The Calgary Flames left Seattle with a shootout loss, but the story of Thursday night at Climate Pledge Arena was less about the final score than the way a mostly AHL-heavy group stood up to a more NHL-seasoned Kraken lineup.
After a 4-2 home loss to Seattle on Sunday in a similarly lopsided roster matchup, the Flames brought many of the same players into a much tougher test and made it a fight. Calgary pushed early, played with pace, and kept answering when the Kraken came on. In the end, though, Seattle got the 4-3 win after overtime and a shootout.
The Flames struck first in the opening period. Dryden Hunt forced a turnover behind the net with his forecheck, Brennan Othmann slipped the puck to Jonathan Castagna at the side of the crease, and Castagna finished the tap-in for a 1-0 Calgary lead.
Seattle pulled even before the period ended, working the puck up the ice in transition and finding Jordan Eberle in the slot. With three Flames converging on him, Eberle still managed to slide the puck to Bobby McMann alone near the slot, and McMann beat Devin Cooley glove-side to make it 1-1.
Calgary went back ahead early in the second on a sharp sequence below the goal line. Alex Nylander and William Stromgren won the puck battle behind the Seattle net, Rory Kerins found space near the face-off dot, and Nylander fed him for a shot that beat Philipp Grubauer and made it 2-1.
Then the game turned into a scrap-heavy mess.
Brayden Pachal went off for a minor, and on the Seattle power play Chase Harrington delivered a big hit on Mackie Samoskevich that sent the Kraken player to the ice. That set off a scrum, though Seattle was the only team penalized on the play. Later, on the resulting four-on-four stretch, Sam Morton hit Chandler Stephenson in the neutral zone, and that collision - messy as it looked, with Morton losing his footing as he threw the hit - sparked another scrum after the whistle.
Calgary then cashed in on the power play. Aydar Suniev ripped a shot past Grubauer to push the Flames ahead 3-1.
The physical edge only sharpened from there. Othmann, who had been tossed Sunday for an elbow on Seattle’s Ville Ottavainen, got into it again when Ottavainen jumped him after a forecheck hit in the second period. The altercation ended with both Ottavainen and Curtis Douglas ejected for Seattle.
Seattle started clawing back in the third. The Kraken had already had a goal late in the second period wiped out on a coach’s challenge for off-side, but early in the final frame Brandon Montour snuck down from the point as the trailer on a rush and beat Cooley glove-side to cut the lead to 3-2.
A few minutes later, Ryker Evans tied it. He came down from the point, cut toward the net front and beat Cooley from a sharp angle high short-side to make it 3-3.
Neither team scored again in regulation, and Calgary nearly ended it in overtime, but the would-be winner was waved off. The game moved to a shootout, where Matty Beniers and Berkly Catton scored for Seattle. Suniev converted for Calgary, but it wasn’t enough, and the Kraken took the win.
For the Flames, the encouraging part was the pushback. This group didn’t fold, even when the game got chippy and Seattle leaned on its experience. Calgary skated, competed and defended with enough structure to make life difficult, and when the Kraken pressed late, the Flames’ young players kept hanging in.
Among the Calgary standouts were Aydar Suniev, Brennan Othmann, Jonathan Castagna, Dryden Hunt, Chase Harrington and Hunter Brzustewicz.
Calgary’s lineup featured William Stromgren, Ben Jones and Aydar Suniev up front; Alex Nylander, Sam Morton and Rory Kerins; Dryden Hunt, Jonathan Castagna and Brennan Othmann; and Chase Harrington, Tyson Gross and Andrew Basha. On defense, the pairs were Joel Hanley with Hunter Brzustewicz, Jake Livingstone with Brayden Pachal, and Andreas Englund with Mike Benning. Devin Cooley started and went the distance, with Arsenii Sergeev backing him up.
Seattle’s group included Jared McCann, Matty Beniers and Mackie Samoskevich; Bobby McMann, Chandler Stephenson and Jordan Eberle; Kaapo Kakko, Berkly Catton and Shane Wright; and Curtis Douglas, Oscar Fisker Molgaard and Ben Meyers. On the blue line were Vince Dunn with Adam Larsson, Ryker Evans with Brandon Montour, and Josh Mahura with Ville Ottavainen. Philipp Grubauer started and played the full game, with Nikke Kokko as the backup.
The Flames are expected to make cuts and waiver moves on Friday before closing out the exhibition schedule Saturday night against Edmonton.
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