Browsing: Calgary

Flames takeaways: Calgary stuck in basement after blowout loss in Vegas

Bottom of the league in goals scored and goal differential, the Calgary Flames are now the NHLâ€s last-place team.

They canâ€t score, they canâ€t defend.

Thereâ€s no sugar-coating where this beleaguered bunch sits a mere half-dozen games into the season, losing five in a row to sit 1-5.

And the road ahead doesnâ€t get any easier, facing Winnipeg in two of their next three games.

A 6-1 beating in Vegas on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday added to the frustration of an already-challenging start, especially since the effort of several players was called into question.

Coach Ryan Huska, whose players rarely shortchange him on heart, said half his forwards didnâ€t give the sort of effort expected.

Captain Mikael Backlund agreed the group didnâ€t show near enough fight after an evenly played first period saw the Flames down 3-1.

“The battle has pretty much been there from the boys, but tonight I donâ€t think it was up to our standards,†said Backlund.

The harshest criticism came from HNICâ€s Kevin Bieksa, who blasted Yegor Sharangovich for failing to finish a check on William Karlsson late in the game.

“I would absolutely lose my mind if I saw that on the bench,†said Bieksa.

“Thatâ€s a culture thing for me. I would show that clip in practice and say, ‘where are my guys that care?†Play the guys that care. If youâ€re going to get an effort like that, get rid of him. Youâ€re disgracing the NHL with an effort like that. Be a little mad. Hate to lose. That guy doesnâ€t hate to lose.

“You have so many good young players … you have a young nucleus and you canâ€t have them poisoned by that type of behaviour.â€

More takeaways from (another) nightmare in Vegas:

After missing the first five games of the season due to a pre-season injury, Jonathan Huberdeau returned to the lineup and made an immediate impact with a power-play goal three minutes in. Banging in a rebound on the power-play to tie the game 1-1, it kickstarted an evening in which the teamâ€s best playmaker did well to inject some energy into the top line with Nazem Kadri and Joel Farabee. Â

“You need your best players to be your best players every night and I thought the Kadri, Huberdeau, Farabee line was excellent for us tonight, consistently,†said Huska.

“They had the puck a lot and were dangerous. The challenge becomes, itâ€s everybody. You canâ€t rely on the one group of guys. I donâ€t think we had enough other players that were as engaged as that line.â€

Huberdeau said his club isnâ€t playing as a unit, trying too hard to do things individually.

“Right now itâ€s just too easy against us,†said Huberdeau, whose club allowed Mark Stone and Jack Eichel to pile up four points apiece.

“Weâ€re leaving the best player on the other team wide open. Weâ€ve got to be harder on these guys.â€

Go ahead and try to blame Dustin Wolf on any of the five goals he was beaten on, but youâ€d be wrong to do so.

Still, after being beaten five times on 19 shots, Wolf gave way to Devin Cooley for the third period.

It was a salient move given the rigorous schedule ahead this week, with Winnipeg in town Monday, Montreal visiting Wednesday and a return trip to Winnipeg on Friday.

Cooley was spectacular in his season debut Wednesday in Utah, and was solid again Saturday, victimized only once by a Vegas power play that finished three-for-three on the night. He stopped eight of nine shots.

Having taken note of a high hit Colton Sissons made on Zayne Parekh when these two teams met four nights earlier, Ryan Lomberg took the opportunity to let the Vegas forward know it didnâ€t sit well with the Flames.

Two minutes in, to the surprise of no one, the two decided to settle the score.

Six minutes later, the Golden Knights took exception to a heavy Adam Klapka hit on Zach Whitecloud when Jeremy Lauzon dropped the gloves with the big Flames winger.

“The (Connor) Zary line, with Lomberg and Klapka, I thought gave us a great effort tonight – two good fights from the two guys on that line but we didnâ€t have much from the other two lines tonight,†said Huska.

“Weâ€re in a stretch right now where weâ€re not playing poorly – I thought tonightâ€s game got away from us for sure – but itâ€s the consistency our team has to play with for a full 60 minutes. We need to be more committed and more detailed for a full 60 minutes for more than weâ€ve shown this year.â€

There was good news on the farm, where rookie Matvei Gridin scored his first AHL goal in his first AHL game just 37 seconds into the contest Saturday in Tucson, Ariz. Hunter Brzustewicz also scored his first of the season, although the Wranglers fell 5-4 in OT.

