On Saturday night, the Calgary Flames did something they had not yet done in the month of November.
They scored a power play goal.
Matt Coronato’s goal, scored at six-on-four with a Winnipeg player in the penalty box and Dustin Wolf on the bench for the extra attacker, tied the game at 3-3 and allowed the Flames to earn a point against a strong Jets team. It was their first power play goal since Oct. 30. (The Flames ended up losing the game in a shootout.)
Through 20 games, the Flames have scored eight power play goals. Their 11.9% conversion rate on their power play opportunities sits dead-last in the NHL. If they had a league average power play, they would score just under 14 goals – six more than they currently have.
Their penalty kill has had challenges of its own, though not to the extent of the power play. Through 20 games, the Flames have allowed 15 power play goals, and they’re killing opposition advantages at the 23rd-based rate in the NHL. Based on the number of power plays they’ve faced, they’ve allowed about 1.5 more power play goals than a league average penalty kill.
Including shorthanded goals in both directions, the Flames’ special teams goal differential is minus-8, third worst in the NHL. Simply put, the Flames’ special teams units have not been a net positive for the club thus far this season: their power play has out-scored their opponents just twice this season.
With the Flames heading on a two game road trip, and playing just one of their next eight games at the Saddledome, they’ll need a turnaround from their special teams units to create and maintain momentum.
“Our five-on-five game is coming along,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska after Sunday’s practice at the Saddledome. “That is one thing that you can see it from the eye test. We’re not giving up nearly the chances that we were before. I think we’re doing a much better job of denying shot attempts right now. The areas that we have to get better at for this road trip would be both sides of special teams. Of course, we scored a great power play goal [Saturday] night, one that we really needed, one that allowed us to get the point [Saturday] night. But we have to make sure we build off of that, and our penalty kill has to raise its level as well.”
Huska discussed the progress the penalty killing group is making with the new approach on that side of special teams this season.
“You know, it’s one step forward, two steps back some nights,” said Huska. “Up until recently, I felt like it was two steps forward, one step back, which to me is going in the right direction. You have to have everybody on the same wavelength when you’re killing penalties. You want to be more aggressive, and it’s a matter of reading off the people that you’re on the ice with, and that’s something we can do a better job with.”
Huska thought the power play was dangerous overall against Winnipeg.
“Yeah, you know, the beginning of the year for the first 12 to 14 games, I thought our power play was dangerous and it had some chances, some quality chances that we weren’t finishing on,” said Huska. “Then it went very dry where I didn’t like the way it was performing at all. Not a lot was happening. As a matter of fact, we were giving up more opportunities to the opponent than we were generating for ourselves. Last night, I thought their attitude, swagger was different when they went over the boards. They were two power play units that gave me the feeling that they’re going out there to get the job done, and that’s what we need. So if it’s not scoring, it needs to generate momentum for you, and last night I think they did a really good job in both places.”
The Flames begin the second quarter of their 2025-26 schedule on Tuesday night in Chicago.
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One of the top free agents in the 2026 off-season is off the market.
On Monday, it was announced by the Los Angeles Kings that they’ve extended Adrian Kempe to an eight-year deal worth $10.625 million annually.
Kempe, drafted 29th overall by the Kings in the 2014 draft, is a consistent 30-goal scorer. In 2022-23, he scored a career-high 41 goals, as well as 67 points, which was then a career-high. His goal scoring dropped in 2023-24, potting just 28 goals in 77 games, but he finished the year with a career-high 75 points.
Last season, the Swede finished the season with 35 goals and 73 points in 81 games, along with four goals and 10 points in six postseason games. Although the Kings seemingly can’t get past the Edmonton Oilers in the first round, it’s not on Kemp,e as he has 15 goals and 29 points in 24 games the past four postseasons.
Kempe is one of many top-tier players to have extended with their team in recent times. Connor McDavid signed a two-year extension with the Oilers, Jack Eichel signed an extension with the Vegas Golden Knights, and Kirill Kaprizov signed an extension with the Minnesota Wild.
As it stands, Artemi Panarin is the top unrestricted free agent in the 2026 class.
Senators and Flyers make a trade
It’ll still be a bit of time before the big trades come, but a minor trade was made on Monday. The Philadelphia Flyers sent Dennis Gilbert to the Ottawa Senators for Maxence Guenette, with the Flyers extending Guenette immediately.
Gilbert, 29, was drafted 91st overall in the 2015 draft by the Chicago Blackhawks and is a former Calgary Flame, playing 57 games with them between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. He’s also played National Hockey League games with the Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Buffalo Sabres, and Senators in his career, where he has three goals and 20 points in 111 games.
Guenette, 24, is a right-shot defenceman that the Senators drafted in the seventh round of the 2019 draft. He played eight NHL games with the Senators, including seven with them in 2023-24. The L’Ancienne-Lorette, Québec native spent all of the 2024-25 season with their American Hockey League team, scoring nine goals and 23 points in 58 games. He’s yet to play this season.
Chris Tanev hits long-term injured reserve
A former Calgary Flame is out for the foreseeable future, as the Toronto Maple Leafs placed Chris Tanev on the long-term injured reserve on Monday.
Tanev was injured on Nov. 1 after a scary collision with Flyers’ forward Matvei Michkov, needing to be taken off on a stretcher. It’s the second time Tanev has been on the injured reserve this season, as that game against the Flyers was his first game back from an injury sustained on Oct. 21.
Due to the two injuries, Tanev has played just eight games with the Leafs in 2025-26, picking up two assists. It’s the second season as a Leaf, as he scored three goals and 18 points in 75 games last season.
Tanev isn’t the only right-shot defenceman out of action for the Maple Leafs, as they also placed Brandon Carlo on the injured reserve on Nov. 17, retroactive to Nov. 13. They could really use Rasmus Andersson right about now.
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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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!
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before.
The Calgary Flames visited to Chicago on Tuesday night to face an opponent that, on paper, they were out-matched by. The Flames, however, battled and hustled and did their level best to make a game of it. But as has become too common this year, the Flames stuck around but managed to find ways to lose a close game.
A puck-handling miscue by their goaltender, a bad bounce off a defender’s skate and some very nice execution by Chicago at key times paced the Flames to a 5-2 road loss to the Blackhawks.
The rundown
The first 10 minutes of the game were pretty even, but Chicago got some momentum and scored in the latter half of the period.
The two teams exchanged power plays midway through the period. Chicago scored 20 seconds after the Flames’ penalty ended to take a 1-0 lead. Ryan Donato’s shot was blocked by Jake Bean, then Louis Crevier’s shot was blocked by Nazem Kadri, and Donato collected the bouncing puck and fired it past Dustin Wolf to give the home side the lead.
