v5 scoring chances were 6-4 Canadiens and high-danger scoring chances were 3-1 Canadiens.
Montreal scored again 3:56 into the third period. Once again, it was a rush goal. This time, the Flames seemed to bunch up trying to defend the initial zone entry, and Texier threw a nice pass across the zone to a wide-open Cole Caufield. With plenty of time and space, Caufield picked the top corner, short-side, on Wolf to give the Canadiens a 4-1 lead.
What a shot by Cole Caufield. It's 4-1 Habs.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) January 8, 2026
Kadri scored off the rush with 4:30 left in regulation, beating Fowler just inside the far post, but the play was challenged by the Canadiens and ruled off-side, which kept the Habs’ lead at 4-1.
Montreal held on for the 4-1 win.
Third period shots were 12-8 Canadiens.
Why the Flames lost
The Flames are at their best when they can establish their forecheck, roll their lines, and impose their pace onto the game. The Flames tend to work well when the pace is moderate. They’re not a slow team, but they have a cadence to their game when they’re playing well. In this game, Montreal played fast, moved fast, and generally looked fast. The Flames really struggled with Montreal’s speed, as it made it a challenge for them to execute breakouts, do much to gain their own speed in the neutral zone, or generate much offensively.
The Flames are not a terribly slow team, but Montreal made them look positively glacial with their speedy skating and puck movement.
Red Warrior
Joel Farabee had a ton of energy and scored the lone goal, so we’ll give him the nod.
Turning point
During a span of 5:02 early in the second period, the Canadiens scored three goals on five shots. That turned a game where the Flames were being out-played but hanging in there defensively to one where they were chasing.
This and that
William Stromgren made his NHL debut, playing on the fourth line alongside Ryan Lomberg and Morgan Frost. He drew a pair of penalties and was minus-1 in 8:04 of ice time.
Hunter Brzustewicz recorded a secondary assist on Joel Farabee’s second period goal, which represents Brzustewicz’s first NHL point.
After Burner
Join Cami Kepke and myself right after the game for After Burner!
Up next
The Flames (18-21-4) are headed to Beantown. They’ll face the Boston Bruins on Thursday night in the second half of this back-to-back set.
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From the moment the puck hit the ice the Calgary Flames were out-matched in every aspect of the game in a sure-fire 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
CF% – 45.55%|| SCF% – 33.13%|| HDCF% – 19.88%|| xGF% – 26.28%
It’s a Team Game – Once again the Flames offence sputtered, but this one was a bit different. It’s not like both teams were close in their high danger chances like the last two games. No, this time the Flames got destroyed across the board. This includes an unmotivated third which felt like the team itself had enough through the first 40 minutes. Montreal’s speed overwhelmed them at every turn, forced the defence into coughing up turnovers, and stifled any serious attempts at a counterattack. It was the polar opposite of what the Flames attempt to do on a nightly basis – and it worked. Montreal went to the cup final, realized where they were at after the fact, restocked with some fine young assets via trade and drafting, and are already back on the rise with a serious shot at some playoff success in the East. The Flames even gave them one of the high picks for taking on the Sean Monahan contract. If this – paired with the two previous losses – is not enough of a sign to ownership and upper management (aka not Conroy) of what is needed I’m not sure what is.
Corsi King – Let’s get some positives out of the way because the last two reviews were pretty down in the dumps. Joel Farabee (67.73 per cent) was his consistent north-south self, and he finally got a goal to show for it. Yes, Fowler will want that one back, but it was more than just the goal from him. He makes smart plays on the boards inside his own zone to make sure the puck gets out, gets the puck in deep if pressed, and takes space in the attacking zone if given it. Once he gets on the attack he lacks consistency, but seeing as the whole roster is in that boat I do have suspicions there’s more to him than what we see. Hunter Brzustewicz (55.26 per cent) got back in the lineup and earned his first NHL point on Farabee’s goal. He can’t be as sheltered on the road as he is at home, so it was good to see that despite everyone else faltering around him he had a positive outing.