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Marner And Stone Score Twice To Lead Offensive Charge In Golden Knights’ 6-1 Win Over Calgary

Mitch Marner loves to “hear the love and the loudness” inside T-Mobile Arena, his new home arena with the Golden Knights.

Saturday he helped fuel the energy for an announced crowd of 17,811 by scoring his first two goals as a Knight, while Vegas cruised to a 6-1 win over the Calgary Flames.

Vegas (4-0-2) extended its season-opening point streak to six games.

Team captain Mark Stone finished with two goals and two assists, while Jack Eichel had four assists.

Tomas Hertl and Ivan Barbashev also scored for the Knights.

Adin Hill earned his first win of the season after stopping 26 shots, as he made his first start since exiting the game in Calgary on Tuesday.

“I felt in control the whole night,” Hill said. “They kept kind of looking for backdoor plays on the power play. And I was just trying to kind of stay in my net and keep my feet under me and do everything I came to be in position.”

And while the Flames finished 1 of 3 on the power play, Vegas was a perfect 3 of 3 with the man advantage.

The Golden Knights rank second in the NHL with their power play percentage (37.5%).

“It’s pretty fun,” Marner said of the power play. “So many different threats out there that make plays. For me, it’s just trying to find open ice for Jack to make his play. … They’ve done a great job down low, really making teams play in different areas there. It’s been a lot of fun to watch.”

Marner opened the scoring just 46 seconds into the game, bringing the home crowd to life immediately. But it was the 28-year-old forward’s crafty stick work that sent the crowd into a frenzy near the end of the second period.

Marner extended Vegas’ lead to four goals when he gathered a pass from Stone during a power play, skated to the front of the crease and used a forehand-backhand deke to beat Calgary netminder Dustin Wolf

Marner now has eight points on the year, after assisting on six goals in the first five games.

Eichel, who extended his season-opening point streak to six games after finishing with four assists, owns the franchise record for the most points through the club’s first six games of the season. His 15 points lead the league, while his five multi-point games are the most by any skater this season.

Stone is second in the league with 13 points, including an NHL-high 11 assists. Eichel is just behind him with 10 helpers.

Stone left the game in the third period after falling to the ice near the neutral zone, and immediately went to the locker room. Television replays showed him rotating his wrist. Cassidy said there were no immediate updates and he would know more by Monday’s morning skate ahead of Vegas’ game against Carolina.

Hertl, who scored his third goal of the season, played in the 797th game of his career. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Hertl will play in his 800th career game on Oct. 26 in Tampa, on the second of a back-to-back after visiting two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida.

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Vancouver Canucks Kick Off 2025-26 Regular Season With 5-1 Victory Over The Calgary Flames

The Vancouver Canucks set the fans home at Rogers Arena happy as they defeated the Calgary Flames 5-1 to kick off their 2025-26 regular season. Kiefer Sherwood, Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Brock Boeser each scored once while Filip Chytil found the back of the net twice in the victory. As for Thatcher Demko, he stopped 17 of the 18 shots he faced for his first win of the season.

Thursday’s game was close until the Canucks took control in the third period. Vancouver scored four times in the final 20 minutes while limiting the Flames to just five shots in the third. The game also featured some massive hits, which were originally called majors until they were downgraded to minors after video review.

Looking at standouts, one of the Canucks best forwards was Chytil, who scored twice. He also led the team in shots with five while recording 16:25 of ice time. Considering the injury issues Chytil went through last season, Thursday’s game was a welcome sight as he was able to provide offence as the team’s second-line center.

Thursday was also a special night as Braeden Cootes made his NHL debut. The 2025 first-rounder played 11:14 and was able to record his first career hit. Post-game, Cootes spoke to the media about his first game and the crowd at Rogers Arena.

“They’re awesome,” said Cootes. “They’re so passionate. They’re for sure like the best fans in the league. Honestly, that’s it’s a pretty cool building to play in, and a ton of support. So couldn’t be more thankful for that.”

As for some areas that need improvement, Vancouver’s power play went zero for four while only recording six shots on net. While the Canucks did generate some chances, their passing was off, which led to easy zone clears for the Flames. For Vancouver’s power play to be successful, they need to move the puck quickly and space themselves out in open ice, which will provide the puck carrier with more passing options.

Clearing the puck out of the defensive zone was also a problematic trend during this game. The Canucks struggled to clear the zone which led to scoring chances for Calgary. In the end, Vancouver was lucky as Demko came up with some massive saves to keep the Flames off the board.