The Flames challenged the goal for goalie interference due to Sam Lafferty hanging around the crease area, but the goal was upheld.
First period shots were 6-5 Blackhawks. Via Natural Stat Trick, 5v5 scoring chances were 11-5 Blackhawks and high-danger scoring chances were 4-2 Blackhawks.
The Flames were on their heels for a good chunk of the second period, including a brief five-on-three penalty kill after Jake Bean and Kevin Bahl took minors right after each other.
The Blackhawks added to their lead on, frankly, a weird play and a bad break for Wolf. The Flames, after being on their back foot for much of the period, were pressing in the offensive zone in an effort to tie things up. Sam Rinzel collected a loose puck and threw a high pass into the Flames zone, where it trickled towards the net, pursued by Connor Bedard. Wolf went to play the puck away from Bedard… and missed the puck. Bedard whacked the loose puck through Wolf’s legs and into the open net to give Chicago a 2-0 lead.
But the Flames managed to answer back late in the period. Connor Zary drew a penalty in the offensive zone and after the Flames won the face-off in the offensive zone, Matt Coronato converted a back-door pass from Nazem Kadri to cut Chicago’s lead to 2-1.
Second period shots were 9-7 Blackhawks. 5v5 scoring chances were 9-7 Blackhawks and high-danger scoring chances were 3-0 Blackhawks.
Early in the second period, the Flames tied things up. The fourth line did a nice job hemming Chicago in with a dogged forecheck, and eventually Mikael Backlund (who joined the shift mid-cycle) found Rasmus Andersson pinching from the point. Andersson beat Arvid Soderblom to tie the game at 2-2.
But shortly after that, Chicago retook the lead. Ryan Greene entered the Flames zone and made a really nice cross-zone pass to Bedard on the opposite wing. Bedard’s shot eluded Wolf to give Chicago a 3-2 edge.
The Flames kept pressing in an attempt to tie the game. But Chicago stole the puck and headed up ice on an odd-man rush. Frank Nazar attempted to cut to the front of the net. He lost control of the puck and it bounced off Bahl’s skate and past Wolf to give Chicago a 4-2 lead.
https://twitter.com/RingOfFireCGY/status/1990994451964309953
The Flames pressed late and pulled Wolf for the extra attacker, but they weren’t able to get anything more past Soderblom. Bedard completed his hat trick with an empty-netter late to give Chicago a 5-2 win.
Third period shots were 9-9.
Why the Flames lost
Let’s give the lads credit: they battled hard and played a pretty good road game. This was a rematch against a team that beat the Flames on home ice recently, and you could tell that the Flames were dialed in. The Flames played their game, for the most part, kept this as a low-event hockey game, but still lost.
The big reasons are pretty simple: they made just enough mistakes in their own end to lose and weren’t able to overcome them, while Chicago’s star players made big plays at key times.
Red Warrior
Man, Rasmus Andersson was really good in this game. He’s been pretty good, and consistently, for the bulk of this season, but he was really noticeable every time he hit the ice in this one.
We’ll also give a shout-out to Sam Morton. The Flames claimed John Beecher off waivers earlier in the day, and so Morton’s ostensible replacement was waiting in the wings when this game began. But Morton was really effective in this game.
Turning point
The Flames tied the game in the third period. And then less than two minutes later, Connor Bedard scored to retake the lead for Chicago. After clawing their way back from a 2-0 deficit, it was a bridge too far for the road team.
This and that
The Flames made two lineup changes from Saturday night, sending Rory Kerins to the Wranglers and Sam Honzek to the injury reserve. They were replaced by Yegor Sharangovich and Sam Morton.
The Flames claimed John Beecher off waivers earlier on Tuesday; per Sportsnet’s Jon Abbott, he’s expected to meet the team in Buffalo and could debut on Wednesday against the Sabres.
After Burner
Join Cami Kepke and Mike Gould right after the game for After Burner!
Up next
The Flames (5-13-3) are headed to Buffalo. They visit the Sabres on Wednesday evening.
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An injury will likely keep a Calgary Flames prospect from appearing at this year’s World Junior Championship tournament over the winter holidays. Per a report from HockeyNews.se, all indications are that forward Theo Stockselius won’t be available to represent Sweden at the upcoming World Juniors in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, running Dec. 26 to Jan. 5.
One of the youngest players in his draft class as a July birthday, the 18-year-old Stockselius was a second-round selection by the Flames in last June’s NHL Draft. Despite dealing with a thyroid cancer scare a few years back, Stockselius has emerged as one of the most exciting young players in Swedish hockey based on his size, skill and versatility.
Based on his prior experience with Sweden’s national under-18 team at last spring’s Under-18 Worlds it seemed like Stockselius would have a good shot at their World Junior roster. He appeared at the 5 Nations international event in August and impressed, but he suffered a cut from a skate in a U20 Nationell game back on Oct. 8 and was forced to miss the November instalment of 5 Nations action, typically used by the Swedish national team as a preparation camp for World Juniors.
Here’s some of what HockeyNews.se’s Mattias Ek reported, via Google Translate:
(JVM is the Swedish translation WJC, the English acronym for the World Junior Championship.)
In other words: Stockselius is progressing in his recovery, but it’s unlikely that he’ll be back playing games with his club team prior to Sweden’s World Junior camp in early December.
It’s disappointing. But given that Stockselius will also be eligible for next year’s World Juniors, coincidentally being held in Alberta, he’ll have another chance at representing his country in the future.
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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 the third period against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night with the game tied 2-2 after two. They were playing the second half of a back-to-back after losing a tough one in Chicago on Tuesday evening.
With the game up for grabs, the Flames opted to grab it, pulling away from the Sabres for a hard-fought 6-2 road victory to split their two game road back-to-back set.
The rundown
The Flames went up 1-0 just shy of six minutes into the game following a successful power play. Nazem Kadri’s line pressed in the Sabres zone. Colten Ellis made the initial save on Yegor Sharangovich, but Rasmus Andersson snuck down from the point and buried the rebound.
FLAMES GOAL
Rasmus Andersson scores in back to back games!
: Sportsnet | #Flames pic.twitter.com/YFYSge3w8d
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 20, 2025
Awhile later, the Flames scored again. Kadri made a nice play on the zone entry with the puck, leading to a cycle passing play that gave Joel Farabee a great scoring chance out front. He put the puck past Ellis to give the Flames a 2-0 lead.
