Home ice has started to feel right for the Flames.
Calgary has won two straight at the Scotiabank Saddledome and will try for a fourth win in five games Saturday when the Red Wings come to town, becoming the first Original 6 team to play its final regular-season game under the Saddle.
Thursday’s 2-1 win over the Wild pushed the Flames to 2-0-0 on their current four-game homestand, but the bigger takeaway for head coach Ryan Huska was the way his team is starting to trust what it’s doing shift by shift.
“We’re getting there,” the bench boss said following Thursday’s victory. “In a perfect world, in the third period we stay with it instead of being like ‘We don’t want to lose this game.’ Let’s continue to do what we’re doing and win the game, that’s the mentality that we have to get to.
“I think the players are understanding what they have to do night in, night out now.”
That growth has been noticeable beyond the results, and it’s been matched by the rise of a pair of rookies who began the NHL season with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers.
Aydar Suniev has settled in since his recall and, in only six games, is tied for the team lead in goals. He’s finding the space he needs to unload his rocket of a snap shot from dangerous areas in the offensive zone.
Jonathan Castagna has already made an impression too, picking up an assist in his NHL debut, but Thursday’s game against Minnesota may have been his sharpest performance yet. He played a career-high 18:28, including 3:11 on the penalty kill as Calgary went 4-for-4, and for the second straight night he was trusted in the middle of the action when the Flames were trying to lock down a one-goal lead.
With captain Mikael Backlund out Thursday because of an upper-body injury, some of those minutes would normally have gone to him. Instead, Castagna handled the load while also doing the dirty work on Calgary’s revamped fourth line, and he came through that late-game test with flying colours.
The Flames’ special teams have also started to click. Calgary went 2-for-4 on the power play against Minnesota, with both units scoring for the second straight game. Huska said the difference has been cleaner puck movement.
“They’re getting in the zone clean, but I think it’s their puck movement overall,” Huska said Thursday evening when asked what has fueled the recent success. “We’ve had a few penalty kills that have been very aggressive over the last little while, and in order to beat an aggressive penalty kill, you have to move the puck typically three clean passes, in order to break them down.
“I think that started around the Anaheim (home-and-home), where they started to move it much quicker and as a result, they’re starting to score now.”
Only a small group skated at Friday morning’s optional practice at the Saddledome, so Calgary didn’t get any extra work in on its power-play units ahead of Saturday’s matchup.
For more on Castagna and the team, check out the second episode of The Chase that dropped last night.
In Other News...
Wild Suddenly Looked Dangerous Again After Flames Sent Them Reeling
Minnesota had started to look like a team finding its footing again after a rough stretch, and it helped that the Wild handled back-to-back tests against Seattle and Vancouver with the kind of balanced effort that can change a room fast. Jesper Wallstedt and Calvin Pickard split the crease in the two games, and the offense came from a mix of familiar names and depth pieces, with Quinn Hughes playing a central role and a few bottom-six contributors adding timely goals.
The depth scoring mattered almost as much as the results, because it hinted at a lineup that can hurt teams in more than one way when the chances are there. Blake Coleman, Maxim Shabanov and Bobby Brink were among the players who chipped in during the two-game stretch, and for Calgary, the bigger takeaway is clear enough: a Wild team that had been waiting to wake up suddenly looked dangerous again. [Read more 🡒]
Flames Are Building Something Toronto Is About To Test
The Flames have spent this homestand looking more connected, more disciplined and a little harder to play against, and now they get a bigger measuring stick with the Toronto Maple Leafs coming to town. Calgary is trying to finish off a four-game home winning streak, and the 4-1 win over Detroit offered a useful snapshot of what has been working: contributions from throughout the lineup, an assist from Adam Klapka and steady goaltending from Devin Cooley.
Ryan Huska has made the same point after recent games, stressing how much the group has benefited from balanced ice time and a commitment to the defensive details. Calgary has also done a good job of taking away space from top opposing talent, which is exactly the sort of habit that gets tested when Toronto rolls in with its usual firepower and speed. [Read more 🡒]
Flames Fans Loved One Classy Gesture After A Game-Night Mishap
A small game-night mishap turned into one of those moments fans end up talking about long after the final horn. During a Calgary Flames game, a spectator had a beer spilled in the warmups, and the incident could have easily faded into the background as just another rinkside inconvenience.
Instead, the response drew plenty of attention on social media when the Wild forward involved made an effort to make things right. The gesture came off as simple and classy, the kind of unscripted arena moment that tends to resonate with Flames fans even when the player in question is wearing the other sweater. [Read more 🡒]