They were good, said Foote when asked about the defensive structure of his team. I thought the structure was good. We didn’t give them too much. The mistakes we made, we covered over pretty good. Between the dots. I think coming to our landmarks inside really helped us when we did make a mistake, leaving our zone or leaving their zone, we hustled back. Those things stopped more damage.”

Overall, Thursday was a good start to the 2025-26 season for the Canucks. 10 players recorded points, while 12 were credited with at least one hit. While there are some areas that need some work, Vancouver played a solid game and were deserving of the win on opening night.

Oct 9, 2025; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks forward Filip Chytil (72) celebrates his first goal of the period against the Calgary Flames in the third period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images

Stats and Facts:

– Kiefer Sherwood becomes the 20th undrafted player to record 960 hits
– Scoring his 79th career goal, Filip Chytil breaks his tie with Petr Prucha and is now in sole possession of the 54th most goals by a player from Czechia in NHL history.
– Recording his 121st assist with Vancouver, Conor Garland breaks his tie with Matt Cooke for 44th all-time in franchise history
– Filip Chytil records his first game-winning goal since joining the Canucks

Scoring Summary:

1st Period:

14:53- VAN: Kiefer Sherwood (1) from Drew O’Connor

2nd Period:

No scoring

3rd Period:

2:54- VAN: Filip Chytil (1)
8:52- VAN: Filip Chytil (2) from Arshdeep Bains
11:42- VAN: Jonathan Lekkerimäki (1) from Evander Kane and Conor Garland
13:04- CGY: Morgan Frost (1) from Yegor Sharangovich and Joel Farabee
17:05- VAN: Brock Boeser (1) from Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk

Up Next:

The Canucks hit the road for a Saturday night battle against the Edmonton Oilers. Last season, Vancouver lost the head-to-head matchup with Edmonton, going 1-2-0 against their Pacific Division rivals. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 pm on October 11 at Rogers Place.

Make sure you bookmark THN’s Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don’t forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.

Latest From THNâ€s Vancouver Canucks Site:

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Looking Back At The Vancouver Canucks’ Lineup During Their Inaugural Game At Rogers Arena In 1995

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Canucks Steamroll Over Flames in Calgary

Sergei Belski-Imagn Images

The Vancouver Canucks clobbered the Calgary Flames 8-1 in their penultimate preseason game at home on Wednesday evening.

The main casts for both teams were suited up and ready to go.

Despite getting a power play in the second minute, the Flames veterans had some summer rust and clearly needed to get warmed up. They would eventually get adjusted and outshoot the Canucks 7-3 in the first 11:18, but Vancouver scored on their very first shot taking a 1-0 lead. Johnathan Huberdeau had a great breakaway opportunity after a pass from Matt Coronato at the 10:15 mark but was denied by Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen.

Afterwards, for the rest of the period, the Canucks ran all over the Flames, outshooting them 9-4 including scoring three goals in a span of 1:18 that included a shorthanded goal.

The players who led the Flames in faceoffs last season found themselves on a losing battle once again. Nazem Kadri was 2-for-6 (33.33%), Mikael Backlund was 0-for-3 (0%) and Morgan Frost was 1-for-2 (50%)

In the second period, Calgary regrouped and performed better. So good, that Joel Farabee scored a goal for the home side 30 seconds in, albeit that would’ve been called back for offside in the regular season. Unlike the first period, the Flames outshot the Canucks in expected goals and scoring opportunities.  They produced the same number of shots on goals, two, in their first power play of the second period as they did in BOTH of the power plays in their first period. It also helped that they didn’t give up a shorty.

The faceoff leaders had also shown improvement: Kadri and Backlund were both 5-for-11 (45.45%) and Frost was 6-for-13 (46.15%) by the second recess.

Unfortunately, two careless goals were given up by Calgary that put the Canucks up 6-1.

Vancouver took only three shots in the final period, but two of them found the back of the Calgary net, sealing the Flames’ night with a seven-goal drubbing.

Close to the end, Huberdeau would collide with the goal post and would need help walking off the ice. Let’s hope he is okay.

Calgary were 0-for-6 on the power play which included giving up two shorthanded goals.

Both goalies Ivan Prosvetov and Devin Cooley played in the game and both let in goals that had no business being in the back of the net.

The penalty-kill went 2-for-4.

Rory Kerins was a bright spot with 5-for-9 (55.6%) faceoff wins in the game and three shots on goal.

The Flames final preseason game will be against the Winnipeg Jets at home on Friday.

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