'A Lot To Like'

By now, we’ve all seen the overtime winner.

Connor Zary put his stamp on Wednesday’s thrilling victory in Vancouver, dancing his way to the front of the net to complete an incredible comeback.

But on a night where the Flames played most of the game short a forward, and trailing on the scoreboard, the trio of Zary, Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman quietly dominated, and helped spur on a Calgary rally.

According to Natural Stat Trick, the trio was on the ice for 85.87% of expected goals for at 5-on-5 Wednesday. And of the eight shot attempts the Flames surrendered when Zary, Backlund and Coleman were on the ice, six were blocked.

Individually, Zary held a team-best 62.5% Corsi rating over his 18:09 of ice-time, with that overtime winner acting as the cherry on top.

Seems good.

Coleman and Backlund have well-established chemistry.

And so far, Zary seems like the perfect addition to their line.

“He’s great, he’s a good player,” Coleman said. “He’s skilled, he controls the play, when he’s got the puck on his stick, he can do a lot of good things with it.”

With the amount of shuffling that’s taken place over the course of the season, the trio has really only had two games together to figure things out against live opposition.

But according to head coach Ryan Huska, Zary’s individual skill set should help create opportunities for his two veteran linemates including Coleman, who set a career best with 30 goals in 2023-24.

“The one thing that separates Connor from a lot of players is his ability with the puck, so the puck possession game, we feel, is the strength that he has,” said Huska. “I think when he has the puck, he controls it really well, and it allows Mikael and Blake to do the hard things that they always do, so whether that’s going to the net, creating a little bit of space, and if Connor gets the puck, he’s got the ability to make plays, as long as his feet are moving.

“Hopefully that line can continue to build a little bit of chemistry, like we’ve seen.”

Last season, Coleman and Backlund were partnered up with Andrew Mangiapane for a good chunk of the campaign.

But with Mangiapane gone - traded to Washington in June - the Coleman/Backlund duo needed a new running mate.

Enter Zary.

And enter some different possibilities for the line.

“(He’s) similar in a lot of ways, but different as well,” Coleman said. “Mang is more of a fore-checker, a little more similar to my game, where it’s kinda more simple, just hard on pucks, get up the ice and go. Zar’s a little bit more controlled, has some good puck skills, and can really create space.

“Historically, I’ve played well with guys that can hold onto pucks and put me into areas, I find that I’m pretty good about getting open and finding holes in teams.”

After one regular season game, it’s so far, so good.

“I think he’s going to be a really good fit,” he said.

“We’ll continue to build chemistry, but there’s a lot to like.”