If you somehow missed it, Calgary Flames president of hockey ops Don Maloney set the team’s fanbase ablaze with his against-the-grain comments about the organization’s plan to move forward after a historically bad start to the season.
Maloney did a rare five-minute interview with Brendan Parker during the first intermission of the Flames duel with the Sabres in Buffalo on Nov. 19. The team’s president was then given an even larger forum to share his thoughts days later, in a 45-minute one-on-one with Eric Francis.
His chat with Francis was published as a two-part Q&A on Sportsnet’s website. (Part one can be found here, and part two here)
We’ve already analyzed part one of Eric Francis’ two-part Q&A with Maloney, in which he made it clear that there is no appetite to take the roster ‘down to the studs’ in an effort to lean into what is already a lost season. He also pushed back on the idea that selecting at the top of the draft is a proven way to acquire game-changing players, while emphasizing the need to continue fostering a winning culture in Calgary.
In part two, Maloney speaks on Craig Conroy’s work as general manager, trading veteran players, and his preferred word to use instead of ‘rebuild’.
To open part two of the Q&A, Maloney was asked to assess the job that general manager Craig Conroy has done:
It’s interesting that he mentions how the guys who were shipped out in the 2023-24 season could “probably help us out right now”. I may be reading into it too much, but it gives off the vibe that he would’ve preferred a different approach with those players, who were all pending UFAs. Otherwise, why mention it?
Those trades netted the Flames countless assets that have bolstered the team’s prospect pipeline and pool of draft picks. It was a no-brainer for Conroy to move off those veterans who, for the most part, had notified management that they weren’t willing to extend in Calgary.
The latter part of that answer exemplifies the disconnect between Maloney’s opinion and that of many fans, who have long been clamouring for the opportunity to “fantasize” about a star player picked at the top of the draft.
The conversation then shifts to the youngsters, and Maloney was asked what the plan is for Matvei Gridin, who started the year with the Flames and now resides with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers:
An interesting note: A year ago, Bedard finished with as many points (67) as Nazem Kadri, who led the Flames in scoring.
Maloney was then asked if Zayne Parekh’s season is an example of why they shouldn’t rush players into the NHL:
The Flames are rather hesitant to give young players a shot with the big club, their philosophy differs from most other organizations in that regard. It’s clear that the only reason Parekh began the season in the majors was his ineligibility to play in the AHL, as per the CHL-NHL Transfer Agreement.
Despite playing sheltered minutes, Parekh was not necessarily put in a position to succeed over the course of his 11-game NHL stint. He never had a consistent defensive partner, playing with a mixture of Jake Bean, Brayden Pachal, Joel Hanley and Kevin Bahl.
Gridin and Parekh are still teenagers, so the hesitancy there is understandable, but the same can’t be said for older prospects that have already proven themselves in the minors, like Rory Kerins and William Stromgren, who are 23 and 22 years old respectively.
Maloney’s stated concern with trading veterans is that the team’s youth is not yet ready to be passed the proverbial ‘torch’ from Calgary’s current leadership group. Patience is a virtue in most cases, but at some point, you have to rip the band-aid off and let these players learn and grow at the highest level.
Shifting focus to the Rasmus Andersson trade front, Maloney was asked how the 29-year-old defenceman has handled the situation, knowing that he’ll likely be traded:
Maloney’s keeping his cards close to his chest, reiterating that they want to sign Andersson, and I believe him. They’ve remained firm on their messaging, as though to let interested buyers know that they’ll really have to pay up to pry him loose.
In terms of how Andersson feels about all this, is it possible that he is remarkably comfortable because he has complete control over the situation? If he wants to remain in Calgary, he knows there is an extension waiting for him, maybe not at the exact term or dollar amount he’s seeking, but nonetheless, it’s on the table. If he wants to be moved, they’ll move him, and he’ll essentially control where he ends up. So it’s no surprise, at least to me, that he seems totally cool with the whole thing.
When asked what word he’d use to describe what the organization is doing right now instead of “rebuild,” Maloney picked “retool”:
I find the whole debate over the terminology silly. Former CSEC president and CEO John Bean once went as far as to say, “I’m not ever allowed to use the word rebuild” at a press conference in 2023. Does it really matter what word they use? Will it really create a palpable difference in fan interest?
I suppose the executives understand the ramifications of certain terminology better than I do. Still, it was bizarre to watch Maloney stumble over his words in an attempt to backtrack after saying the wrong word during his live interview with Brendan Parker.
The last bit of that response sums up the interview in its entirety. He seems determined to remain in the playoff mix while simultaneously building towards the future. This is an incredibly difficult line to walk. How competitive can you be when you’re trying to plan for the future, especially when most of the teams that truly have Stanley Cup aspirations have, conversely, leveraged much of the future to improve their current roster? It’s a near-impossible feat in a league where you’re either in or you’re out.
On the other hand, how do you expect to build towards the future if your goal is to always remain competitive? The growing pains that are inherent with a rebuild, retool, re-whatever are not conducive to winning in the now. The Flames have reached the playoffs in consecutive years just once since 2009, and it’s this line of thinking that has contributed to that.
There is no secret shortcut. There is just one tried and true path to the ultimate prize.
This interview, as a whole, leaves a lot open for interpretation. You can choose to interpret the things that he said in any way you’d like. You can also interpret whether or not he’s being totally truthful in his answers. Maloney didn’t necessarily say a lot while saying nothing at all, like some executives have learned to do masterfully, but he also leaves a lot of topics open for debate.
If one things for certain, he didn’t do much in the way of putting fans at ease. He never articulated a clear vision for the team moving forward, outside of saying “We prefer a Dallas (Stars) model,” or “We’re hoping to have a little pop in momentum going into the new building.”
We don’t often hear from Maloney, and with the way this has gone over, it may be a while before we hear from him again.
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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!
On Wednesday night in Tampa Bay, the Calgary Flames allowed four goals before they found their footing. On Friday afternoon in Sunrise, Florida, the Flames allowed two goals before they found their footing. The speed of their adjustment made all the difference, as the Flames played a pretty strong game (despite allowing two goals on the first two shots) and bounced back from a disappointing earlier result.
The Flames beat the Panthers by a 5-3 score.
The rundown
The Panthers took advantage of a couple bloopers by the Flames early in the first period to grab an early lead.
First, Jonathan Huberdeau attempted to make a breakout pass from just inside the Flames blueline. Unfortunately, his pass didn’t have a lot of mustard on it, and Jesper Boqvist yoinked the errant pass. A couple passes later and Evan Rodrigues deked around Devin Cooley to give the Panthers a 1-0 edge.
Huberdeau turns the puck over and it ends up in the back of the Flames net. 1-0 FLA
: Sportsnet | #Flames pic.twitter.com/voHtW48c5d
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 28, 2025
A little later, the Flames got caught on a bad line change, leaving Rasmus Andersson all alone to defend an odd-man rush against A.J. Greer and Sam Bennett. It didn’t go well, and Bennett fired the puck past Cooley to go up 2-0.
Two shots, two goals for the Florida Panthers.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 28, 2025
But a little later, the Flames got on the board. Blueliner Yan Kuznetsov skated into the Panthers zone and, using a defender as a screen, fired the puck past Daniil Tarasov to cut the Florida lead to 2-1.
FLAMES GOAL
Yan Kuznetsov scores his first NHL goal! You love to see it!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 28, 2025
Awhile later, the Flames tied things up. Mikael Backlund made a smart read from below the goal line, throwing the puck to the point for MacKenzie Weegar. Weegar’s low point shot through traffic beat Tarasov to make it a 2-2 game.
MacKenzie Weegar ties things up with his first goal of the season!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 28, 2025
First period shots were 19-14 Panthers. Via Natural Stat Trick, 5v5 scoring chances were 15-8 Panthers and high-danger scoring chances were 10-5 Panthers.
Late in the first period, the Panthers took two minor penalties on the same sequence, which gave the Flames a five-on-three power play that carried over into the second period. The Flames cashed in on that advantage, as a Rasmus Andersson shot was stopped by Tarasov, but Morgan Frost deposited the rebound into the Florida net to give Calgary a 3-2 lead.
Morgan Frost scores on the power play! Calgary takes their first lead of the game!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 28, 2025
Later in the period, the Flames scored again off a pretty similar play. This time, Andersson’s shot was deflected by Nazem Kadri in front of Tarasov’s net. That deflection beat the Florida netminder to give Calgary a 4-2 advantage.
Nazem Kadri tips home a Rasmus Andersson point! It's 4-2 Calgary!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 28, 2025
Second period shots were 10-8 Flames. 5v5 scoring chances were 8-5 Flames and high-danger scoring chances were 3-0 Flames.
The Panthers pressed in the third period, obviously aware that they were down two goals on home ice. They got a few good looks and eventually managed to trim Calgary’s lead.
The Panthers entered the Flames zone with speed and numbers, with Brad Marchand entering as the trailer, receiving a pass in the slot from Sam Reinhart, and firing the puck past Cooley. That cut the Flames’ edge to 4-3.
Brad Marchand makes this a one goal game. He has 27 points in 23 games this season.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 28, 2025
The Panthers pulled Tarasov for the extra attacker and pressed late, but Yegor Sharangovich made a great defensive play around the blue paint, and then Joel Farabee scored an empty-netter to give the Flames a 5-3 lead. That was enough for the two points.
Third period shots were 12-10 Panthers.
