The Calgary Flames have spent the past few seasons trying to dig out of a power-play rut, and early this year there are at least signs of progress.
Through eight games, Calgary is clicking at 21.1 percent with the extra skater, a clear jump from last season’s league-worst 16.2 percent. That turnaround has come as the organization continues its rebuild and keeps moving veteran talent and power-play producers out the door toward playoff teams.
Head coach Ryan Huska has made the issue a clear priority heading into the 2026-27 season, and he isn’t hiding what he wants from his group.
“We wanna score more this year, which is our expectation. This is gonna have to be priority for us, There’s gotta be someone there and I don’t care if it’s Matty Coronato or if it’s Zar (Connor Zary) or if it’s Klapper (Adam Klapka), it doesn’t matter.
We need to have presence at the front of the net.” - Ryan Huska
So far, the Flames have leaned on Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, Matvei Gridin, Matt Coronato and Zayne Parekh to drive that unit. One of the night’s cleaner looks came Sunday in Calgary’s 3-2 win over the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, and Parekh was the one who helped finish it off.
“Yeah. Um, you know, I thought we moved it around really well on that power play, too. Um, but Joel just made a really nice play to me, and two guys slid, and I saw Morgan back door and, um, you know, luckily got it through.
I think we’re just happy to score on the power play. Well, I think last year, you know, um, I don’t know what we ran at, but it wasn’t great.
And, um, you know, we came in this year with the mindset of we want to be better on the power play and be difference-makers. So, you know, it’s nice to see one go in” - Zayne Parekh
Huska liked what he saw from the group, especially because the Flames know how much they need those goals in tighter games.
“We need the power play to score. We’re a team that doesn’t find the back of the net all that easily.
Right now, we’re getting some chances and we’re getting some looks, but when your power play is dangerous, like I felt like it was on that occasion in particular-and this year they’ve made some nice plays on it-they are the guys that we expect to be the difference-makers for us in close games, and they were that tonight.” - Ryan Huska
Calgary’s next chance to build on that momentum comes Thursday, when the Minnesota Wild visit the Saddledome.
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