5 Things - Flames @ Kraken

1. SEA-TAC(TICS)

To expect the players to leap from their dressing-room stalls and celebrate what, ultimately, amounts to a moral victory is a fool’s errand.

Silver-linings and six-game slides, after all, pair about as well as oil and water.

Often, though, teams tend to play better as they near the end of a tough streak – and if Wednesday’s one-goal defeat to the visiting Dallas Stars is any indication, the Flames enter tonight’s clash in the Pacific Northwest with something to build off.

“Everyone knows that this is a results business and we aren't finding them yet,” Head Coach Ryan Huska said following Friday’s practice. “But by kicking stones and walking around with your head down, it's not going to get you anywhere.

“You've got to keep getting up in the morning and making sure it's your very best day with your effort and the way we want to play. You show the guys a lot of the things that they do well … Now, we've got to do it for 60 minutes (because) the low in there that sometimes shows up in our game hurts us.

“We have to make sure that we're committed to staying with it. And then it’s amazing how quick things turn.

“I feel like it's close."

While that’s not to suggest it was a ‘perfect’ game by any stretch of the imagination, outshooting the Stars 22-5 and keeping the pedal down with a full-court press late in a one-goal game showed the kind of moxie the Flames will need to play with on a regular basis.

That was the template.

And in the process, the Flames landed on some line combinations that showed real signs of chemistry.

Making his long-awaited NHL debut, 2020 first-round pick Connor Zary scored his first-career goal (and came within an eyelash of another), had six shots, and gave a shot in the arm to linemates Nazem Kadri and Yegor Sharangovich.

Much like the team looking for a repeat performance of that dominant third period, the question on the mind of Flames fans everywhere is:

What does the young lad have for an encore?

“Now, the challenge is for him to do it again,” said Huska, who praised the Saskatoon native’s impeccable first showing. “You want to find some consistency in those guys and if Connor can continue to develop that way, that's a great thing.

“You look at him … He's been with the Wranglers for a couple years and he's played pro now for two-plus years, and there's a big difference (between that and a first-year pro). He came up and was in the right mindset and was ready for his opportunity – and as I said, now the challenge is for him to keep pushing.”

2. KNOW YOUR ENEMY

After starting the season with four consecutive losses, the Kraken have roared to life with back-to-back wins and points in four of their last five games (3-1-1) overall.

On Wednesday – the opener to a quick, two-game homestand – they knocked off the Nashville Predators 4-2 thanks to multi-point efforts from Jared McCann (1G, 1A) and Justin Schultz (2A), along with 32 saves from Philipp Grubauer.

McCann now has goals in three straight, while Oliver Bjorkstrand, newcomer Brian Dumoulin and fellow blueliner Vince Dunn helped supply the offence.

“We did what we had to do,” Kraken Head Coach Dave Hakstol told reporters afterward. “These nights (the first game after a long road trip) can be challenging, and we had our struggles finding our legs throughout the first two periods up and down, especially the second period.

“We didn't have a ton of energy, but we turned that around completely in the third.”

Seattle carried the flow of play, outshooting the Preds 11-10, while outchancing them by a 9-3 margin, including 2-1 from the interior.

3. UP, DOWN, AND DEBUT?

On Friday, the Flames announced a number of transactions prior to their flight to Seattle.

Matt Coronato and Jordan Oesterle have been assigned to the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers, while Nick DeSimone and Martin Pospisil have been recalled from the farm squad – with the latter set to make his NHL debut tonight.

The 23-year-old – who was taken in the fourth round, 108th overall, in the 2018 Draft – has six points (3G, 3A) in as many games with the Wranglers this year.

And the reports, according to coach Huska, have been as glowing as that splashy stat line.

“Size, speed, he’s got a bit of an edge to him,” the skipper explained. “When you talk to the guys, (Wranglers Head Coach) Trent (Cull) and the staff, they say he’s been their best player to date.”

High praise.

You can read more on Pospisil’s journey to the big leagues here, courtesy of CalgaryFlames.com colleague Chris Wahl.

As for Coronato …

While the last few games have been tougher for the rookie forward to navigate, some perspective is needed.

The 20-year-old in his first year of pro hockey and after playing in only 34 games last year in Harvard, the sharp-shooter has already played 19 when you factor in the Young Stars Classic, a half-dozen preseason dates, and all 10 to this point with the Flames.

All in about a six-week span.

“All positive,” Huska said of his conversation with Coronato prior to the move. “As (the season) gets going, there's a tendency for it to get a little harder and we're here to work him through that – and part of that is us not wanting to have him just sit and watch a bunch of games. We want him to play. So, whether it's one or three or four games he's down with the Wranglers, the message is to go down, play in all situations, continue to work on the things you need him to work on. But it was a very positive conversation.”

Huska said there is no timeline for how long Coronato will stay with the Wranglers, but that “it's most definitely not the last we've seen of him, I can say that for sure.”

Coronato is already off to a great start with the AHL club, scoring the only goal – a snipe from the slot – a 1-0 win over the San Jose Barracuda on Friday.

“You want to put them in positions to succeed,” Huska said. “That means you have to put them with the right linemates, you have to put them in the right situations on the ice. If you go too much too soon that the player's not ready for it, it's damaging to them. You want to keep them going in the right direction and feeling good about their game, where they're going and where they're headed.

4. ODDS & ENDS

ZARY GOOD STAT:

With his goal on Wednesday, Connor Zary became the first player to score his first NHL goal on his first shot in a Flames sweater since Patrick Sieloff in 2015-16. Before that, Hunter Shinkaruk (2015-16), Johnny Gaudreau (2013-14) and Mark Cundari (2012-13) were the most recent players to achieve that feat. Zary is also the first Flames player to score a goal in his first game when playing on home ice since Ben Hanowski on April 15, 2013 against the Minnesota Wild.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Flames were involved in the Seattle Kraken’s first-ever trade. On July 22, 2021 the Flames acquired forward Tyler Pitlick from Seattle in exchange for a 2022 fourth-round pick.

Calgary is one of only two franchises the Seattle Kraken have made multiple transactions with. The Flames have made two trades with the Kraken in Seattle’s short history, the only other team to make multiple trades with Seattle is Washington.

5. PLAYERS TO WATCH

Flames - MacKenzie Weegar

With his goal and assist on Wednesday, Weegar has now recorded multi-point efforts in back-to-back games. Weegar was coming off a two-assist night in Heritage Classic, and now has six multi-assist games and nine multi-point outings as a member of the Flames. 

Tonight, Weegar is looking to match his longest point streak as a Flame at three games which he set last season from Jan. 23 to Jan. 27.

Kraken - Jordan Eberle

Eberle has gotten off to a quiet start with only a goal and two helpers in the first 11 games this year. But with 20 and 21 goals in each of his two seasons in the Emerald City, the dry spell simply won’t last for much longer.