The Kadri line combines for a nice goal to put Calgary up 2-0!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 20, 2025
A couple minutes later Rasmus Dahlin fired a puck past Devin Cooley. But the Flames called a timeout, reviewed the play and then challenged for goaltender interference. It was ruled that Tage Thompson, cutting across the crease before Dahlin’s shot, impeded Cooley’s ability to play the position and the goal was disallowed.
There was goalie interference by Tage Thompson. No goal. It's still 2-0 Calgary
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 20, 2025
First period shots were 11-5 Flames. Via Natural Stat Trick, 5v5 scoring chances were 5-4 Flames and high-danger scoring chances were 2-0 Flames.
The Sabres pressed for the first half of the second period, the managed to break through with two goals in slightly more than a five minute span.
First, Yan Kuznetsov chased down a puck in the Flames end and threw a pass up the wall to Sharangovich. The puck went through Sharangovich’s skates and was stolen by Mattias Samuelsson, who took a couple strides to the face-off dot to Devin Cooley’s left and wired a shot into the Calgary net to cut the visitors’ lead to 2-1.
Buffalo cuts the Calgary lead in half.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 20, 2025
Awhile later, the Sabres won a face-off in their own zone and headed up ice. Once in the Calgary zone they got a nice cycle passing play going, ending with Tage Thompson blasting a shot post-and-in past Cooley from the right point to tie the game at 2-2.
Tage Thompson rips a shot past Devin Cooley. This game is tied.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 20, 2025
Second period shots were 12-10 Sabres. 5v5 scoring chances were 10-9 Sabres and high-danger scoring chances were 4-3 Sabres.
The Flames grabbed the lead back a couple minutes into the third on a great rush play. Jonathan Huberdeau carried the puck in along the left wing, while Matt Coronato went to the front of the net, taking a couple defenders along with him. Coronato’s net drive opened up some space near the far post for Morgan Frost, who received a back-door pass from Huberdeau and beat Ellis to give the Flames a 3-2 lead.
Jonathan Huberdeau makes a beautiful pass to find Morgan Frost for his 4th goal of the season!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 20, 2025
Awhile later, the Flames got some insurance. The Flames cycled the puck to the point for Andersson. His shot was stopped by Ellis, but Mikael Backlund was parked in front and buried the rebound to give the Flames a 4-2 lead.
The Flames score four goals on the road for the first time this season! The Captain puts them up by two!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 20, 2025
A little later, the Flames made it 5-2. This time, Andersson threw a flip pass through the neutral zone and sprang Farabee in alone against Ellis. He fired the puck past Buffalo’s goaltender to give the Flames a three goal lead.
Rasmus Andersson springs Joel Farabee in on a breakaway and he makes no mistake! 5-2 Calgary!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 20, 2025
Coronato added a weird one late in regulation, whacking at the puck on a broken play in the slot. The puck went high off the glass, then bounced back into the Sabres crease and glanced in off the back of Ellis’ right pad. That gave the Flames a 6-2 lead.
Matt Coronato scores a crazy goal. The puck goes off the glass, off Ellis and in.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 20, 2025
The Sabres tried to claw back, but to no avail, and the Flames held on for the victory.
Third period shots were 13-13.
Why the Flames won
Let’s give the Flames credit: given the circumstances – within their season, within the back-to-back segment of their schedule, and within the game with the blown 2-0 first period lead – this was a game they had every opportunity to lose.
But rather than fold up in the third period, they did a great job of generating chances, both primary and secondary, and took the game away from the Sabres. The Flames carried play in the first and the Sabres responded in the second. But with the game up for grabs in the third, the Flames responded back and won.
Red Warrior
Let’s give this one to Rasmus Andersson, as he had three points and was superb overall.
But let’s also give stick-taps to Sharangovich, Farabee and Kadri, who were strong as a unit, and Cooley, who made a ton of saves when the game was close.
Turning point
We’re going to go with the first 10 minutes of the third period. They scored three times and looked really poised.
This and that
After being claimed off waivers from Boston on Tuesday, forward John Beecher debuted with the Flames on Wednesday. He played on the fourth line with Sam Morton and Adam Klapka, as well as on the penalty kill.
This was Devin Cooley’s first win with the Flames.
Flames president of hockey operations Don Maloney joined Sportsnet’s Brendan Parker at the first intermission.
Don Maloney gives his thoughts on the first period tonight, the first 21 games of the season, and the #Flames young players.
— FlamesNation (@FlamesNation) November 20, 2025
After Burner
Join Robert Munnich and myself right after the game for After Burner!
Up next
The Flames (6-13-3) are headed home. They host the Dallas Stars on Saturday night in the first half of another back-to-back set.
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Everyone loves a win-win trade.
In last week’s edition of Throwback Thursday, we looked at the Miikka Kiprusoff trade between the Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks. The Flames host the Dallas Stars on Saturday, and those two teams have an important win-win trade in their past as well.
On Dec. 19, 1995, the Flames sent Joe Nieuwendyk to the Stars. Drafted 27th overall in the 1985 draft, the Hall of Famer found tons of success with the Flames, scoring 314 goals and 616 points in 577 games. Nieuwendyk scored 51 goals and 92 points in 75 games in his first full season, en route to the Calder Trophy.
That wasn’t his only award he’d win with the Flames, as he scored 10 goals and 14 points in 22 games during the 1989 post-season, helping the Flames win their first and only Stanley Cup (so far).
Over the course of his nine seasons with the Flames, Nieuwendyk was a four-time All-Star and even won the King Clancy trophy in 1994-95. The forward had two 51-goal seasons, followed by two 45-goal seasons. Overall, he reached the 30-goal plateau with the Flames six different times.
Nieuwendyk found success after the Flames as well. In 1997-86, his third season with the Stars, the Oshawa, Ontario native scored 39 goals and 69 points in 73 games, his best season in the National Hockey League away from the Flames. The following season, he won it all with the Stars, as he scored 11 goals and 21 points in 23 games, earning the Conn Smythe Award.
In seven seasons with the Stars, Nieuwendyk scored 178 goals and 340 points in 442 games. The Conn Smythe was Nieuwendyk’s lone award, as he didn’t earn any other type of hardware, nor earn an All-Star appearance in his tenure with the Stars. That said, he finished 12th in Hart voting in 1997-98.
The Stars nearly won back-to-back Stanley Cups, but fell short to the New Jersey Devils in 2000. During the 2001-02 season, Nieuwendyk was traded to the Devils, playing a season and a half with the team. The Devils fell in six games to the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round.
