A few quick notes on Sunday night’s 6-1 win over the Seattle Kraken before we jump to a double game day preview.
For those who tuned in, it was truly refreshing to be on the other end of the “AHL players and prospects handily defeat an NHL team… paradigm. It’s happened to the Flames many times, and it’s undeniably demoralizing.
On to line notes.
Honzek-Bishop-Klapka Originally listed as the team’s fourth line, these three served as the offensive engine last night. Klapka finished the night with two goals and four hits, Bishop got the first goal and added an assist, and Honzek got a primary and secondary assist.
Not bad. With all of the cool new toys that the Flames are bringing in, it’s easy to forget that Clark Bishop is still in the mix.
He won’t be stealing a top six role; most would consider Bishop a career AHLer, but Bishop would do fine on a tenacious bottom line. There likely won’t be room for him on the Calgary roster, but a team like Chicago or San Jose could do worse in claiming him off waivers.
Pelletier-Rooney-Hunt Hunt got the only point on the night, but there was plenty of jam to this line. Rooney made two big hits and blocked a shot in the prone position. Pelletier had some chances, including a partial break that handcuffed Ales Stezka.
Coronato-Schwindt-Frk Matthew Coronato was arguably the best Flame on the ice. He finished with a goal and two primary assists including a beautiful backhand saucer to Jeremie Poirier.
That pass 😮…💨 pic.twitter.com/5y9R4B738r
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) September 23, 2024
Frk also scored a goal off a feed from Coronato and Schwindt put one off the crossbar, again, set up by the 13th overall pick in 2021.
Stromgren-Morton-Gridin These three ran roughshod on the Kraken along the walls and to the outside. No production, but a series of feisty sequences.
Bean-Pachal Jake Bean played a solid, if unspectacular game. Pachal impressed. Eight hits from the starting roster underdog. Several of those hits were thunderous.
Grushnikov-Parekh Much like Pachal, Grushnikov brought the pain to a Seattle team of fully developed NHL veterans. Eight hits and a decisive win in a fight against Tucker Robertson. Parekh hit a post with his sneaky-hard pull shot. Other than that, he was fairly quiet.
Poirier-Brzustewicz Two points for both defencemen. Both could make serious pushes for a spot. Jake Bean will have his hands full in justifiably being the better option over either.
Wolf The 23-year-old netminder held off the Kraken early as the Flames built a nest egg of a lead.
Battle of Alberta Split Squad I have to admit that these split squad games are a bit annoying. Focusing on the home game then doing a short recap of the game that I would need Oilers+ to watch is a bit of a cop out. With that said, maybe we’ll see the paradigm work out for the Flames once again. A split-squad sweep would be a lot of fun.
Flames Lines @ Calgary Courtesy of Pat Steinberg. @Fan960Steinberg
Zary-Backlund-Coleman Sharangovich-Kadri-Kuzmenko Lomberg-Schwindt-Klapka Stromgren-Morton-Basha
Weegar-Miromanov Solovyov-Barrie Grushnikov-Hanley
Vladar Ignatew
Flames Lines @ Edmonton Courtesy of Pat Steinberg. @Fan960Steinberg
Huberdeau-Pospisil-Mantha Ciona-Rooney-Duehr Honzek-Kirkland-Coronato Bishop-Lipinski-Misa/Battaglia
Tinordi-Andersson Jurmo-Brzustewicz Kuznetsov-Mews
Cooley Murphy
Bare Witness Tonight will be a first look at how Tyson Barrie looks with the team he is trying out for. Certainly something to keep an eye on.
The Hype Line The forward unit of Yegor Sharangovich, Nazem Kadri, and Andrei Kuzmenko may be a staple this season. First, they’ll need to show that they actually work well together. Sharangovich will need to be the go-to neutral zone puck mover for this line to work out.
Welcome Home What are the odds that Ryan Lomberg wants to make a solid second impression after returning to the organization on a two-year, $4,000,000 contract? Expect the pot to be stirred.
Oilers Lines @ Calgary Courtesy of Jason Gregor. @JasonGregor
J. Skinner-Henrique-Arvidsson Savoie-O'Reilly-Caggiula Hoffman-Pederson-Ryan Stefan-Grubbe-Weatherby
Dermott-Brown Dineen-Stecher Gleason-Wanner
Delia Day
Oilers Lines @ Edmonton Courtesy of Jason Gregor. @JasonGregor
RNH-McDavid-Hyman Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Lavoie Petrov-Philp-Perry Clattenburg-Wakely-Griffith
Ekholm-Bouchard Hoefenmayer-Kemp Corcoran & Kannok-Leipert
Rodrigues Ungar
Both puck drops are at 7:00 p.m. MST
Stats courtesy of naturalstattrick.