Under Pressure –
Taken By Chance – So I’ve ranted about Jonathan Huberdeau (34.39 SCF% // 0 HDCF%) this week, as well as Yegor Sharangovich (29.17 per cent // 41.51 per cent). Now it’s time for Morgan Frost (15.26 per cent // 0 per cent) who has looked anything but suitable to consistently play as a top 6 centre in this league. He’s got 75 games in since coming over from the Flyers and has amassed 11 goals and 20 assists for 31 points in that time. It’s third line production at best and is simply not going to be someone to keep a spot from anyone. There’s not a lot pf physicality to his game and he can’t move the puck from defensive zone through the neutral zone – with possession – effectively at all. The change of scenery has not worked and at 26 years old I’m not thinking it’s going to. If management finally gets into sell mode he’s a piece someone could possibly want – but absolutely not one the Flames need. Yes, I know they are short on centres, but in a pinch you can end the season running both Connor Zary (30.70 per cent // 31.77 per cent) and Sharangovich up the middle of the ice. You could also give Rory Kerins the rightful shot he is due as well. If it goes that way the goal is no longer highly competitive – it’s learn to play at the speed and pace of the NHL while living with the growing pains that come with that choice.
xG Breakdown –
xGF% – I understand not moving players because you are waiting for someone to call with a serious offer, but maybe there should be a bit more aggression in calling other teams and negotiating a deal. That opinion is a clear assumption based on what insiders are saying on the Rasmus Andersson (19.56 per cent) front. It makes zero sense for the team to assume the risk of him playing for Team Sweden and then getting nothing back in return for a bona fide top 4 point producing defenceman should he get injured. Despite having a brutal night, they still have MacKenzie Weegar (20.77 per cent) and are committed to growing his young partners game in Yan Kuznetsov (27.00 per cent). We have Brzustewicz (36.15 per cent) showing he can play up here and be just fine and also have Zayne Parekh to develop. Nights like this one are what they fear would happen if they got rid of their veterans and yet here it happened anyways.
If they do switch to development mode, I highly doubt that comes with a sudden outburst of offence. If it doesn’t they need to look beyond just the roster for the reason they can’t score – it’s certainly not entirely their fault.
Game Flow –
Game Score –
Shot Heatmap –
In The Crease – To his credit I thought Dustin Wolf was okay. He can’t stop the turnovers from happening directly in front of him. They better quit fooling around before they waste this guy’s prime. They’ve started getting younger on the back-end, but outside of what Parekh could maybe become they are starving for some offensive play drivers up front. Wolf will be his crazy athletic self for as long as he can be, and will keep this team in more games than they ever deserve, but without some high end skill being truly competitive for consecutive seasons will always be out of reach. 3.64 expected goals against at 5v5 with 4 getting behind him.
Player Spotlight – William Stromgren – Lost in all of this was the debut of a new player up front. It was well deserved as Stromgren had seen his play improve year over year with the Wranglers. He drew two penalties in some limited action. Frequent readers know we don’t usually judge rookies on their first games – it’s quite a competitive jump coming to the NHL mid-season. I do believe Stromgren will continue to grow. If he can get some confidence to use some physicality he could establish himself as a baseline bottom 6 player with some upside. I’m excited to see where the former 2nd rounder grows next.
The Goals –
Joel Farabee, the only dangerous Flame tonight, gets Calgary on the board.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) January 8, 2026
Flash’s 3 Stars –
1) Joel Farabee
2) Hunter Brzustewicz
3) Dustin Wolf
(Stats compiled from Naturalstattrick.com // Game Score from Hockeystatcards.com // xG and Under Pressure charts from HockeyViz.com // Game Flow and Shot Heatmap from NaturalStatTrick.com)
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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 headed to TD Garden to face the Boston Bruins on Thursday night, playing for the second evening in a row (with travel). The Bruins looked poised, structured and capitalized on some Flames defensive lapses at key times. The Flames? Well, they were chasing for much of the evening.
The Flames’ losing streak was extended to four games via a 4-1 road loss to Boston.
The rundown
The Bruins carried play for the balance of the opening period, generating more chances than the Flames (and better ones) throughout the period.