In Nieuwendyk’s lone full season with the Devils, he scored 17 goals and 45 points in 80 games, helping the Devils earn the second seed in the Eastern Conference. They beat the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning in five games before beating both the Ottawa Senators and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in seven games to earn their third Stanley Cup in history.
For the 2003-04 season, Nieuwendyk returned home to the Greater Toronto Area to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 64 games, he scored 22 goals and 50 points in 64 games, as well as six goals in nine post-season games, the last time he’d play in the playoffs.
Nieuwendyk signed with the Florida Panthers after the 2004-05 lockout, scoring 26 goals and 56 points in 65 games, his final full season in the league. In 2006-07, he played 15 more NHL games before being forced to retire due to back pain.
The Flames traded away a player who went on to win two more Stanley Cups and enter the Hockey Hall of Fame, so how was this trade a win for them? Well, the prospect they received for Niuewendyk was none other than Jarome Iginla (also receiving Corey Millen).
Starting with Millen, he played parts of two seasons with the Flames, scoring 15 goals and 40 points in 92 games before spending the rest of his career in Germany. Iginla, as you likely know, went on to become arguably the best Flame player of all time.
Iginla never played for the Stars, but made his NHL debut in 1996-97. He ended up scoring 21 goals and 50 points in 82 games, earning an All-Rookie appearance and finishing second in Calder voting. Iginla played two post-season games in 1996, scoring a goal and picking up an assist. It wasn’t until 2003-04 that he’d play another playoff game.
In between his two playoff appearances, Iginla established himself amongst the league’s best power forwards, scoring 188 goals and 380 points in 463 games between 1997-98 and 2002-03. It wasn’t until the 2001-02 season that Iginla truly broke out, scoring a league-high 52 goals and 96 points, winning the Rocket Richard Trophy, the Art Ross, and the Ted Lindsay.
The 2003-04 season saw Iginla lead the league in goals for the second time, potting 41 of them and picking up 32 assists for 73 points in 81 games. On top of his second Rocket Richard Trophy, Iginla also picked up the King Clancy Trophy.
More importantly, Iginla led the Flames to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in his first season as their captain, scoring a playoff-leading 13 goals, as well as 22 points in 26 games. The Flames never reached the second round again in Iginla’s tenure, either being knocked out in six or seven games.
Still, Iginla was productive for the rest of his Flames’ career, scoring 275 goals and 592 points in 593 games. He finished as a finalist for the Hart Trophy for the third time in his career in 2007-08, and earned votes in 2006-07, 2008=09, and 2010-11.
With the Flames out of contention in the twilight of Iginla’s career, they traded their captain to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Kenneth Agostino, Ben Hanowski, and a 2013 first-round pick that turned out to be Morgan Klimchuk.
In his return to the postseason, Iginla scored four goals and 12 points in 15 games with the Penguins, as they were swept by the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference Finals. Iginla joined the Bruins the following season, scoring 30 goals and 61 points in 78 games, but they fell in seven games to the Montréal Canadiens in the second round. That happened to be the last time Iginla played in the post-season.
During the 2014 off-season, Iginla signed a three-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche, where he scored 59 goals and 124 points in 225 games. Midway through the 2016-17 season, Iginla was traded to the Los Angeles Kings, where he played his final 19 NHL games, scoring six goals and nine points in 19 games as the Kings fell eight points short of making the playoffs.
Iginla retired in the 2018 off-season and made the Hall of Fame two years later. He was teammates with Nieuwendyk in the 2002 Olympics, and assisted on the game-winning goal in the 2010 Olympics to earn Canada the Gold Medal. Iginla’s son, Tij, was drafted sixth overall by the Utah Mammoth in 2024, while his other son, Joe, is a top prospect eligible for the 2026 draft.
It’s not often you see two Hall of Famers traded for one another, but it’s hard to argue that either the Flames or Stars lost this trade.
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 Sabres hosted the Calgary Flames in Buffalo last night for a bout between two squads who have struggled mightily this season. Calgary posted its highest goal total yet, winning convincingly by a score of 6-2. The red team improved to 6-13-3, but remains in the basement of league standings along with Buffalo.
Both teams have had a rough go of it, not just this season but in the 21st century as a whole. As a result, the Sabres have garnered a fairly regrettable reputation around the NHL, but there are actually quite a few parallels between Calgary and Buffalo over the last 25 years.
The Sabres are widely regarded as somewhat of a cursed franchise due to their lack of success since the turn of the century, and a cautionary tale of what can go wrong when embarking on a full-scale rebuild, that is, digging a hole you can’t pull yourself out of.
It’s no secret that Buffalo has had minimal playoff success. They’ve missed the playoffs in each of the last 14 seasons and had little to be proud of prior to their current drought. The Flames aren’t riding a schneid quite like the Sabres; nobody is, but Calgary’s recent track record in the playoffs is equally disheartening.
Since the year 2000, both teams have each won just five playoff series.
For what its worth, Calgary has had more regular-season success, two 50-win campaigns and three division championships, but Buffalo has trailed closely behind with just one fewer of each milestone.
The Flames can hang their hat on their 10 playoff appearances to the Sabres’ five, but that’s the lone category in which they’ve separated themselves over the last quarter-century.
Neither team has been able to sustain much relevance within the league at any point throughout the last couple of decades.
But the similarities go far beyond a lack of success on paper. The nature in which these organizations have gotten to where they are now virtually mirrors each other.
Calgary’s mishandling of Matthew Tkachuk starkly resembles that of the Jack Eichel debacle in Buffalo. Both players represented a beacon of hope for their ailing franchises at one time or another. Both players forced their way out in search of greener pastures and subsequently became the focal point of their new club’s successful pursuit of Stanley Cups.
In fact, neither club has had much success in retaining talent that they have found in the draft, or getting anything of substantial value back for them.
In 2022, the Flames dealt Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers for Jonathan Huberdeau, Mackenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt and a conditional first-round selection. In 2021, Eichel, along with a third-rounder, went to the Vegas Golden Knights in return for Peyton Krebs, Alex Tuch, a first and a second-round pick. Though both returns seemed satisfactory at the time, neither haul has equated to much, with the Panthers and Golden Knights reaping the most benefit from the deals.
Both Calgary and Buffalo have had their fair share of difficulty attracting free agents, with poor facilities and investment into the team being key factors.
They also share a similar head coaching history since the 2000-01 season, employing countless faces behind the bench. Outside of Lindy Ruff’s 16-year reign in Buffalo from 1997 to 2013, neither team has had the same head coach for longer than four years.