Why the Flames won
The Flames were kinda tentative and slow in the first few minutes of the first period. But give them credit: they woke up pretty quickly and the details that were wholly absent in the first few minutes were fully present for much of the rest of the game. The Flames made life really easy for Florida early on. After that point, they made life tough for them, and they ended up getting rewarded for their efforts.
Red Warrior
Nazem Kadri had a goal, won over 60% of his draws, and led the Flames in shots on goal. He had a three point game, and his line was flat-out excellent.
Turning point
We’re gonna cop out and say “the second period.” The Flames were superb at bottling up the Panthers in the middle frame and making them play the game on their terms. They also out-scored them, taking the lead. It was a really strong 20 minutes of Flames hockey.
This and that
This was Devin Cooley’s sixth start of the season. Otherwise, the Flames made zero lineup changes.
Yan Kuznetsov’s goal was the first of his NHL career. Joel Farabee’s goal was the 100th of his NHL career.
Blake Coleman celebrated his birthday on Friday. He turned 34.
After Burner
Join Mike Gould and myself right after the game for After Burner!
Up next
The Flames (9-14-3) continue their road trip on Sunday afternoon against the Carolina Hurricanes.
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It was a tough start to the season for everyone on the Calgary Flames roster. For MacKenzie Weegar, the season began with hopes of earning a spot on Canada’s Olympic roster. After the tough start, he now finds himself on the outside looking in, with injuries to others potentially his only realistic path to Italy in February.
It’s been a season of uncharacteristic mistakes and a lack of offence from Weegar. He finally scored his first goal of the season against the Florida Panthers, snapping a goalless stretch in which he had 51 shots through his first 25 games. Weegar remains an exceptional defender and a veteran leader for the Flames, and while he can’t be thrilled with the way his season has unfolded, the struggles aren’t entirely on his shoulders.
MacKenzie Weegar ties things up with his first goal of the season!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 28, 2025
Since the Flames traded Chris Tanev two years ago, Weegar hasn’t had a steady defensive partner. Last season, he rotated through Daniil Miromanov, Tyson Barrie and Jake Bean before settling in with Joel Hanley down the stretch. This year has been more of the same. Through just 25 games, he has already played with several partners. He opened the season with Hanley, but after a rough start the pairings were shuffled. Since then, he has skated with Bean, Brayden Pachal, Zayne Parekh and, most recently, Yan Kuznetsov — his longest stint with any player so far.
Kuznetsov, who appeared in one game for the Flames in 2023-24, had to wait a couple of seasons for another NHL opportunity. In his first true run with the club, he has been impressive. He scored his first NHL goal on a wicked wrist shot past fellow Russian Daniil Tarasov and has added a couple of assists. But beyond the points — which aren’t his primary focus — he’s looked comfortable at the NHL level, making smart plays with the puck, defending responsibly, chapping in on the penalty kill and contributing to offensive pressure.
Yan Kuznetsov scores his first NHL goal! You love to see it!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 28, 2025
Most importantly, he has helped bring out the version of MacKenzie Weegar that Flames fans know and expect. For the first time this season, Weegar has a regular partner instead of arriving at the rink unsure who he’ll line up with. Chemistry matters, and the improvement has been obvious. It’s easy to say Weegar can play with anyone. Weegar plays at an exceptional level on both the left and right side but clearly the revolving door of defensive partners hasn’t been working.
For Weegar, this feels like a turning point. With comfort and familiarity now in place, he can play with more confidence. The last week or two he’s played his best hockey of the season and the expectation is that he will continue to elevate his game going forward. The Olympic roster remains a long shot, but if he continues to elevate his game over the next month, he could at least keep his name in the minds of the Team Canada decision makers should an opportunity open up.
It’s always encouraging when a young player is given a chance in the NHL and runs with it. It’s also impressive for them to have a quiet yet substantial impact on the team in such a brief stretch. With Kuznetsov’s strong play and the stability he has provided throughout the Flames’ blue line, he shouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Hopefully this pairing is not just a short term success story. Kuznetsov has more than earned his place in the lineup along side Weegar and I’m sure Weegar doesn’t want to lose this newfound partner anytime soon.
How would you rate the play of Kuznetsov and Weegar in their time as a defensive paring? Let us know in the comments!
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The Calgary Flames began the season with a rough stretch of games. Over their first 13 outings, they won just twice. Not surprisingly, that start has them firmly near the bottom of the National Hockey League’s overall standings.
But for the few die-hards that insist that the Flames weren’t as bad as their record indicated, they’ve followed their first rough 13 games with a pretty solid run of results in their subsequent 13, going 7-5-1. A disclaimer: a 7-5-1 record would translate to a .577 points percentage and 95 points over an 82-game schedule – not quite enough to be a playoff team.
We were curious, though: do the Flames’ improved results coincide with a marked uptick in how they were playing?
We decided to dig into the numbers to find out.
Team metrics
First 13 Next 13 Record (Pct.) 2-9-2 (.231) 7-5-1 (.577) GF/GP 2.15 2.69 GA/GP 3.54 2.54 PP 14.0% 12.8% PK 76.9% 88.6% xGF (5v5) 54.2% 54.1% xGF/60 (5v5) 2.54 2.81 xGA/60 (5v5) 2.15 2.38 Sh% (5v5) 7.1% 7.6% Sv% (5v5) 89.7% 90.0%
If you look at the “results” based stats – goals for and against, and the two special teams units – the Flames have scored more, allowed fewer goals, and their penalty kill is performing much better. The power play? Still rough.
If you look at the process stats – basically everything else – they tell the real story. They have the puck about as much as they did in their first segment. They’re generating slightly more offensively and allowing slightly more offensively, but they’ve got a 0.5% uptick in shooting percentage and a 0.3% uptick in save percentage.
In their first 13 games, the Flames were out-scored 27-20 at five-on-five and 46-28 overall. In their next 13 games, they were out-scored 26-25 at five-on-five and out-scored their opponents 35-33 overall. Those minuscule percentage changes are essentially nothing, but they were enough for the Flames to win five more games.
We’ve broken things down by player, too, with everyone sorted by position and jersey number.
Goaltenders
First 13 Next 13 Cooley (#1) 0-1-1, 1.98 GAA, .933 SV% 3-1-0, 2.02 GAA, 927 SV% Wolf (#32) 2-8-1, 3.63 GAA, .881 SV% 4-4-1, 2.60 GAA, .903 SV%
Devin Cooley’s numbers have taken a slight dip, but they’re still very solid and combined with him playing a bit more, he’s gotten some nice results. Dustin Wolf has played slightly less and seen his numbers recover quite a bit from his rough start.
Defencemen
First 13 Next 13 Andersson (#4) 13gp, 2g/4pt, E, 50.9% xGF 13gp, 3g/14pt, +1, 52.2% xGF Bahl (#7) 13gp, 1g/3pt, +3, 45.3% xGF 12gp, 2g/3pt, +9, 55.7% xGF Parekh (#19) 9gp, 0g/1pt, -1, 58.0% xGF 2gp, 0g/0pt, +1, 24.2% xGF Bean (#24) 10gp, 0g/1pt, -7, 61.8% xGF 3gp, 1g/1pt, E, 59.0% xGF Kuznetsov (#37) n/a 12gp, 1g/3pt, -2, 53.9% xGF Hanley (#44) 13gp, 0g/1pt, -3, 62.7% xGF 10gp, 0g/2pt, E, 53.0% xGF Weegar (#52) 13gp, 0g/3pt, -12, 54.2% xGF 13gp, 1g/2pt, -8, 50.7% xGF Miromanov (#62) 1gp, 0g/0pt, E, 19.1% xGF n/a Pachal (#94) 6gp, 0g/0pt, -3, 54.4% xGF 13gp, 0g/3pt, +3, 61.7% xGF
Pretty much all of the Flames’ regular defenders had rock-solid underlyings (or better) in the second segment. Almost none of them put up impressive offensive numbers with the exception of Rasmus Andersson, whose offensive production has taken a huge leap forward – and that’s with the power play still sputtering and him and Kevin Bahl operating as the shutdown pairing.
Let’s give a shout-out to Yan Kuznetsov, though: he’s playing fairly unsheltered minutes with MacKenzie Weegar and his underlying numbers are really solid and he’s passing the eye test, too.
Forwards
First 13 Next 13 Kerins (#6) n/a 2gp, 0g/0pt, -1, 78.3% xGF Huberdeau (#10) 8gp, 2g/5pt, -1, 60.6% xGF 13gp, 2g/7pt, -3, 53.3% xGF Backlund (#11) 13gp, 2g/6pt, -2, 52.2% xGF 13gp, 2g/8pt, +7, 60.0% xGF Frost (#16) 13gp, 2g/7pt, +1, 53.8% xGF 13gp, 3g/7pt, -5, 53.6% xGF Sharangovich (#17) 11gp, 2g/3pt, -7, 51.0% xGF 11gp, 1g/4pt, -1, 55.8% xGF Beecher (#18) n/a 5gp, 0g/1pt, -1, 33.5% xGF Coleman (#20) 13gp, 5g/6pt, E, 56.0% xGF 13gp, 3g/5pt, +4, 60.7% xGF Kirkland (#23) 9gp, 0g/1pt, -1, 57.3% xGF n/a Coronato (#27) 12gp, 3g/5pt, -13, 49.5% xGF 13gp, 5g/9pt, -4, 53.4% xGF Honzek (#29) 11gp, 1g/2pt, -2, 60.6% xGF 7gp, 1g/2pt, +3, 61.2% xGF Klapka (#43) 12gp, 1g/3pt, E, 54.0% xGF 13gp, 1g/2pt, -2, 40.9% xGF Morton (#45) n/a 3gp, 0g/0pt, -1, 50.2% xGF Zary (#47) 11gp, 1g/2pt, -5, 48.2% xGF 13gp, 1g/2pt, +2, 54.6% xGF Lomberg (#70) 13gp, 0g/1pt, E, 44.8% xGF 11gp, 0g/0pt, +2, 41.8% xGF Farabee (#86) 13gp, 2g/6pt, -4, 62.2% xGF 13gp, 5g/7pt, E, 57.7% xGF Kadri (#91) 13gp, 3g/10pt, -7, 55.5% xGF 13gp, 2g/11pt, -3, 56.8% xGF Gridin (#92) 4gp, 1g/1pt, -3, 42.6% xGF n/a
Among the regular forwards, everyone’s underlying numbers are generally quite good – with the exceptions of Ryan Lomberg and John Beecher – and offensive performances are sort of split into two groupings.