Midway through the period, 9:48 in, the Bruins lit the lamp first. The Flames changed lines and got everybody in place, but Tanner Jeannot entered the zone off the rush with speed and everyone seemed to follow him for a moment. That allowed him to pass the puck back to Sean Kuraly, who had a clear lane to walk to the slot and fire a shot. It may have glanced off Joel Hanley, but either way it beat Dustin Wolf to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.
Boston takes an early 1-0 lead.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) January 9, 2026
A few minutes later, the Bruins scored again. This time, it was another rush chance, with the Bruins executing a really nice sequence of passes after entering the Flames zone, ending with David Pastrnak passing to Elias Lindholm for a one-timer that beat Wolf to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead.
We could be in for a long night…
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) January 9, 2026
First period shots were 13-7 Bruins. Via Natural Stat Trick, 5v5 scoring chances were 12-5 Bruins and high-danger scoring chances were 4-3 Flames.
The second period was more even, with the Flames pressing and the Bruins, possibly realizing they had a two goal lead, sat back a bit and seemed to wait for the Flames to make mistakes. The Flames pressed hard, but eventually the Bruins scored again.
With just under six minutes left in the period, the Bruins cycled around in the Flames zone. Mason Lohrei got the puck at the left point, patiently toe-dragged around a sliding block attempt from Adam Klapka, then shot the puck past Wolf to make it 3-0 Boston.
The Flames can't score at one end. Boston scores at the other.
It's 3-0 Bruins.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) January 9, 2026
With 2:01 left in the period, the Bruins scored again. This time, Casey Middelstadt fired the puck on net. Wolf made the initial save, but Mittelstadt rushed in before any player in a white jersey could grab the rebound, and instead Mittelstadt fired the puck past Wolf to make it 4-0 Bruins.
4-0 Bruins.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) January 9, 2026
But 46 seconds later, the Flames got on the board. A Kevin Bahl point shot was deflected wide of the Bruins net by Morgan Frost. Connor Zary retrieved the puck behind the net, wheeled around to the front and decided to shoot, beating Joonas Korpisalo top-corner to cut Boston’s lead to 4-1.
Connor Zary scores a beautiful goal to get Calgary on the board!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) January 9, 2026
Second period shots were 10-9 Bruins. 5v5 scoring chances were 14-8 Bruins and high-danger scoring chances were 5-4 Bruins.
The third period was fairly even, as the Bruins were perfectly content to play a smart, structured game and run out the clock. The Flames had some decent looks in the offensive zone, but they didn’t amount to much.
The Bruins held on for a 4-1 win.
Third period shots were 12-8 Flames. 5v5 scoring chances were 9-7 Bruins and high-danger scoring chances were 7-1 Bruins.
Why the Flames lost
Just like in Montreal, the Flames’ in-zone defensive coverage had some big gaps at bad times. A few too many times, their coverage got bunched up in one area of the zone, leaving big gaps and tons of space for the Bruins’ skill players to do things with the puck. And while the Flames did have the puck a lot later on in the game, the Bruins did a great job of clogging up the middle of the ice and the Flames just couldn’t do enough to counter that.
Red Warrior
Connor Zary’s goal was really nice. We’ll give him the nod by default.
Turning point
The Flames were on the heels for the bulk of the first period, and Elias Lindholm’s goal to go up 2-0 really seemed to deflate their group for the remainder of the period.
This and that
Dustin Wolf started for the eighth consecutive game. As noted on social media by Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg, Devin Cooley is still not 100% after missing Monday’s game with an illness, so that likely contributed to the goaltender deployments over the last three games this week.
Blake Coleman left the game in the second period with an apparent injury, came back to the game, then left again (for good) early in the third period.
The Flames are 0-4-0 in 2026.
After Burner
Join Mike Gould and myself right after the game for After Burner!
Up next
The Flames (18-22-4) are off to Pittsburgh. They face the Penguins in a matinee game on Saturday.
This article is brought to you by Platinum Mitsubishi
This article is a Presentation of Platinum Mitsubishi, family owned and operated by lifelong Calgarians. Home of the best warranty in the business with ten year warranties available. Check out the showroom at 2720 Barlow Trail NE or online at www.mitsu.ca