Darryl Sutter, former Calgary head coach and Ruff, the Sabres’ current bench boss, both returned for renaissance tenures with their respective clubs in the 2020s. Hoping to reclaim some of the success they had in their initial stints, in which they reached the Stanley Cup Finals and fell short.
Sutter’s second term didn’t amount to much, resulting in his firing in 2023, and Buffalo continues to spin its wheels under Ruff, who may be on the hot seat once again, sooner rather than later.
The parallels really are jarring. As far as professional hockey goes, Buffalo could be considered Calgary’s sister-city in the east, with the only real difference between them over the last two and a half decades being the conferences they reside in.
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Calgary Flames forward Sam Honzek is set to miss up to six months after undergoing surgery this week, the team announced on Friday.
Honzek sustained an upper-body injury in last Saturday’s contest against the Winnipeg Jets. Following a collision with teammate Mikael Backlund in the second period, he left the game and did not return. On Sunday morning, head coach Ryan Huska classified him as “week-to-week,” but now it appears the 21-year-old will miss months, and possibly the remainder of the season. With the 2026 Winter Olympics looming in February, it seems unlikely that he’ll be back in time to represent Slovakia at that event.
Through 18 games with the Flames so far this season, Honzek scored two goals and added two assists, averaging 12:21 TOI per night. His first career NHL goal came at the end of October against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Honzek was selected 16th overall by the Flames in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. A native of Trencin, Slovakia, he began his playing career in his home country before joining the WHL’s Vancouver Giants for two seasons. Honzek then made his NHL debut last season, playing five games with the Flames in October without registering a point. He then spent the remainder of the season in the AHL with the Calgary Wranglers, scoring eight goals and adding 13 assists in 52 games played.
The young forward also boasts a number of international appearances, including at the World Juniors and last year’s World Championships, where he contributed a goal and an assist.
Following the conclusion of last season, he landed #11 on FlamesNation’s 2025 summer prospect rankings. He had been working hard at his NHL emergence this season, but unfortunately now faces a setback with this injury. Honzek’s entry-level contract runs through the 2027-28 season, giving him plenty of time still to cement a place in Calgary moving forward.
Along with Honzek, the Flames are currently without rookie Zayne Parekh, who landed on IR this month after suffering an upper-body injury, and forward Martin Pospisil, who was injured late in training camp. Parekh is currently listed as week-to-week with no specific timeline for his return. No specific timeline has been shared for Pospisil’s return.
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The Calgary Flames opened the 2025-26 National Hockey League season with a clear goal: to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
22 games into their schedule, it’s become abundantly clear: they’re going to fail to reach that goal.
The Flames are off to a 6-13-3 start, with their 2-8-2 October seeming to sink their playoff hopes before they really got out of the starting blocks. A .600 points percentage is the cut-off for a playoff spot in the Western Conference presently; the Flames are 11 points off the pace. The Athletic‘s projections have the cut-off for the post-season around 94 points, which would require the Flames to play at a .658 pace for the balance of the season. That’s probably not happening.
But that does not mean that the 2025-26 campaign cannot be a productive endeavour for the hockey club.
Following the success of the Apollo 13 feature film, HBO released a miniseries entitled From the Earth to the Moon, which told the broader story of the Apollo program and how they worked towards the moon landings. The entire narrative thrust of the mini-series that there were a lot of productive failures that taught the Apollo team key lessons that led to the successes of the moon landings. A handful of guys went to the moon, but it was a lot of hard work and hard lessons for a lot of people that got them there.
A similar process happens in the years leading up to a Stanley Cup.
You don’t need to go far on social media to see Flames fans calling for some veteran players to be traded away to recoup assets – picks and prospects primarily. However, my thought process is more along the lines of using the remaining games as a sandbox to experiment. What can the Flames learn from the remainder of this season that can help them move their retooling project along? What productive growth can occur, either for individual players or segments of the team, that they can carry forward?
You could argue that we’ve already seen the beginning of the “sandbox” approach when Yan Kuznetsov was recalled and put into the lineup. Through eight outings he’s played on every single pairing and seen a lot of different game situations. So far, it seems like there’s an NHL player there. Sam Morton was recently called up from the AHL and given a couple games and so far, he seems like he’s got some promise, too.
There may be a temptation to throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater, to trade away everyone over a certain age and start from scratch. But you can also understand the temptation to not do that. We’ve heard Ryan Huska and Craig Conroy talk about wanting to put young players into positions to succeed. And guess what? It can work. Kuznetsov has been playing with a strong partner in MacKenzie Weegar and performed well. Sam Honzek, prior to his injury, looked strong alongside Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman.
So over the last 60 games, if playoffs aren’t in the cards, how can management and the coaching staff create similar opportunities for the organization’s younger players? We’ve already learned quite a bit about Kuznetsov and Honzek at the NHL level. We seem to be starting to learn about Morton. Who else can they work into the lineup?
It’s incumbent to use the remainder of the season to learn as much as possible about as many key young players as possible so that the 2025-26 campaign still be viewed as a productive year of Flames hockey.
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For the second time this week, Dallas Stars forward Mikko Rantanen was ejected from a game after receiving a major penalty for boarding (and a game misconduct). Will he face supplemental discipline stemming from an incident in Saturday night’s game against the Calgary Flames?
Late in the second period, Rantanen delivered a forceful hit to Flames forward Matt Coronato as he was playing the puck along the boards in the Dallas zone. Coronato had his back to Rantanen and took the hit in the numbers, falling forward face-first and then leaving the ice bleeding heavily from his face.
Mikko Rantanen throws one of the dirtiest hits you're going to see this season.
He has been given a 5 minute major and a game misconduct.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 23, 2025
Jonathan Huberdeau jumped into the fray, engaging Rantanen in a fight following the hit.
When the dust settled, Rantanen received a boarding major and a game misconduct, along with a fighting major. Huberdeau, for his part, received a fighting major, an instigator minor and a 10-minute misconduct.
The Flames ended up beating Dallas by a 3-2 score after a shootout.
Flames head coach Ryan Huska was asked his opinion of the hit after the game.
“I thought it was a terrible hit,” said Huska. “We’ve seen it. Didn’t we just see that on TV? I didn’t think it was a good hit at all.”
It was the second time this week that Rantanen had received a major penalty for boarding. Late in Tuesday’s game between the Stars and New York Islanders, Rantanen was ejected for a hit on Islanders defenceman Alexander Romanov. Romanov was injured on the sequence and hasn’t played since.