A handful of players are producing pretty consistently, like Nazem Kadri, Matt Coronato, Mikael Backlund, Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost and Jonathan Huberdeau. Everyone else? Hit and miss. And for a team that’s generally bereft of stars and has to score by committee, it feels like several players expected to be part of that committee haven’t been lately.
And if you wanted a glimpse of the true value of Kadri: look at how consistent his performances were across these 13-game segments. Nearly identical. The player is not without his flaws, but man, he’s reliable.
Sum it up
So, are the Flames playing all that much better than they were earlier on? Not especially. They’re getting slightly more saves and burying slightly more chances, and they’re generating slightly more offensively than they were earlier. But they’re also a little bit leakier defensively based on the available metrics.
They’re still a team that wins or loses games on very tight margins and isn’t a group that can out-score their mistakes, so they need to minimize them.
Through 26 games, they’ve made enough mistakes at key times that despite playing some pretty decent hockey, they find themselves looking up in the standings at the other 31 clubs in the NHL. We’ll see if they can do enough good things in the next 13 games – between now and their 39th game on Dec. 29 – to move up in the standings, or if they’ll remain firmly in the Gavin McKenna conversation.
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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!
On Sunday afternoon, the Calgary Flames headed to Raleigh, North Carolina to play their fourth game of their five game road trip when they visited the Carolina Hurricanes. The Flames were on their heels for a good chunk of the game, but they got enough big saves and smart defensive plays to hang around against a strong Hurricanes squad.
In a low-scoring battle of a game, the Flames lost to the Hurricanes in overtime by a 1-0 score.
The rundown
Neither team scored in the first period. The Hurricanes definitely got more chances and higher-quality chances as the Flames were stuck in their own end for big stretches. But Devin Cooley was sharp.
First period shots were 6-3 Hurricanes. Via Natural Stat Trick, 5v5 scoring chances were 12-6 Hurricanes and high-danger scoring chances were 6-2 Hurricanes.
Neither team scored in the second period. The Flames started to find ways to emerge from their own end and they ended up getting a few really strong looks on Carolina netminder Brandon Bussi. Both Bussi and Cooley were sharp.
Rasmus Andersson makes a great pass to spring Blake Coleman in on a breakaway but he misses the net.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 30, 2025
Now Matt Coronato gets a breakaway but he hits rings it off the post.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) November 30, 2025
Second period shots were 7-4 Flames. 5v5 scoring chances were 10-5 Hurricanes and high-danger scoring chances were 2-2.
The Flames had a lot of good looks in the third period.
Matt Coronato can't finish on Bussi
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 1, 2025
Once again, both Cooley and Bussi had to make big stops to keep this game tied in the third period.
Third period shots were 6-5 Hurricanes. 5v5 scoring chances were 6-6 and high-danger scoring chances were 3-3.
This game went to overtime. In extra time, Taylor Hall and Nikolaj Ehlers executed a nice give-and-go play off the rush, with Ehlers tapping a Hall pass past Cooley at the far post to give Carolina a 1-0 victory.
Nik Ehlers wins the game in overtime for Carolina.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 1, 2025
Why the Flames got a point
Let’s give credit where it’s due. The Flames were on their heels a bit in the first half of the game, but they defended pretty well in their own zone and got strong goaltending. Gradually, they seemed to get more and more offensive opportunities and slowly took over the game. Considering they were playing the fourth game of a long road trip, the fact that they were able to hang in there and find their rhythm in a tough road building is pretty impressive. They definitely deserved the point they received.
Red Warrior
The Flames were hemmed in their own zone in the first half of this game and were defensively leaky in their own end in the rest of the game, and Devin Cooley made several big stops to bail them out.
Turning point
The Flames just couldn’t get much going offensively in overtime.
This and that
This was Devin Cooley’s second consecutive start, third straight appearance, and seventh start of the season. Dryden Hunt played his first game of the season.
Matt Coronato has downgraded from the full face shield to a standard visor.
After Burner
Join Mike Gould and Kent Wilson right after the game for After Burner!
Up next
The Flames (9-14-4) conclude their road trip on Tuesday night in Nashville against the Predators.
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The Calgary Flames played a remarkably low event game with little to no offence generated on the way to a 1-0 overtime loss.
CF% – 34.7%|| SCF% – 39.24%|| HDCF% – 42.04%|| xGF% – 45.68%
It’s a Team Game – In games where very little occurs a single extra chance can change percentages in a volatile direction. The Flames being below 50 across the board doesn’t accurately reflect the fact that they themselves played a strong defensive game. Particularly the defensive unit who kept making sure second chance opportunities were cleared away, even though some never left the zone. The first period was rough for everyone with a Flaming C not named Devin Cooley, who turned in another spectacular performance against a quality team. They picked things up and had an okay second and then a better third. It wasn’t enough though, zero goals never is, and instead the Flames end up with another mark in the loss column (OTL, but still a loss).
Corsi King – Carolina is a team that, for about a decade now, just overwhelms the opponent with shot attempts. They are great on the boards at picking up missed shots and rebounds and are not shy to make crazy seam passes if they feel there are openings. The Flames had some players fall victim to that smothering of offence they typically are able to create. Mikael Backlund (29.37 per cent) with his line and Nazem Kadri (26.16 per cent) with his got shelled pretty bad in their minutes. Hard to create much offence if you spend the majority of your time and energy defending in your own zone. Kadri displayed some usual flashes, but it wasn’t much of what we usually get from him.
Under Pressure –
Taken By Chance – Kudos to Jake Bean (59.50 SCF% // 46.08 HDCF%) for coming in cold and not faltering too much. I was pretty happy with the entire defence corps commitment in clearing out second chance opportunities, but did largely fail at limiting first shots. There was a fair number of breakaways given up, but nobody in this game – on either side – had the ability to hit the broad side of a barn. I’ve said it before but Calgary’s defensive game and ability to limit mistakes, so long as they don’t make egregious turnovers, is at a top 10 rate in the NHL. They just lack the necessary skill level up front to continually produce offence.
xG Breakdown –
xGF% – I thought Matt Coronato (69.28 per cent) stood out amongst the forwards. He constantly earned himself a few of those fast breaks but ended up only ever catching iron instead of twine. He is clearly the best winger in terms of getting himself into scoring positions – the others could really look to him as an example of what to do consistently. I wish everyone could love something as much as Ryan Huska loves to find ways to get Dryden Hunt (79.08 per cent) into NHL games. He’s serviceable every time he’s here, but maybe seeing what you have in someone like William Stromgren is more worth your time. You gave Martin Pospisil a shot, that worked. You gave Yan Kuznetsov (57.45%) a shot, that worked. Take a look at the standings and please start to operate like a franchise that knows where you actually are. Using the 30-year-old Hunt as a fourth liner does absolutely nothing for you now or in the future. There are options available, stop being scared of ending up where you already are.
Game Flow –
Game Score –
Shot Heatmap –
In The Crease – Devin Cooley is on some kind of tear right now. Rocking a save percentage above 0.930 through 10 appearances is no small feat. This game isn’t close without his strong start, holding the fort. He did everything he possibly could and was a few overtime minutes away from his first career NHL shutout. He has, without a doubt, been the Flames best goaltender this season. Wolf certainly comes off as more athletic, but the results all point to Cooley and his impressive start right now.
Flash’s 3 Stars –
1) Devin Cooley
2) Matt Coronato
3) Joel Hanley
(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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It’s a really interesting time within the Calgary Flames organization.
While the National Hockey League club has experienced some turbulence in the standings so far this season, the organization’s player development apparatus is working hard to help turn promising young prospects into players that can help the NHL club.
20 games into their American Hockey League season, the Calgary Wranglers have posted a 10-8-2 record while integrating several first-year players into their group. They’re six games into a monster 10-game road trip, posting a 3-3-0 record so far. The club returned home over the weekend, briefly, to regroup and prepare for the final four games of their trip.
We caught up with first-year Wranglers head coach Brett Sutter to discuss the trip thus far, and pick his brain about some up-and-comers in the Flames system.
“Just enough time to come home and wash our underwear and socks and pack it all back up and hit the road again,” joked Sutter of the Wranglers’ brief return. “Actually, I thought we had a pretty good trip for the most part. I think four of the six games I really liked. I thought the last game, we looked like we ran out of steam a little bit. But I think for the most part, we’re grabbing a hold of the type of game that we have to play to be successful. And I think, you know, you’re starting to see it and hear it from the guys. And that’s always good to see as a coach. So things to build off here. Good to get a little bit of rest and head back out.”
