SEA-ing Is Believing

Most of the veterans stayed back in Calgary.

But the Flames youngsters delivered - in style - by scoring a 6-1 victory in Seattle to open the pre-season.

Matt Coronato led the way with a goal and two assists, Adam Klapka tallied twice, while Clark Bishop, Jeremie Poirier and Martin Frk chipped in with singles.

Talk about a hot start.

Less than two minutes in, Calgary struck first. Bishop won a face-off clean to the right of Seattle netminder Philipp Grubauer. A Jake Bean point shot caromed to Bishop, who jammed his way to the front of the net before pushing the rebound effort home via the backhand.

Coronato extended the lead five minutes later, back-handing home an effort of his own after linemate Dryden Hunt batted a puck in mid-air across the Kraken crease.

Klapka was the benefactor on the Flames’ third goal at 11:47, tapping in a back-door play to finish off a splendid rush. Sam Honzek darted down the right side, stopped at the half-wall before firing the puck across to Bishop, who then in turn found Klapka’s tape at Grubauer’s left post.

Dustin Wolf stopped all 13 shots that came his way in the opening frame, his toughest save off a Shane Wright chance from in-tight.

The offensive chances kept coming in period two.

Parekh wired a puck off the post after accepting a pass in the Seattle slot with about nine minutes left in the stanza.

But just over a minute later, Calgary cashed in, thanks to a moment of pure beauty from Coronato.

Stationed on the left half-wall, the Flames forward floated a back-hand saucer pass across the Kraken zone onto the waiting tape of Poirier, who pinched down from the right point, accepted the puck and hammered a one-timer past Grubauer.

At the other end, Wolf stayed steady, turning aside 13 shots while fending his way in a crease that, at times, featured the type of traffic that would make the average I-5 commuter groan with empathy.

Seattle made a goaltending change to start the third period, and new netminder Ales Stezka was immediately tested, as Cole Schwindt wired a puck off the iron from the left wing in the opening minutes of the period.

After Kraken forward Nathan Villeneuve got the home side on the board, Calgary’s offence went back to work.

Honzek set up Klapka’s second marker of the night just before the midway mark, driving hard to the net from the right side, creating a rebound opportunity for the waiting Klapka to pop over Stezka’s left pad.

Frk stretched the lead two minutes after Klapka on a rush that stretched the ice.

Brzustewicz out-letted the disc from blue line to blue line to a waiting Coronato, who from the top of the left circle hit a waiting Frk, who then rifled a shot past the Kraken keeper to round out the scoring.

In addition to Coronato and Klapka, Honzek, Bishop, Brzustewicz and Poirier enjoyed multi-point nights.

Wolf made 33 saves, including a toe save in the dying moments to preserve the final score.

Calgary finished 0-3 on the powerplay, while killing six Seattle man-advantage opportunities at the other end of the rink.

Bean led all Flames with 21:50 of ice-time, while Brzustewicz and Brayden Pachal also surpassed the 20-minute mark.

Pachal, Artem Grushnikov and Hunt finished the contest with eight hits apiece, as Calgary outhit Seattle 54-27.

The Lineup:

Forwards

Jakob Pelletier - Kevin Rooney - Dryden Hunt

Matt Coronato - Cole Schwindt - Martin Frk

Sam Honzek - Clark Bishop - Adam Klapka

William Stromgren - Sam Morton - Matvei Gridin

Defence

Jake Bean - Brayden Pachal

Artem Grushnikov - Zayne Parekh

Jeremie Poirier - Hunter Brzustewicz

Goaltenders

Dustin Wolf (starter)

Connor Murphy

They Said It:

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 27, SEA 34

Powerplay: CGY 0-3, SEA 0-6

Faceoffs: CGY 57.1%, SEA 42.9%

Blocked Shots: CGY 15, SEA 15

Hits: CGY 54, SEA 27

Takeaways: CGY 8, SEA 10

5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 25, SEA 24

5-on-5 High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 11, SEA 9

Up Next:

The Flames and Oilers take part in a split-squad set Monday, with one game taking place at the Scotiabank Saddledome at 7 P.M. MT (TICKETS), the other at Rogers Place in Edmonton.