Mikko Rantanen ejected (5-minute major + game misconduct) for boarding #Isles Alexander Romanov. #TexasHockey pic.twitter.com/YndyuTclpD
— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) November 19, 2025
Coronato received several stitches to close the cut on his nose and returned to the game early in the third period.
“Kent [Kobelka, head athletic therapist] came in between periods, said they were working as quick as they could on him,” said Huska. “It was a pretty big cut that he had, and they had to do a lot of repairs to it. So he’s a good hockey player, is the way I can put it. He wanted to get back on the ice, try to help the team win.”
The big question following the game, particularly given that Rantanen had been involved in a similar incident this week, was whether Rantanen will be facing any supplemental discipline for the hit on Coronato. Earlier this season, Tampa Bay’s J.J. Moser was suspended for two games for boarding Florida’s Adam Boqvist on a somewhat similar play – Boqvist was playing the puck along the end-boards and Moser hit him from behind in a vulnerable position.
The justification for not giving Rantanen a suspension or fine would probably be something along the lines of “Hey, Coronato changed body position before the hit.” That being said, Rantanen was pursuing Coronato for several seconds before the hit and was looking at his numbers for awhile, Coronato’s body movement didn’t substantially change while Rantanen was throwing that hit, and as the person initiating contact, it’s up to Rantanen not to blast a player in the numbers.
The league’s stance seems to be: you’re allowed to throw hits, but if a guy is in a vulnerable position along the boards it’s up to the guy throwing the hit not to cause a dangerous situation with a hit.
Based on the nature of the hit, and Rantanen’s week featuring a similarly scary-looking hit already, we think Rantanen will get a couple games for this one.
Do you think Mikko Rantanen should be fined or suspended for Saturday’s hit on Matt Coronato? Let us know in the comments!
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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, for the first time this season, have themselves a winning streak on their hands. Playing their second game in as many nights, with travel, the Flames got off to a slow start but found their game – and the net – pretty quickly against the Vancouver Canucks.
The Flames gave up the first goal of the game, then responded with five goals in a 5-2 road victory over the Canucks. They’ve won three consecutive games for the first time this season.
The rundown
Just 1:05 into the game, the Canucks scored. Jake DeBrusk made a nice play to send the Canucks in on an odd-man rush, with Filip Hronek jumping into the rush as the puck carrier. He opted the shoot, waiting out a sliding Kevin Bahl and then beating Dustin Wolf top corner to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead.
The Canucks score on their first shot of the game.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 24, 2025
The Flames were on the heels for a good chunk of the first period, but Wolf was sharp. Eventually, the Flames got some looks and began to find ways to cash in.
Midway through the period, Matt Coronato made a nice play to hold the puck in at the offensive blueline, then passed to the open wing for Rasmus Andersson. Andersson swung wide and threw the puck towards the slot, where Morgan Frost deflected the puck past Kevin Lankinen to tie the game at 1-1.
Rasmus Andersson picks up another point on this Morgan Frost goal!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 24, 2025
Just 35 seconds later, the Flames took the lead off a nice play. Blake Coleman chucked the puck towards the net from the wing. Lankinen looked ready to play a simple sliding puck, but Mikael Backlund took a one-handed whack at the puck and Connor Zary zoomed in and deposited the rebound to make it a 2-1 lead for the Flames.
Connor Zary scores his first goal since the season opener! it's great to see him get back on the score sheet!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 24, 2025
First period shots were 13-7 Canucks. Via Natural Stat Trick, 5v5 scoring chances were 12-9 Canucks and high-danger scoring chances were 5-5.
Midway through the second, the Flames added to their lead. With Joel Farabee jostling for position in front of the Canucks net, Kevin Bahl’s point shot glanced off Tom Willander and past Lankinen to give the Flames a 3-1 lead.
Kevin Bahl banks the puck off Tom Willander's skate and in! It's 3-1 Calgary!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 24, 2025
Later in the period, the Flames scored again. This time, Andersson fired a point shot on the Canucks net. Lankinen made the initial shot but Yegor Sharangovich, left largely alone in front, batted in the rebound to give the Flames a 4-1 lead.
Yegor Sharangovich gets on the board! It's 4-1 Calgary!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 24, 2025
Second period shots were 11-6 Flames. 5v5 scoring chances were 5-1 Flames and high-danger scoring chances were 3-0 Flames.
The Canucks pressed for chunks of the third period, but the Flames did a pretty savvy job not taking on too much water.
With Jonathan Huberdeau in the penalty box for hooking, two goals were scored: one for each team on the same power play.
The Flames made it 5-1 with a shorthanded goal, as Coleman used his stick to deflect a Backlund pass past Lankinen.
Blake Coleman scores a short handed goal! That's the 300th point of Coleman's career!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 24, 2025
Immediately afterwards, though, the Canucks got a power play goal back. Quinn Hughes went end-to-end, with Wolf stopping his initial shot but Hughes driving the net to get his own rebound. That cut the Flames’ lead to 5-2.
Quinn Hughes gets that Coleman goal right back to make it a 5-2 game.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) November 24, 2025
The Canucks pulled Lankinen for an extra attacker with a couple minutes left in regulation, and then got a two-man advantage after Coleman was called for a minor. Farabee hit the post while firing on the empty net. But neither side was able to take advantage, and the game ended as a 5-2 Flames win.
Third period shots were 11-3 Canucks. 5v5 scoring chances were 6-3 Canucks and high-danger scoring chances were 2-1 Flames.
Why the Flames won
The Flames looked a bit disorganized early in the game and looked a bit on their heels for a chunk of the first period. But they really seemed to find their game quickly, and they were really effective and organized at five-on-five. Their special teams weren’t anything special – their penalty kill was better than their power play – but this was the type of game where the Flames just rolled their lines, did their thing, and took advantage of the opportunities that were presented to them.
Red Warrior
Andersson set up three different Flames goals with really smart plays. He’s been playing great hockey lately and he was rewarded for it frequently against Vancouver.
But a lot of Flames had pretty good outings in this one. In addition to Andersson, Coleman, Kadri and Backlund each had multi-point outings.
Turning point
The Flames scored twice in a 35-second span to grab the lead in the first period. They never looked back.
This and that
Dustin Wolf started in net for the Flames in the back half of the back-to-back. Ryan Lomberg came into the lineup, bumping Sam Morton to the sidelines.
Matt Coronato wore a protective face shield – a “bubble” in the common parlance – following an injury on a hit from Mikko Rantanen on Saturday night. Rantanen received a one game suspension for having two physical infraction game misconducts in a 41-game span.