Matvei Gridin
Selected in the first round, 28th overall, in the 2024 NHL Draft, Gridin made the Flames roster to start the season due to an injury to Jonathan Huberdeau and a strong performance in training camp. He joined the Wranglers a few games into the season and has emerged as one of the AHL’s leading rookie scorers – and leading point producers of any age – with 8 goals and 20 points through 18 games.
Aydar Suniev
Selected in the third round, 80th overall, in the 2023 NHL Draft, Suniev joined the Flames following his sophomore season at the University of Massachusetts and made his NHL debut at the end of the 2024-25 season. He’s in his first pro season, and has 4 goals and 5 points in 19 games.
Andrew Basha
Selected in the second round, 41st overall, in the 2024 NHL Draft, Basha is in his first pro season after a really strong run with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers that featured a Western League Championship and a trip to the Memorial Cup last spring. So far, he’s been playing a lot alongside Wranglers captain Clark Bishop. Basha has 1 goal and 4 points in 16 games. While Basha could end up a similar player to Bishop as a pro, that wasn’t the primary reason Sutter put them together.
Basha missed a good chunk of time last season due to an injury, eventually working his way back in time for the WHL Championship series. Basha’s been at full health this season and is able to be used by the Wranglers without any limitations on him.
Etienne Morin
Selected in the second round, 48th overall, in the 2023 NHL Draft, Morin is in his first pro season after a strong run in junior with the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats. He’s been used sporadically by the Wranglers, though, and he’s bounced up and down from the ECHL’s Rapid City Rush, where he’s currently playing. He has zero points in 6 games with the Wranglers.
Carter King
A local product, King signed with the Flames as a free agent back in the spring after completing four seasons at the University of Denver. He’s in his first full pro season. He has 1 goal and 1 point in 18 games.
Martin Frk
Okay, we’re cheating a bit here. Frk isn’t a prospect. He’s 32. He’s on an AHL contract. But man, he’s been really good for the Wranglers this season, and he sits among the AHL’s scoring leaders so far this season. He has 10 goals and 21 points in 20 games.
The Wranglers continue their 10-game road trip on Tuesday and Wednesday against the Abbotsford Canucks and Saturday and Sunday against the Ontario Reign.
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Over the past many seasons, there’s been a pretty common refrain: if a player is in need of a boost or needs to learn the ropes of two-way hockey, you stick them on Mikael Backlund’s line.
Dating back to roughly 2015-16, Backlund has been the Calgary Flames’ two-way ace. If there’s a lead to be protected, a penalty to be killed, or an opposition star to be stymied, it’s usually #11 going over the boards first. Since 2021, the other guy relied upon heavily in that situation has been Blake Coleman, who joined the Flames as a free agent that summer after winning back-to-back Stanley Cup championships with Tampa Bay.
Over the past three seasons, as the Flames have transitioned away from the Johnny Gaudreau/Matthew Tkachuk contention window and into a retooling process, most of the younger players that have been inserted into the Flames’ lineup have spent a considerable amount of time playing with Backlund and Coleman.
For much of 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24, the Flames had Andrew Mangiapane or Jonathan Huberdeau playing on the left side with Backlund and Coleman. But Matt Coronato and Martin Pospisil both cut their teeth as NHL rookies with the checking duo in 2023-24. In 2024-25, Coronato, Connor Zary and Joel Farabee saw the most time with Backlund and Coleman. And so far this season, the most-used players on that line have been Sam Honzek, Zary and Coronato.
When young forwards get brought into the NHL, there are two common paths to integrating them into the lineup. There’s sheltering them with offensive zone deployments and weaker opposition, which can boost their confidence and their offensive numbers. The Flames have tended towards an alternate approach: tougher opposition, but stronger linemates – when you’re playing with Backlund and Coleman you’re facing the other team’s top lines, but because they’re so effective, they end up having the puck more often than not.
According to data from Natural Stat Trick, since Coleman joined the Flames in 2021-22, he and Backlund have played nearly 3,500 minutes together at five-on-five. They’ve out-shot their opponents in each of the past four seasons (and so far this season) and out-scored them in three of the past four seasons (and so far this season). Coleman and Backlund, and their rotating linemates, have produced a +24 goal differential together at five-on-five. The remainder of the Flames lineup combined has produced a +22 goal differential.
Back during the Flames’ trip through Ontario at the end of October, we chatted with Coleman about the unique qualities of his tandem with Backlund, and how they’re able to help young forwards play against top opposition and produce offensively. (At the time, Coleman and Backlund were lining up with Honzek.)
“Yeah, well, I think it’s, you know, naturally you’re going to get a decent amount of ice time because you’re playing against a lot of top lines,” said Coleman. “And, you know, I think that gives you a lot of confidence when you can go play against the other team’s best and out-chance them or out-produce them. And, you know, I think it helps you realize as a young guy in the league that you can compete and contribute against the best. And, you know, we’ve seen a lot of our prior line mates go on and start scoring a lot of goals. And we call it ‘give them a little seasoning and send them up to the top.’ But, yeah, Honzy’s no different. And, you know, we’ve got a lot of really good young players that can slot in and do a great job there.”
Coronato used his time with Backlund and Coleman as a springboard to playing on the Flames’ top scoring lines. Honzek effectively cemented himself as an NHL regular with that duo prior to suffering an injury that ended his season in mid-November. And Zary has started to look like his dynamic, confident self since re-joining the Backlund/Coleman line. With the Flames prospect pool brimming with talented young wingers, Backlund and Coleman remain a huge developmental asset and one of the most consistently effective two-way duos in club history.
The Flames are back in action on Tuesday night when they face the Nashville Predators.
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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 scenic Nashville, Tennessee looking to close out their road trip on a positive note against the Predators.
Well, that did not happen.
The Flames were the better team through the first half of the game, and then the wheels fell off and the Predators pounced. The Flames distinctly lacked pep in their collective step en route to a 5-1 loss to Nashville.
The rundown
The Predators got on the board a few minutes into the opening period. 6:24 in, Reid Schaefer jammed in the rebound after Devin Cooley made the initial stop on a shot by Fedor Svechkov. That gave Nashville a 1-0 lead.
Nashville opens the scoring. Reid Schaefer scores his first NHL goal.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 3, 2025
The teams exchanged power plays later in the first period, but neither team generated any great chances. The Flames had some odd-man rushes during the period, but couldn’t capitalize on those opportunities.
First period shots were 10-9 Flames. Via Natural Stat Trick, 5v5 scoring chances were 7-3 Flames and high-danger scoring chances were 4-1 Flames.
Five minutes into the second period, Nashville doubled their lead. Ryan O’Reilly and Luke Evangelista went in on an odd-man rush. Evangelista received a pass but, recognizing that Devin Cooley was sliding to his left – away from the front of the net – Evangelista held onto the puck, swung around behind the net and passed to the late-coming Steven Stamkos for a tap-in on an empty-net to give Nashville a 2-0 edge.
Nazem Kadri can't get the puck deep and it throws off a Flames line change.
Nashville takes advantage and takes a 2-0 lead.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 3, 2025
The Predators got some offensive zone time and Dryden Hunt lost his stick while trying to defend. That gave Nashville a bit of extra room to maneuver, and Jonathan Marchessault’s shot through traffic from the point hit paydirt behind Cooley to give Nashville a 3-0 lead.
Jonathan Marchessault puts the Preds up 3-0.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 3, 2025
The Predators made it 4-0 slightly later, as Michael Bunting flung the puck towards the net-front area and Ozzy Weisblatt got his stick on it, deflecting it past Cooley in-close.
Ozzy Wiesblatt scores his first NHL goal. it's 4-0 Nashville.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 3, 2025
Second period shots were 10-7 Flames. 5v5 scoring chances were 6-6 and high-danger scoring chances were 2-1 Predators.
Dustin Wolf came into the game in relief of Cooley for the third period and Flames bench boss Ryan Huska turned on the line blender.
John Beecher blocked a shot and the puck ricocheted right to Michael Bunting for a no-doubter to make it 5-0 Predators.
5-0 Predators.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 3, 2025
Morgan Frost spoiled Juuse Saros’ shutout bid with a power play goal midway through the third period to cut the deficit to 5-1.
Morgan Frost scores on the power play. It's 5-1 Predators.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 3, 2025
But that’s as close as the Flames got.
Why the Flames lost
For the first half of this game, they couldn’t get their offence going. For the second half of this game, they couldn’t get much of anything going. And unfortunately for them, this was a rare occasion where they goaltenders – either of them – was unable to bail them out. They had the looks of a team whose gas tank had hit empty.
Burn the tape.
Red Warrior
Blake Coleman had a team-high five shots, a fight, and was somehow even in a game where the Flames were out-scored 5-0 at even strength.
Turning point
Nashville scored twice in a 67-span in the second period, turning a 2-0 game into a 4-0 game and really taking the wind out of the Flames’ sails.
This and that
Reid Schaefer’s first period goal was his first NHL goal. He fought Brayden Pachal in the second period and finished the evening an assist shy of a Gordie Howe hat trick.
Ozzy Weisblatt’s second period goal was his first NHL goal. He fought Blake Coleman in the third period and also finished the evening an assist shy of a Gordie Howe hat trick.
