MacKenzie Weegar might have figured his luck was starting to turn.
Apparently not.
After Thursday’s morning skate in his hometown of Ottawa, before his mood was soured by a 4-3 shootout loss to the Senators, Weegar had reporters in stitches with a story about how he had been pulled over while running errands the previous day.
Turns out, the Calgary Flames’ defence workhorse needs to update his auto insurance.
“I got to meet a nice police officer,” Weegar quipped. “He gave me a warning. Great guy. Really great guy … So yeah, got a good bounce there.”
On Thursday night, Weegar got an awful bounce. It didn’t cost him any demerits or whatever is the going rate for expired insurance, but it may have cost his team a desperately needed point as they try to climb out of dead-last in the NHL standings.
With the Flames up 3-2 and less than three minutes away from sealing what would have been their third victory of the season, Weegar was spilled in front of his own net when Senators forward Nick Cousins clipped his right leg. As he tumbled to the ice, Jake Sanderson’s shot plunked him right in the number on the back of jersey. That puck then bounced off the post and across the line for Ottawa’s tying tally.
The Senators would eventually win in the skills competition, spoiling a superb performance by Flames backup Devin Cooley.
Yegor Sharangovich, Matt Coronato and Nazem Kadri provided the offence for the road team.
As the Flames now head to Nashville for Saturday’s matinee, here are three takeaways from this latest loss …
Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark makes a save on Flames forward Adam Klapka on Thursday.
A miserable month
It won’t go down as the most ugly, most awful October in the Flames’ franchise history, but it wasn’t far off.
It will hardly feel like a happy Halloween as the Flames sit at a scary 2-8-2.
They collected just six points in the opening month of the new campaign. That barely surpasses their totals from 1995-96 and 2023-24. On both occasions, they had five points when the calendars flipped to November.
“There are some good things to take away from that game,” Weegar told reporters in Ottawa, shouting out Cooley and the work of both special-teams units — a power-play that potted two and a penalty-kill that was a perfect four-for-four and was even tested in overtime. “I think most importantly now, it’s a new month here. We can get rid of October.
“I don’t need to see that month for a long time here. Get into November, make it a positive month and a successful one.”
It’s been an especially frustrating fall for Weegar, who has so far posted a minus-11 rating.
If you follow the Flames, you know that’s as surprising a stat as any.
The 31-year-old righty is typically rock-solid. Over the course of his career, he’s a plus-101.
“That’s just kind of how it was going for me this month,” Weegar said of Sanderson’s fluke goal, admitting he still wasn’t sure what happened because he’d yet to watch a replay. “That month sort of tested me mentally, but come out the other side a better man and a better player.”
Flames goaltender Devin Cooley makes a save in front of Senators forward Dylan Cozens on Thursday.
Kudos for Cooley
Before the Flames departed on this road-trip, Cooley was asked about the challenges of the waiting game.
We know Dustin Wolf is going to be one of the NHL’s busiest backstops this season. Which means that Cooley could often watch five or six or seven in a row between crease-calls of his own.
And yet, he’s expected to do exactly what he did in Ottawa — ensure that his team has a chance to win. He finished with 35 saves against the Senators, seven of those in overtime.
“I’ve been a backup in every single league,” Cooley reminded before the roadie. “Five years ago, I was a backup in the East Coast League. I’ve been a backup in the American League. I was a backup in college for a year or two. I’ve been a backup now in the NHL. So I have a lot of experience being a backup and I’ve had a lot of experience going two weeks without playing.
“I think that’s going to help me a lot, because it’s nothing new for me. I know what the role takes and I know what I need to do in order to be successful.”
He’s so far shown it. The 28-year-old has been beyond solid in both of his starts, silencing those who wondered if he really belonged at the big-league level.
Cooley’s finest work Thursday was a swooping glove as Dylan Cozens fired through traffic early in the second period.
Tim Stutzle rattled a shot of his mask in the early stages of the sudden-death session. On that same shift, Stutzle was stymied by a sprawling Cooley with his right pad.
“I think he was excellent tonight. He made some key saves at important times of the game for us,” said Flames bench boss Ryan Huska, adding that netminding coach Jason LaBarbera also deserves a chunk of credit. “It’s not always the easiest thing when you’re not playing quite as much as you’d probably like to as a backup goaltender, but that’s the job and you have to make sure you stay ready. I think the work that Jason and Devin have put in, it’s been really good for us.”
The Flames wrap this getaway with a weekend back-to-back, so Cooley should be tapped for one more before the flight home. Sunday in Philadelphia would be the best bet.
“Whether it’s once every two weeks or once every month or once every couple days, it doesn’t matter,” said Cooley, who owns a .923 save percentage in seven periods of action this fall. “My job is to give the team a chance to win. There’s no excuses. So hopefully I can continue to do that.”
Flames forward Matt Coronato scores on Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark during Thursday’s game.
Scratched, then score?
On the list of positives Thursday, power-play tallies from Sharangovich and Coronato would rank right up there.
What else do those dudes have in common? They have both, in the past week and change, been pulled from the Flames’ lineup as healthy scratches.
Sharangovich has responded the right way since he was seated for a pair. He has now scored in two of his three appearances since escaping the doghouse.
Perhaps more telling, Huska was comfortable swapping Sharangovich over to centre against the Sens, a sure sign that he’s been happy with how his feet are moving.
Coronato’s benching this past weekend was big news, and there was some worry that he might wind up watching again at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.
Instead, he skated with Sharangovich on the third unit and was able to whack a loose puck across the goal-line for a man-advantage marker. It was hardly a thing of beauty, but it does snap Coronato out of a seven-game scoring drought.
If this is a good omen for anybody, it’s Connor Zary. He was scratched Thursday and will be looking for a similar bounce-back.
The 24-year-old Zary has only two points this season, and his lone goal came on opening night.
ICE CHIPS: Rookie blue-liner Zayne Parekh didn’t dress Thursday because he’s “a little banged up” … Morgan Frost is now on a five-game point streak, one shy of equalling his career-best run.
Flames forward Yegor Sharangovich, left, celebrates his goal on Thursday with Mackenzie Weegar.