After Burner
Join Mike Gould and Kent Wilson right after the game for After Burner!
Up next
The Flames (8-13-3) continue their road trip on Wednesday night when they face the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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Calgary Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson has been named the NHL’s First Star of the Week for the week ending Nov. 23, the league announced on Monday morning.
Andersson is the first Flame to land on the league’s weekly three-stars list since Nazem Kadri was named third star in the final week of the 2023-24 season. He’s joined on this week’s list by Columbus Blue Jackets’ defenceman Zach Werenski and San Jose Sharks rookie Macklin Celebrini.
Considering Andersson’s fantastic week, it’s not surprising to see him recognized atop the NHL. Over last week’s four games, the Swedish blue liner had two goals and seven assists for a total of nine points, averaging an impressive 25 minutes a night. Benefiting from his offensive contributions, Calgary are now on a three-game winning streak, and Andersson now boasts points in his last five.
Amidst a tough start to the season, Andersson has been a crucial piece for the Flames. In total so far this season, he has five goals and 16 points in 24 games played, leading the team with 24:25 minute played per night. Serving in his fourth season as the team’s alternate captain, he continues to lead by example on both ends of the ice.
As the Flames potentially explore trading key players to bolster their prospect pool and draft assets moving forward, Andersson is one name that has continued to come up time and again. Just last week, The Leafs Nation’s Jay Rosehill shared on Leafs Morning Take that the Toronto Maple Leafs are “actively pursuing” Andersson. Toronto is certainly a team that could benefit from a strong offensive presence on their blue line, as their season has got off to a disastrous start considering their expectations. If an Andersson trade truly is inevitable, his recent strong play is music to Flames fans ears, as he continues to bolster his trade value in a market starved for available and reliable two-way defenders like him.
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Alright gang, we usually don’t assign homework before you read a mailbag column, but a lot of stuff has gone on that is reflected in the mailbag questions we’ve received and we want to make sure nobody feels lost.
On Wednesday, Sportsnet’s Brendan Parker interviewed Flames president of hockey operations Don Maloney in the first intermission of the Flames’ game in Buffalo. Watch the full interview here.
On Friday, Sportsnet’s Eric Francis interviewed Maloney in what was published as a two-part column on Friday and Saturday. Part one is here and part two is here.
Alright, we’re all caught up, let’s dive in.
– As a %, what's your confidence that Conroy will be given an extension?
– Why do you think Conroy did not do the interviews – according to Francis, requests for him were turned down. Could there be another hidden motive? (Maloney being the fall guy so that CC openly rebuild)
— m(@miletwt) November 23, 2025
In terms of Craig Conroy receiving a contract extension, my confidence level is at 95%. While he hasn’t been without his missteps – his long-term extension for Yegor Sharangovich isn’t aging well, for example – I really think he navigated the 2023-24 minefield incredibly well given all the expiring veteran controls and the Flames’ drafting and developing has looked quite promising under Conroy. I think he gets more time to unpack his vision.
In terms of how things unfolded this week, I won’t speak for my media colleagues. Thankfully, Francis noted on Friday’s Flames Talk how things came together for the two interviews.
Maloney is the head of hockey operations, the bridge between ownership and management, and it makes sense for him to do media from time to time. I really don’t think there’s any conspiracy afoot.
I think this will be the Maloney Mailbag this week! He seems to think a rebuild is all or nothing, when they really only need to make a few key moves his season to set themselves up nicely. How would you sell a re-whatever to him, in terms of trades, etc?
— John Ludwick(@jludwick66) November 23, 2025
Disclaimer: So, Elliotte Friedman has a maxim he uses: “everybody lies.” He usually trots this out during the trade deadline and NHL draft periods, because especially during those time periods, it doesn’t do any of the teams any good to have their business out in the open. So expecting anyone from hockey operations – even Craig Conroy, who’s naturally very friendly and chatty and out-going – to be forthcoming with their true plans in a November interview while the team is in 32nd place is not realistic.
That all being said: I do think the Flames have a hesitance to blow it up completely. I’ve mentioned this before in prior mailbags, but the 1990s flat-out sucked to be a Flames fan. The team was bad, the Saddledome was empty, and the team was very close to relocating or folding. You do not have an annual “please save the team” ticket drive if things are going well. Things are going much better for the Flames these days, but I think your first few years of owning a team being a white-knuckle ride to keep things afloat leaves some scar tissue and impacts your decision-making. I don’t know how it couldn’t.
For this season, if you accept the premise that the Flames have some good players that they like… well, they need to make some decisions on which players they feel won’t be part of their long-term plan and set prices for them. You don’t rush anybody out the door necessarily, but you make your prices known for assets and then make moves if those prices are met. Aside from Rasmus Andersson, there’s no immediate time pressure to move players, so I think they just need to be really honest about what a strong Flames team would look like in 2027 or 2028 and then make some moves to shape the team towards that vision.
I think they just… live their lives, guys. There’s a lot of hockey left to be played and if the Flames play an entertaining style of game and make moves that support their purported future focus, I think the world will keep on spinning.
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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For the United States National Development Program’s Under-18 Team, it was sweet revenge. For the Canadian Hockey League’s all-star team, it was a missed opportunity. Tuesday night’s opening game of the CHL-USA Prospects Challenge represented very different things for the two groups. The USNDP skated to a 4-2 victory over the CHL at the Scotiabank Saddledome in the first game of a two-game set showcasing 2026 NHL Draft eligible players.
On paper, the USNDP were a team with lower high-end skill, but with ample experience playing together – and motivation after watching their counterparts get swept by the CHL in this event last year. Meanwhile, the CHL featured several prospective first-rounders, but only a handful of players with much experience playing together.
On the ice, the game unfolded in the way many expected. The USNDP played a structured checking game and relied on pace and familiarity, while the CHL really got going in the second half of the game when individual players started to make plays. Ultimately, the USNDP’s team play was too much for the CHL to overcome.
The USNDP received goals from Dayne Beuker, Sammy Nelson, Wyatt Cullen and Jamie Glance. The CHL got goals from Soo defender Chase Reid and Spokane forward Mathis Preston.
Here are five players that stood out in Game 1.
Harrison Boettiger, CHL (Kelowna)
The CHL’s netminder only faced 25 shots, but he faced a lot of high-quality looks. This was especially true in the first half of the game, where the CHL defenders were a bit leaky and scrambly in their half of the ice. Boettiger had to be sharp to keep the game close and give the CHL a chance to find their footing.