Third period lines for the Flames ended up roughly like this:
- Jonathan Huberdeau – Morgan Frost – Blake Coleman
- Yegor Sharangovich – Nazem Kadri – Adam Klapka
- Dryden Hunt – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato
- Connor Zary – John Beecher – Joel Farabee
After Burner
Join Mike Gould and myself right after the game for After Burner!
Up next
The Flames (9-15-4) are headed home. They’ll host the Minnesota Wild at the Saddledome on Thursday night.
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The Calgary Wranglers kicked off game seven of their ten game road trip on Tuesday against the Abbotsford Canucks. Their last game action was last Wednesday as they enjoyed a relaxed schedule over the American Thanksgiving weekend. Things took some time to get going in this game then the scoring exploded in the third. Calgary’s timing was impeccable and they managed to squeak by with a 3-2 win over the Canucks.
Lineup notes
The last time the Wranglers played, Aydar Suniev was out with an illness and William Stromgren was out with a day to day lower body injury. Both of these skaters were back for this game in Abbotsford. To make space for them, Carter Wilkie and Andrew Basha came out of the lineup. On the defensive end, Jeremie Poirier came out and Simon Mack came back in.
Wranglers lines
Rory Kerins – Sam Morton – Matvei Gridin
William Stromgren – Clark Bishop – Martin Frk
Aydar Suniev – Clark Bishop – David Silye
Parker Bell – Carter King – Lucas Ciona
Nick Cicek – Hunter Brzustewicz
Turner Ottenbreit – Daniil Miromanov
Simon Mack – Artem Grushnikov
Ivan Prosvetov (starter)
Owen Say
Game at a glance
The goaltending match up for this game was Ivan Prosvetov in net for the Wranglers and Ty Young for the Canucks. The first period was played very closely with both sides getting pockets of rushes in their zones. The opening goal really could’ve gone either way but it was not found in the first.
At 16:07, Lucas Ciona was called for fighting Jujhar Khaira. At the previous whistle, Ciona was pushing and shoving a different player in front of the Canucks’ net and in the next play, Khaira got tangled up with Parker Bell and took him down. Ciona took issue with that, then they exchanged cross checks and fought along the boards.
These teams were scoreless at the end of the first and shots were 11-8 Abbotsford in the opening 20 minutes. The first half of the second period was pretty tilted towards the Canucks. It wasn’t until 7:33, when the Canucks took a hooking penalty, that the Wranglers could get a bit of a breath.
After this power play ended, the Wranglers took a holding call then a cross-checking call that put them on a 5-on-3 for 28 seconds. One penalty was killed off but before the second could be killed off, Abbotsford opened the scoring with a goal from Mackenzie MacEachern at 13:35. He caught Prosvetov shifting over and beat him glove side.
At 18:53, the Canucks took another penalty and the Wranglers finished the period on a power play that would carry over into the third period. In the middle frame, the Canucks outshot the Wranglers 18-5 and led them 1-0 on the scoreboard.
The third period started with a bit of momentum going Calgary’s way for the end of the power play. Then, at 5:02, Clark Bishop scored the Wranglers’ first of the night with a shot from the point right off the bench. Young didn’t squeeze the pads enough on this one and the puck went right through his legs. Matvei Gridin picked up the lone assist.
The Wranglers held the momentum for quite a few minutes, then at 12:24, Abbotsford regained the lead with a goal from Vilmer Alriksson that forced Prosvetov to stretch along the crease. He appeared to overstretch and jam either his shoulder or leg and needed to be helped off the ice. Owen Say came in for Prosvetov for the next faceoff.
About two and a half minutes later, Justin Kirkland scored his third goal of the year with an assist going to William Stromgren. He took a shot that broke his stick and his blade flew past the net a couple of seconds after the puck cleared the goal line.
The game was tied 2-2 with time running out and Calgary kept pushing while they had a jump on Abbotsford. At 19:29, Turner Ottenbreit took a shot from the point that Carter King got the last touch on and the Wranglers scored the go-ahead goal for their first lead of the night. Daniil Miromanov also picked up the seconary assist on this goal that would end up being the game-winner.
The Canucks pulled Ty Young for the last 19 seconds of the game but Calgary managed to secure the 3-2 win at the end of regulation. Shots finished 36-23 for Abbotsford. Ivan Prosvetov was awarded the first star this game and Turner Ottenbreit earned the second.
Scoring stat summary
Turner Ottenbreit – 1A
William Stromgren – 1A
Matvei Gridin – 1A
Clark Bishop – 1G
Justin Kirkland – 1G
Daniil Miromanov – 1A
Carter King – 1G
Next up
Calgary may be without Prosvetov for their next game as they’re right back at it against Abbotsford on Wednesday night. If Prosvetov will miss some time, they will be scrambling to try and get Arsenii Sergeev or Connor Murphy there from Rapid City or exploring EBUG options in the area. The game time is the same with an 8:00 p.m. MT puck drop.
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If there’s been a bright spot in what’s been a fairly tumultuous season for the Calgary Flames thus far, it’s been the performances of several of their prospects. Earlier this week, a pair of the Flames’ 2025 NHL Draft selections received weekly awards from their collegiate hockey conferences.
Here’s what honours Cullen Potter and Ethan Wyttenbach received this week.
Cullen Potter
Potter, a first-round pick by the Flames in June’s entry draft, was named the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s Forward of the Week.
Here’s an excerpt of what the conference said:
This is the first time this season that Potter has captured conference weekly honours, while fellow Flames 2025 first-round pick Cole Reschny was named player of the week in early November. Now in his sophomore year at Arizona State University, Potter’s rebounded from a slow start – for both him and his team – to find success lately. So far this season he has five goals and nine assists for 14 points through 16 games. He had 22 points over his freshman season, so he’s quietly getting closer to that output already.
Ethan Wyttenbach
Wyttenbach, a fifth-round pick by the Flames in June’s entry draft, was named ECAC Hockey’s Rookie of the Week.
Here’s what the conference said:
A freshman with Quinnipiac University who spent last season with the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede, Wyttenbach is one of the best stories in college hockey so far this season. Wyttenbach has previously been named Rookie of the Week in early October and Rookie of the Month for October as a whole. He’s amassed a very nice body of work, posting eight goals and 14 assists for 22 points through 16 games. He leads all college freshmen in points and assists, and he’s tied for seventh in points overall across all college players.
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When the Calgary Flames moved their primary minor league team from Stockton to Calgary in 2022, they knew there would be some trade-offs.
When the Flames’ American Hockey League affiliate was the Stockton Heat, they were geographically close to several rival teams and so lengthy road trips weren’t really necessary. The California teams could alternate playing a few games at a time away from home and it wasn’t all too onerous.
But with the Flames and Wranglers sharing the same building, far, far away from most of the rest of the AHL, well, some sacrifices had to be made. Among them? In each of the Wranglers first four seasons in existence, they’ve had a long road trip on the books.
In 2022-23, they finished off their inaugural season with a six game trip to Coachella Valley, San Diego and Abbotsford. (They went 4-2-0).
In 2023-24, they had a seven game mid-season trek to Coachella Valley, Bakersfield, San Jose, Coachella Valley again, and Ontario. (They went 2-4-1.)
Last season, they had a seven-gamer seeing them make stops in San Jose, San Diego, Tucson and Manitoba. (They went 4-2-1.)
Currently, they’re in the midst of a mammoth 10-game trip, with Tuesday and Wednesday’s games in Abbotsford serving as their seventh and eighth games of the roadie. They’re in uncharted waters now, and they’ll close out their trip this weekend in Ontario against the Reign. They’re 4-3-1 so far.
Onto the stats!
Andrew Basha – LW/RW, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
20; Calgary’s second round pick (41st overall) in the 2024 NHL Draft; 5’11”, 174 pounds; shoots left; FN’s 8th-ranked prospect 2025
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 17 1 3 4 3 4 3 15 9.38 2024-25 (WHL) 23 9 20 29 24 12 9 73 31.22
Basha suited up once this week, playing on the third line.
Jacob Battaglia – LW/RW, Kingston Frontenacs, OHL
19; Calgary’s second round pick (62nd overall) in the 2024 NHL Draft; 6’1″, 196 pounds; shoots left; FN’s 7th-ranked prospect 2025
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 26 11 7 18 14 12 10 77 18.34 2024-25 (OHL) 68 40 50 90 67 57 45 239 35.06
Good news: Battaglia had an assist this week. Bad news: his offensive output remains lower than it was last season by a decent margin.
Parker Bell – LW/RW, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
22; Calgary’s fifth round pick (155th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft; 6’4″, 192 pounds; shoots left
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 22 0.00 2024-25 (AHL) 61 7 5 12 9 12 9 67 7.84
Bell played twice; he played Tuesday on the fourth line and Wednesday on the first line due to Carter King’s absence. He’s awaiting his first point of the season.
Hunter Brzustewicz – D, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
20; Vancouver’s third round pick (75th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft; Acquired in a trade with Vancouver; 6’0″, 190 pounds; shoots right; FN’s 3rd-ranked prospect 2025
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 22 4 8 12 9 6 5 26 21.74 2024-25 (AHL) 70 5 27 32 19 20 13 75 18.22
Brzustewicz continues to be a fixture on the top pairing for the Wranglers. He had an assist this week.
Nick Cicek – D, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
25; free agent signing; 6’3″, 201 pounds; shoots left
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 22 2 5 7 4 6 3 24 12.68 2024-25 (DEL) 50 3 14 17 10 16 9 75 9.81
Cicek continues to be a fixture on a pairing with Brzustewicz. He didn’t have any points this week.
Lucas Ciona – LW, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
22; Calgary’s sixth round pick (173rd overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft; 6’3″, 210 pounds; shoots left
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 16 1 1 2 2 1 1 14 4.98 2024-25 (AHL) 68 8 14 22 18 17 14 91 12.89
Ciona played twice this week, both times on the fourth line.
Matvei Gridin – RW, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
19; Calgary’s first round pick (28th overall) in the 2024 NHL Draft; 6’1″, 182 pounds; shoots left; FN’s 4th-ranked prospect 2025
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 20 8 13 21 16 15 13 60 41.84 2024-25 (QMJHL) 56 36 43 79 58 40 32 236 32.85
Gridin continues to produce very consistently. He had an assist this week.
Artem Grushnikov – D, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
22; Dallas’ second round pick (48th overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft; Acquired in a trade with Dallas; 6’1″, 203 pounds; shoots left
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 0.00 2024-25 (AHL) 61 1 4 5 3 4 3 43 3.27
Grushnikov is a third pairing fixture for the Wranglers, playing twice with Simon Mack this week. He’s awaiting his first point of the season.
Trevor Hoskin – RW, Merrimack College Warriors, NCAA
21; Calgary’s fourth round pick (106th overall) in the 2024 NHL Draft; 6’1″, 175 pounds; shoots right
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 13 4 10 14 9 7 6 24 34.70 2024-25 (NCAA) 36 12 27 39 29 28 23 80 17.23
Hoskin played once this week and didn’t register any points.
Axel Hurtig – D, Calgary Hitmen, WHL
20; Calgary’s seventh round pick (208th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft; 6’4″, 202 pounds; shoots left
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 21 2 1 3 2 3 2 30 3.54 2024-25 (WHL) 55 5 11 16 12 14 10 66 7.20
Hurtig suited up in three games this week and didn’t register any points.
Eric Jamieson – D, University of Denver Pioneers, NCAA
20; Calgary’s seventh round pick (208th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft; 6’3″, 200 pounds; shoots left
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 15 5 5 10 6 9 6 31 24.00 2024-25 (WHL) 66 14 22 36 26 27 19 175 13.51
Jamieson had an assist this week. He continues producing consistently for the Pioneers.
Rory Kerins – C, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
23; Calgary’s sixth round pick (174th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft; 5’10”, 175 pounds; shoots left; FN’s 15th-ranked prospect 2025
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 19 7 12 19 15 11 9 46 39.85 2024-25 (AHL) 63 33 28 61 52 40 35 135 38.59
Kerins didn’t hit the scoresheet this week.
Carter King – C, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
23; free agent signing; 5’11”, 190 pounds; shoots left
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 19 2 0 2 2 2 2 16 4.19 2024-25 (NCAA) 44 21 22 43 31 16 14 116 35.18
King scored the game-winning goal for the Wranglers on Tuesday night, but was absent from the lineup on Wednesday. We’re assuming it was injury or illness related because his performance wouldn’t dictate a scratch.
Hunter Laing – C/RW, Saskatoon Blades, WHL
19; Calgary’s sixth round pick (170th overall) in the 2024 NHL Draft; 6’5″, 205 pounds; shoots right
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 25 13 13 26 21 14 13 59 25.75 2024-25 (WHL) 64 25 23 48 40 35 29 153 18.57
Laing had three assists over three games this week.
Aidan Lane – LW/RW, Harvard University Crimson, NCAA
18; Calgary’s sixth round pick (176th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft; 6’1″, 192 pounds; shoots right
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 9 3 0 3 3 3 3 25 7.65 2024-25 (OHL) 13 7 6 13 10 10 7 36 26.49
Lane had no points this weekend.
Jakob Leander – D, HV71, U20 Nationell
18; Calgary’s seventh round pick (208th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft; 6’4″, 196 pounds; shoots right
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 20 1 5 6 5 6 5 25 4.92 2024-25 (J20) 39 1 5 6 3 5 3 33 2.52
HV71 was off this week.
Jaden Lipinski – C, University of Maine Black Bears, NCAA
20; Calgary’s fourth round pick (112th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft; 6’4″, 204 pounds; shoots right
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 14 2 5 7 5 7 5 24 16.11 2024-25 (WHL) 59 17 41 58 45 30 27 134 24.34
Maine was off this week.
Cade Littler – C, University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks, NCAA
21; Calgary’s seventh round pick (219th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft; 6’3″, 197 pounds; shoots right
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 12 2 3 5 4 4 3 13 15.00 2024-25 (NCAA) 33 7 2 9 8 9 8 30 9.82
Littler had a goal over the weekend.
Yan Matveiko – C, Krasnaya Armiya Moskva, MHL
19; Calgary’s seventh round pick (211th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft; 6’1″, 150 pounds; shoots left
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 27 12 15 27 16 21 12 42 11.73 2024-25 (MHL) 42 10 14 24 20 21 17 68 6.70
Matveiko had only one game, but he scored a goal in it.
Luke Misa – LW/C, Penn State University Nittany Lions, NCAA
19; Calgary’s fifth round pick (150th overall) in the 2024 NHL Draft; 5’10”, 170 pounds; shoots left; FN’s 13th-ranked prospect 2025
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 16 2 1 3 2 3 2 33 5.12 2024-25 (OHL) 67 34 51 85 58 63 43 211 33.60
Penn State was off this week.
Etienne Morin – D, Calgary Wranglers, AHL/Rapid City Rush, ECHL
20; Calgary’s second round pick (48th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft; 6’0″, 180 pounds; shoots left; FN’s 10th-ranked prospect 2025
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe AHL season to date 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0.00 ECHL season to date 5 1 1 2 1 1 1 12 9.18 2024-25 (QMJHL) 62 14 44 58 29 40 24 222 21.79
Morin was sent down to the ECHL to get some games in. He played three games and registered his first ECHL goal (and a multi-point game, too).
Mace’o Phillips – D, Green Bay Gamblers, USHL
18; Calgary’s third round pick (80th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft; 6’6″, 228 pounds; shoots left
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 17 1 3 4 2 3 2 39 5.54 2024-25 (USHL) 25 2 1 3 3 3 3 31 2.76
Phillips had no points this week.
Jeremie Poirier – D, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
23; Calgary’s third round pick (72nd overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft; 6’1″, 196 pounds; shoots left
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 17 1 3 4 2 3 1 27 9.38 2024-25 (AHL) 71 5 37 42 23 26 15 132 23.57
Poirier didn’t play this week for the Wranglers.
Cullen Potter – C, Arizona State University Sun Devils, NCAA
18; Calgary’s first round pick (32nd overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft; 5’10”, 172 pounds; shoots left; FN’s 5th-ranked prospect 2025
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 16 5 9 14 12 4 3 52 31.50 2024-25 (NCAA) 35 13 9 22 16 17 13 118 22.63
Potter had two goals and two assists over two weekend games. He was named the NCHC’s Forward of the Week.
Cole Reschny – C, University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks, NCAA
18; Calgary’s first round pick (18th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft; 5’11”, 183 pounds; shoots left; FN’s 2nd-ranked prospect 2025
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 14 2 13 15 12 8 7 29 38.57 2024-25 (WHL) 62 26 66 92 70 48 46 213 36.75
Reschny had four assists over two weekend games.
Theo Stockselius – C, Djurgårdens IF, U20 Nationell/SHL
18; Calgary’s second round pick (54th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft; 6’2″, 181 pounds; shoots left; FN’s 12th-ranked prospect 2025
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe U20 season to date 7 1 8 9 6 7 5 23 21.09 SHL season to date 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 2024-25 (J20) 40 22 29 51 38 35 29 93 20.91
Stockselius remains out after suffering a cut from a skate in October.
William Strömgren – LW, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
22; Calgary’s second round pick (45th overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft; 6’3″, 175 pounds; shoots left; FN’s 16th-ranked prospect 2025
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 19 2 13 15 9 9 5 20 31.46 2024-25 (AHL) 70 14 35 49 35 26 20 107 27.90
Stromgren was back in the lineup after missing time due to injury. He picked up an assist and added another one due to a prior week stat correction.
Aydar Suniev – LW, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
20; Calgary’s third round pick (80th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft; 6’2″, 198 pounds; shoots left; FN’s 9th-ranked prospect 2025
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 21 4 1 5 5 1 1 23 9.49 2024-25 (NCAA) 35 20 18 38 31 21 17 119 34.99
Suniev was back in the lineup after missing time due to illness, but didn’t pick up any points.
Ethan Wyttenbach – RW, Quinnipiac University Bobcats, NCAA
18; Calgary’s fifth round pick (144th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft; 5’10”, 180 pounds; shoots right; FN’s 20th-ranked prospect 2025
GP G A P P1 5v5
P5v5
P1SH NHLe Season to date 16 8 14 22 19 11 10 32 31.57 2024-25 (USHL) 44 24 27 51 42 38 30 127 26.61
Wyttenbach had two assists in one game this week. He was named the ECAC’s Rookie of the Week, too, and is currently one of the top college players in the United States… as a true freshman.
Owen Say – G, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
24; free agent signing; 6’2″, 185 pounds
GP TOI SV% Season to date 10 513 .896 2024-25 (NCAA) 27 1531 .920
Say picked up a win in relief after Ivan Prosvetov was injured, then stood on his head in a shootout loss the following evening.