Caleb Malhotra, CHL (Brantford)
The CHL’s captain (and the son of longtime NHLer Manny Malhotra) was easily their most noticeable skater. He used his pace and physicality well and did a lot as he tried to spark his team. He made a nice deception play on Chase Reid’s goal, feinting a shot and then dishing to Reid instead. He was also 9-for-16 at the face-off dot.
Brady Knowling, USNDP
The USDNP’s netminder was busy, facing 44 shots. While his CHL counterpart arguably faced more high-quality chances, Knowling was consistently sharp and did a great job swallowing up pucks and controlling rebounds. He was busy, but he never seemed scrambly or overwhelmed.
Wyatt Cullen, USNDP
Matt Cullen’s son was a big highlight, playing on the Americans’ first line. He scored a goal, but he was also did a nice job playing with pace and making smart plays in all three zones.
Victor Plante, USNDP
Derek Plante’s son was a forechecking machine for the USNDP, and he was consistently noticeable using his size, speed and tenacity to pressure the CHL players into making poor decisions with the puck. He created a bunch of scoring chances, too.
The CHL and USNDP rematch on Wednesday night in Lethbridge. Game time is 6 p.m. MT on TSN.
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If rumours are to be believed, it appears that the Calgary Flames are close to extending general manager Craig Conroy.
During the first period of the Wednesday evening game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the two parties are close to signing an extension.
This report comes on the heels of Don Maloney leaving some ambiguity in the air when asked about Conroy’s future earlier this week. Essentially, the Flames’ President of Hockey Operations deflected Sportsnet’s questions about why Conroy hadn’t been extended.
Conroy spent much of his playing career with the Flames, joining the team for two separate stints, with the team coming a couple of goals shy of winning the Stanley Cup. The Potsdam, New York native returned after a brief stint with the Los Angeles Kings, ending his playing career with the Flames.
Since then, Conroy has remained in the organization, being promoted to the team’s assistant general manager in 2014, before taking over the GM role at the conclusion of the 2022-23 season when Brad Treliving joined the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Conroy has done well as the Flames’ general manager. His first trade saw him move Tyler Toffoli for Yegor Sharangovich and the pick used to select Aydar Suniev. The first trade deadline deal of his career expanded the Curtis Glencross trade tree, as he sent Elias Lindholm to the Vancouver Canucks for Andrei Kuzmenko (later turned into Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee), Hunter Brzustewicz, Joni Jurmo, and two picks, one used to select Matvei Gridin.
In his tenure with the Flames, Conroy’s draft has been strong as well. Gridin is one of a handful of interesting prospects selected since Conroy took over. Zayne Parekh, Suniev, Samuel Honzek, Cole Reschny, and Cullen Potter are just a few of quite several players to keep an eye on.
Simply put, extending Conroy is a must for the Flames, and it’s good to see that it’s close.
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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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 went into Tampa Bay on Wednesday night hoping to extend their winning streak. However, they had a tough start to the game and just couldn’t work their way back from it. The Flames allowed four goals in the first 10:01 of regulation en route to a 5-1 loss to the Lightning.
The rundown
The Flames had a good first shift in the Lightning zone to start the game. Matt Coronato put the puck to the slot… and Jonathan Huberdeau was stopped by Andrei Vasilevskiy. Play went the other way and Brandon Hagel beat Dustin Wolf with a wrist shot off the rush to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead.
Jonathan Huberdeau is stopped at one end. Brandon Hagel scores at the other.
1-0 Tampa
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 27, 2025
Seconds later, the Lightning got an insurance marker. They passed the puck to the point where Charle-Edouard D’Astous fired a point shot. It looked like the puck may have glanced off Kevin Bahl, battling out front with Gage Goncalves, but either way the shot beat Wolf to give the home side a 2-0 lead.
Charles-Édouard D'Astous' point shot finds it's way to the back of the net.
2-0 Tampa
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 27, 2025
Slightly later, Tampa scored a weird one. Zemgus Girgensons chucked the puck towards the front of the net, likely trying to set up a scoring chance for teammate Declan Carlile. Instead, Bahl, trying to block the past, inadvertently deflected it past Wolf to make it a 3-0 lead for Tampa Bay.
The puck goes in off Kevin Bahl's stick and in. 3-0 Tampa.
Devin Cooley is coming into this game.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 27, 2025
The third goal spelled the end of Wolf’s evening, with Devin Cooley entering the game in relief.
Shortly after Cooley joined the game, the Lightning made it 4-0, as a shot from Carlile trickled under Cooley’s arm and dribbled into the net.
4-0 Tampa.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 27, 2025
First period shots were 10-5 Lightning. Via Natural Stat Trick, 5v5 scoring chances were 10-1 Lightning and high-danger scoring chances were 2-1 Lightning.
Midway through the second period Nick Paul scored on Cooley, but the goal was thrown out after a coach’s challenge due to Paul cutting through the crease and toppling Cooley over immediately before the goal.
Tampa gets their 5th goal called off due to goalie interference.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 27, 2025
Second period shots were 9-9. 5v5 scoring chances were 8-5 Flames and high-danger scoring chances were 4-3 Flames.
The Flames spoiled Vasilevskiy’s shutout bid early in the third period, with Joel Farabee beating him on a shorthanded rush to cut the lead to 4-1.
Joel Farabee walks down the wing and beats Andrei Vasilevskiy with a nice shot.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 27, 2025
The Flames kept pressing, but couldn’t get another goal. Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov broke out into the Flames end after a face-off win in their zone, with Kucherov scoring on the two-on-one to give Tampa Bay a 5-1 lead.
The Lightning held on for the win.
Third period shots were 9-4 Flames.
Why the Flames lost
The Flames had a rough first 10 minutes of this game. They were equal parts unlucky, out-skilled and out-muscled in their own end. They really found their game in the second period and avoided this game becoming a trouncing, but they just weren’t sharp enough early to keep this game close.
Red Warrior
Joel Farabee and Nazem Kadri were both consistently noticeable in the offensive zone, and Farabee had the Flames’ lone goal. We’ll give the nod to them jointly.
Turning point
The Lightning scored twice before the first 90 seconds of this hockey game had elapsed.
This and that
Wolf played just 5:52 of this game, making this (by far) the shortest outing he’s had in high-level hockey.
John Beecher registered an assist on Farabee’s goal, giving him his first point with the Flames.
After Burner
Join Ryan Pinder and Robert Munnich right after the game for After Burner!
Up next
The Flames (8-14-3) continue their road trip on Friday afternoon against the Florida Panthers.
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