Arsenii Sergeev – G, Rapid City Rush, ECHL
21; Calgary’s seventh round pick (205th overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft; 6’3″, 192 pounds
GP TOI SV% Season to date 9 534 .915 2024-25 (NCAA) 33 1982 .919
Sergeev allowed two goals in a loss and also allowed two goals in a win. He’s going to be leaned on a bit with Connor Murphy up with the Wranglers.
Yegor Yegorov – G, MHK Spartak-MAX, MHL
20; Calgary’s sixth round pick (176th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft; 6’3″, 183 pounds
GP TOI SV% Season to date 14 841 .925 2024-25 (MHL) 20 1032 .904
Yegorov started once this week but lost, as his team didn’t give him much run support.
Kirill Zarubin – G, AKM Tula, MHL
20; Calgary’s third round pick (84th overall) in the 2024 NHL Draft; 6’3″, 178 pounds; FN’s 18th-ranked prospect 2025
GP TOI SV% Season to date 20 1168 .932 2024-25 (MHL) 21 1157 .935
Zarubin started once and won this week. (Look at that save percentage!)
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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!
After a five game road trip, which ended with a thud in Nashville, the Calgary Flames returned home to face the streaking Minnesota Wild, who entered town riding a 12 game point streak. Well, the Flames got good goaltending when they needed it and got some nice offensive performances from several key players.
The Flames handed the Wild their first regulation loss since early November, by way of a 4-1 score.
The rundown
The Flames weren’t all that good in the first period. It didn’t help that they kept taking penalties – four high-sticking minors! – and were on the kill for just under half of the period. Dustin Wolf had to be sharp… and was.
First period shots were 11-6 Wild. Via Natural Stat Trick, 5v5 scoring chances were 8-4 Wild and high-danger scoring chances were 3-2 Wild.
The Flames were all over the Wild in the second period and were rewarded a few minutes in. Rasmus Andersson pinched from the point, skating around the Wild net, coming out the other side and throwing the puck on net. Jonas Gustavsson couldn’t corral the loose rebound and Jonathan Huberdeau back-handed the loose puck into the net to give the Flames a 1-0 lead.
Jonathan Huberdeau scores his first goal in 14 games!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 5, 2025
The Wild didn’t register a shot on net until nearly 14 minutes into the second period. But they were busy after that point, eventually tying the game.
John Beecher lost a skate blade blocking a point shot from Zach Bogosian, which gave the Wild extra room to operate. After a few passes, a Bogosian shot careened off Yakov Trenin and Adam Klapka (and maybe Jake Bean) and into the Flames net to tie the game at 1-1.
Minnesota ties the game.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 5, 2025
Second period shots were 15-7 Flames. 5v5 scoring chances were 16-11 Flames and high-danger scoring chances were 7-6 Flames.
The Flames retook the lead in the third period.
Morgan Frost gained the offensive zone and floated a pass across to a streaking Matt Coronato, who received the puck and fired a wrister past Gustavsson to give the Flames a 2-1 lead.
Matt Coronato scores a beauty to put the Flames up by one!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 5, 2025
A little later, the Flames got some insurance. Connor Zary received a pass from Blake Coleman, then deked out Gustavsson and tucked it into the Minnesota net to go up 3-1.
The Flames score back to back beauties! This time it's Connor Zary!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 5, 2025
The Wild pulled Gustavsson for the extra attacker. But it was to no avail, and Andersson added a long empty-netter to give the Flames a 4-1 win.
Third period shots were 9-9.
Why the Flames won
The Flames were held in this game by their goaltender in the first period. But give them credit: they were the better team in the final two periods and did a lot to out-hustle and out-work the Wild. And some of their skill players made skill plays at key times, which was enough to give them two points.
Red Warrior
If Dustin Wolf is replaced by a lesser goalie in the first period, this is a much different game. He was the difference for the home side, easily.
Honourable mentions to Rasmus Andersson and Matt Coronato, who each had multi-point outings.
Turning point
The game was up for grabs in the early part of the third period. Coronato and Zary made a pair of good offensive plays to grab hold of this contest.
This and that
The Flames wore their black alternate (“Blasty”) jerseys for the first time this season. They’re slated to don their black threads six times in 2025-26.
Jonathan Huberdeau’s second period goal was his first since Nov. 2.
After Burner
Join Dean “Boomer” Molberg and Cami Kepke right after the game for After Burner!
Up next
The Flames (10-15-4) are back in action on Saturday evening, in the early Hockey Night in Canada slot, when they host the Utah Mammoth.
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The Minnesota Wild and their hot streak went cold as the Calgary Flames impressed on the way to a 4-1 victory.
CF% – 58.69%|| SCF% – 56.8%|| HDCF% – 50.23%|| xGF% – 54.22%
It’s a Team Game – Calgary got nothing but better as the game went on. I felt the first period was largely owned by the Wild. Hey, six minutes on the power play should do that for any team. Dustin Wolf had to be sharp early, something he struggled with in his last outing. The thing is, he was also sharp late. Without Wolf I genuinely do not know where this game goes. The Flames continue to be able to play any team competitively and showcase that when the goaltending on the other side isn’t at its best they can capitalize a fair amount. Huberdeau breaking his slump, Coronato with another, and Zary with a zinger is something we hope to see more often. If that were a regular occurrence they wouldn’t be where they are currently at in the standings, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
Corsi King – Matt Coronato (78.74 per cent) led the way for the team. That line with him, Frost (74.36 per cent), and Huberdeau (63.73 per cent) played a really solid game. Frost has started to really come into his own, if the wingers can find a way to expand on that – or he could figure that out – Frost could find himself with a career year. Keeping his current two linemates as they are would even amplify his total production – thankfully for him the Flames do not have any centres coming for his job, or anybody’s, this year.
Under Pressure –
Taken By Chance – Rasmus Andersson (48.72 SCF% // 56.38 HDCF%) was flying out there. His play around the back of the net prior to Huberdeau’s (59.73 per cent // 77.83 per cent) first goal was awesome. He is still high on everyone’s trade bait lists, but that doesn’t change the fact he’s been crucial for them and their successes this year. He should be getting a haul of assets for how he’s played. Worth noting that despite their being lots of chances for the Flames, the fourth line did fail to generate any high danger chances.
xG Breakdown –
xGF% – Connor Zary (43.59 per cent) is tasked with some heavy shutdown minutes playing next to the captain. Being able to generate the chances he earned – against that level of competition – is no small feat. Zary continues to use that slump busting goal to drive himself forward and stay relevant as a consistent producer. Joel Hanley (83.25 per cent) led the way for the defence group. He played a nice simple game and didn’t try and stretch himself too thin.
Game Flow –
Game Score –
Shot Heatmap –
In The Crease – Ladies and gentleman the Calgary Flames starting goaltender with a scorpion-like save tonight. It certainly wasn’t too similar to the one the iconic Miikka Kiprusoff made, but it was still nice to look at. Wolf was on his toes early and then locked in like we all know he’s capable of. He shut the door no a talented Wild squad more than he maybe should have.
Dustin Wolf makes an incredible save! He has been amazing tonight!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 5, 2025
The Goals –
Jonathan Huberdeau scores his first goal in 14 games!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 5, 2025
Matt Coronato scores a beauty to put the Flames up by one!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 5, 2025
The Flames score back to back beauties! This time it's Connor Zary!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 5, 2025
Rasmus Andersson puts this one away with an empty netter!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 5, 2025
Flash’s 3 Stars –
1) Matt Coronato
2) Dustin Wolf
3) Rasmus Andersso
(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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Calgary Flames fans hoping to see the organization’s top prospect in action at the upcoming 2026 World Junior Championship tournament got some good news on Friday morning. Flames blueliner Zayne Parekh, currently on the injury reserve list, participated in Friday’s optional practice – albeit wearing a yellow non-contact jersey.
Parekh was injured on a collision with Chicago Blackhawks forward Nick Foligno way back on Nov. 7, and has since been on the IR and dubbed “week to week” by the hockey club. He’s been skating on his own since around Nov. 22 as he works his way back from an upper body injury. He’s been on the IR long enough that he’s eligible to return whenever he’s cleared by the Flames medical staff.
As originally reported by Sportsnet’s Eric Francis and subsequently confirmed by Flames general manager Craig Conroy, the Flames plan on loaning Parekh to the Canadian national junior team for this year’s World Juniors. Canada’s training camp begins Dec. 15 in Niagara Falls, with the final roster announcement slated for Dec. 20 and the tournament running Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The 19-year-old Parekh was a first-round pick by the Flames, ninth overall, in the 2024 NHL Draft. He entered this season with a ton of momentum, becoming the first Ontario Hockey League defender to post 100 points (or more) since Ryan Ellis in 2010-11 and becoming the first Ontario junior defender to post consecutive 30-goal seasons since Bobby Orr did so back when the OHL was called the Ontario Hockey Association. He was a late add to Canada’s World Junior camp in 2024 as an injury replacement, but was not named to the 2025 national junior roster.
Parekh’s a superb offensive hockey player who has nothing left to accomplish at the OHL level. But due to his age, and the CHL-NHL Transfer Agreement, he’s only eligible to play in the NHL or OHL this season, and so the Flames have been giving him every chance to learn the pro game in the NHL – a very difficult place to learn it. The results have been mixed, with Parekh showing flashes of brilliance, but also moments of frustration.
The hope is that he can have a successful World Juniors experience and rejoin the Flames for the stretch drive with some swagger to his game.
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The Calgary Wranglers are in the final stretch of their 10 game road trip with their last two games in Ontario, CA this weekend against the Reign. The Wranglers picked up three of a possible four points earlier this week against the Abbotsford Canucks with a comeback win on Tuesday and a shootout loss on Wednesday. There are four more points on the table this weekend as they look to build off some of the successes they had earlier this week.
Last game’s lines
Calgary
Parker Bell – Rory Kerins – Matvei Gridin
William Stromgren – Justin Kirkland – Martin Frk
Aydar Suniev – Clark Bishop – Andrew Basha
Alex Gallant – David Silye – Lucas Ciona
Nick Cicek – Hunter Brzustewicz
Turner Ottenbreit – Daniil Miromanov
Simon Mack – Artem Grushnikov
Owen Say
Connor Murphy
Ontario
Taylor Ward – Akil Thomas (inactive) – Martin Chromiak
Aatu Jamsen – Glenn Gawdin – Cole Guttman
Andre Lee – Kenny Connors – Jared Wright
Jack Hughes – Francesco Pinelli – Logan Brown
Joe Hicketts – Jakub Dvorak
Angus Booth – Kyle Burroughs
Kirill Kirsanov – Samuel Bolduc
Phoenix Copley
Isaiah Saville
Leaders
Calgary
Martin Frk – 22GP, 10G, 12A
Matvei Gridin – 20GP, 8G, 13A
Rory Kerins – 19GP, 7G, 12A
Ontario
Martin Chromiak – 19GP, 6G, 8A
Andre Lee – 19GP, 6G, 8A
Nikita Alexandria – 18GP, 3G, 11A
Notes and expectations
Based off the events of earlier this week, Ivan Prosvetov will likely miss this series as he deals with a lower body injury. Owen Say had a good game in Abbotsford on Wednesday and will likely start the front half of this back to back. Depending on how game one goes, it’ll probably be Connor Murphy making his Wranglers season debut on Sunday.
Someone to keep an eye out for this weekend is Sam Morton. He missed Wednesday’s game for unknown reasons and with Calgary playing on Thursday and no transaction announcements, it doesn’t appear to be call up related. His play wouldn’t justify a healthy scratch so hopefully, we see him return soon. Carter King was also a late lineup change last game as he was written in on the top line after scoring the game winner on Tuesday. Then, by the time puck drop came, Alex Gallant was in the game and Parker Bell was up on the top line with no sign of Carter King on the ice or bench. Hopefully, these misses were a minor reason, such as a flu going around the team.
Someone who has been coming into his own is Justin Kirkland. Kirkland has six points in eight games with the Wranglers and has been a steady source of production and energy centring the second line. He scored in both games earlier this week and scored the only Wranglers shootout goal on Wednesday. He’s found some great chemistry with William Stromgren and Martin Frk and their combined production is showing its dividends.
This series gets going on Saturday with a start time of 7:00 p.m. MT and continues into Sunday for a 4:00 p.m. MT start. Streaming options are available for a fee on Flo Hockey and FlamesNation contributors Ryan Pike and I will have updates on X (formerly Twitter).
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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 hosted the Utah Mammoth on Saturday night in the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Mammoth were playing their second game in as many nights, but arguably were the more energetic outfit in this outing. The Flames managed to score early and then turn the game into a bit of a slog, grinding out a 2-0 home ice victory over Utah.
The rundown
The Flames hit paydirt early. Like, on their first shift. The Flames rushed into the offensive zone. Nazem Kadri went for a wrap-around and Yegor Sharangovich jammed in the rebound to give the Flames a 1-0 lead.
Yegor Sharangovich opens the scoring 16 seconds into the game!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 7, 2025
After that, well, it was a pretty dull opening frame. The Flames were pretty solid with their pace and possession in the first 5-7 minutes of the period, but then Utah found their rhythm and started to take things over.
Dustin Wolf had to make a lot of good saves on Utah chances, several of which came off of odd turnovers by the Flames.
Dustin Wolf makes a couple incredible saves!
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 7, 2025
First period shots were 10-8 Mammoth. Via Natural Stat Trick, 5v5 scoring chances were 11-7 Mammoth and high-danger scoring chances were 8-3 Mammoth.
Utah carried the pace of play for much of the second period.
However, the Flames may’ve gotten the best chance of the period when Rasmus Andersson made a nice deflection in the slot off a pass from Jonathan Huberdeau. It hit the crossbar and stayed out.
The Flames come close to going up by two but the puck hits the cross bar.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 7, 2025
Late in the period, Wolf made a superb stop on Liam O’Brien.
Dustin Wolf shows off his athleticism on this save. This guy is unreal.
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 7, 2025
Second period shots were 9-6 Mammoth. 5v5 scoring chances were 10-7 Flames and high-danger scoring chances were 5-3 Flames.
The Mammoth pushed for an equalizer throughout the period, but the Flames defended pretty well and Wolf remained sharp.
With Utah’s netminder on the bench for an extra attacker, Connor Zary added an empty-netter (after a big shot block by Rasmus Andersson) to give the Flames a 2-0 lead. They held on for the victory.
Third period shots were 9-8 Flames.
Why the Flames won
The Flames weren’t all that good in this game. They weren’t all that bad either. They were fine, but that’s a step back from how strong they looked in all three zones against Minnesota. They were playing their system perfectly well, but they seemed to struggle with the pace of Utah’s forecheck and their puck management – especially in their own zone – was a bit shaky at times considering the standard they’ve set for it.
Their goaltender covered up a lot of flaws in their game.
Red Warrior
Dustin Wolf. He was superb in all three periods and was a consistent difference-maker when his club needed one.
Turning point
The Flames scored early, so we guess technically the game was decided 16 seconds in. But we could point to any number of Dustin Wolf saves after they got that first goal.
We’ll also point to a third period where the Flames did a very nice job bottling things up and making Utah work for any territory they gained.
This and that
Ryan Lomberg fought Liam O’Brien in the second period.
Ryan Lomberg and Liam O'Brien drop the gloves
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) December 7, 2025
This was the first-ever win for the Flames over the Utah Mammoth franchise, dating back to last season when they were the Utah Hockey Club.
After Burner
Join Mike Gould and Kent Wilson right after the game for After Burner!
Up next
The Flames (11-15-4) are back in action on Monday night when they host the Buffalo Sabres.
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When the Calgary Flames began their 2025-26 season, their defensive group was a work in progress.
The Flames had a well-defined shutdown pair, with Kevin Bahl paired with Rasmus Andersson in a continuation of their existing unit from 2024-25. And beyond that duo, they had a pretty steady churn over the first 14 games of the season.
In particular, MacKenzie Weegar, arguably the Flames’ top blueliner in 2024-25, bounced from pairing to pairing, spending games with Joel Hanley, Daniil Miromanov and Jake Bean over the first 14 games. The constant mixing and matching of Weegar with other defenders meant that the third pairing had similar churn. (And we don’t need to get into what that churn may have meant when it came to giving Zayne Parekh a consistent role as he moved into the NHL from junior hockey.)
On Nov. 4, the Flames brought up Yan Kuznetsov from the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers. After spending his first three games with Brayden Pachal and Andersson, he was paired with Weegar on Nov. 11. Since then, the Flames have had their first two defensive pairings basically set in stone, with Hanley, Bean and Pachal rotating on the third pairing.
Since Kuznetsov joined Weegar, the Flames are 7-4-2.
Kuznetsov’s steady play has had two big impacts on the Flames.
One is pretty simple: the penalty kill has been a lot more effective with him as part of that rotation. During his tenure with the Wranglers, Kuznetsov was leaned on heavily in defensive situations and on the penalty kill. Prior to his promotion to the NHL, the Flames killed off 77.4% of opposition power plays. Since then, they’re operating at 91.1%. Moreover, every major defensive metric on the penalty kill – expected goals against, scoring chances against and high-danger chances against – has improved.
Now, it’s not just Kuznetsov’s presence on the PK that has turned it around. He was joining a group that had 14 games to wrap their heads around Trent Cull’s systems tweaks. Similarly, Cull had spent ample time with Kuznetsov with the Wranglers, so he knew a lot about his tendencies and habits. All of those factors have likely contributed to the Flames being a very stingy bunch on the PK with Kuznetsov on special teams.
The other one comes from how Kuznetsov has been used impacts everyone else’s ice time. Simply put: the Flames have a top four now. It’s well-defined, with all four defenders having clear roles and averaging north of 20 minutes per night:
- Andersson and Weegar anchor the two power play units.
- Bahl, Kuznetsov, Andersson and Weegar all work the penalty kill.
This leaves the third pairing as the “bump-up” pairing after special teams shifts, which allows the Flames to transition back to rotating their regular even strength units when special teams time is over and maintaining their in-game rhythm.
(Since Kuznetsov’s arrival, Weegar is playing about 1:30 less per game and Andersson is playing 0:33 more, with about 1:10 per game shifting from penalty kill work to even strength shifts for Andersson, with Andersson’s increase in ice time being entirely more power play time.)
Following the Flames’ 2-0 win over Utah on Saturday, Flames head coach Ryan Huska discussed Kuznetsov’s performance since joining the Flames from the AHL:
The Flames are back in action on Monday when they host the Buffalo Sabres.
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