It wasn’t necessarily pretty, and it wasn’t particularly exciting.
It was however, in the words of one of Calgary’s heart-and-soul sorts, “Flames hockey.”
The Flames wrapped this road-trip Sunday by scratching out a 2-1 win over the Flyers in Philadelphia.
Jonathan Huberdeau tallied twice in the City of Brotherly Love, while Dustin Wolf was sharp when needed behind a squad that allowed a season-low 18 shots on net.
The Flames also blocked 18, half of those coming from the defence pairing of MacKenzie Weegar and Joel Hanley.
“That’s Flames hockey right there,” Weegar declared during a post-game interview on Sportsnet. “If we can just buy into that, and consistently, I think we’re going to flip this script around a little bit. It was nice to see guys dedicated to winning the hard way tonight.
“Guys were winning puck battles. We were blocking shots, getting pucks deep, forechecking hard. It was a greasy win, and that’s how we have to win.”
The Flames, now 3-9-2, continue to sit at the bottom of the NHL’s overall standings.
But this is something to smile about, something to build on, as they return home for Wednesday’s clash with the Columbus Blue Jackets. That promises to be a special night at the Saddledome, with Nazem Kadri joining the NHL’s silver-stick club as he logs his 1,000th game.
Here are three takeaways from Sunday’s victory in Philly …
Calgary Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf (32) makes a glove-save during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Philadelphia.
‘Boring,’ but in a good way
Wolf described this as a “boring game.”
And, just to be clear, the workhorse goalie was not complaining.
This was certainly a low-event affair. The Flyers had only three shots on net in the opening frame and weren’t into double digits until early in the third. With less than six minutes remaining, Travis Konecny capitalized on a set faceoff play to spoil Wolf’s shutout bid.
“We played a boring game, which is exactly how we have to play,” said Wolf, who’d been hooked after the opening period of Saturday’s loss in Nashville. “We want to play a game where we limit their chances and take advantage of ours when we get the chance. We stayed out of the box tonight, which was critical. Especially on a back-to-back, guys were tired and it’s a heck of an effort to come in here and find a way to scrape out two points.”
It was the recipe, as much as the result, that was the focus of Sunday’s post-game scrums in Philadelphia.
“We know what kind of team we are. I think last year, we showed it,” Huberdeau said after his two-notch night. “This year, we just have to come back to that. You know, these 2-1 wins, that’s what we used to do last year, so we have to do that the same and be a hard team to play against.
“We have to play to our identity. And I think it’s more like it, the past few games. So we just have to keep grinding. We know it’s not going to be easy. We just have to do it and get a little streak of wins.”
Weegar’s block party
This is the sort of sequence that doesn’t go unnoticed.
During a third-period shift, with his squad clinging at the time to a 1-0 lead, Weegar blocked three shots in a seven-second span.
The way Weegar was sacrificing his body, Wolf probably could have glided to the bench for a squirt of water.
Konecny was the first to find this road-block. He tried to fire through Weegar on the offensive rush, but that shot would never reach its intended destination.
Moments later, standing at the net-front, Weegar stymied Travis Sanheim with his shin-pad.
And when the puck caromed into the slot to Flyers captain Sean Couturier? This time, Calgary’s best defenceman hit the deck, a diving denial for the best block of the bunch.
“If I can help out Wolfie when I can, I don’t mind doing that. He bails me out a lot,” Weegar said. “It just seemed like every time I blocked one, it went back to the slot so I’d have to block another one. But I love that stuff.”
He was rewarded, as it turns out, on his next shift. He whistled a wrist-shot from the point and Huberdeau made a dandy deflection for what was then an insurance goal and would eventually stand as the game-winner.
Weegar’s stat-line in Philly featured one assist, two shots, four blocks and five hits in 25:56 of ice-time.
On the broadcast, former NHL rearguard Jason York mentioned more than once that it was the finest outing of the season from No. 52.
No argument from us. It’s been a frustrating fall for Weegar, as evidenced by his plus-minus rating.
“The one thing that MacKenzie does probably more than anybody else is care, and that’s what you love about him” Flames head coach Ryan Huska told reporters at Xfinity Mobile Arena. “He tries so hard to help the team win. And when the team struggles, sometimes he puts a lot more pressure on his shoulders than he probably should. He’s a competitor for us, and it was nice to see him play the way he did tonight.”
Parekh staying put
We believe the Flames are making the right call by keeping Zayne Parekh in the NHL.
In fact, we’re a little surprised that there was seemingly so much deliberation about the possibility that the 19-year-old blue-liner could be returned to junior.
That speculation stopped when Parekh hit the ice in Philadelphia. His 10th appearance of the season does not guarantee that he will remain on the big-league roster from start to finish, but it does cinch that this will count as Year 1 of his entry-level deal. If the Flames were seriously considering the idea of sending him back to Saginaw of the OHL, they likely would have made the move before that contractual kicker.
There have, and will, be growing pains — Parekh has been guilty of some bad pinches, has left himself vulnerable to some heavy hits and sometimes needs to be more careful with the puck, as was the case when Flyers forward Christian Dvorak picked off his drop-pass on a first-period power-play in Philadelphia.
Those could all be described as ‘junior habits,’ which explains why we’re not convinced Parekh could develop much further at a level he has already dominated.
Craig Conroy & Co. obviously agree. As Conroy told Sportsnet’s Eric Francis on the road: “Junior is not the place for him.”
It’s safe to assume that the uncertainty was causing some stress for this rookie rearguard, especially after he was scratched in both Ottawa and Nashville, so perhaps Sunday’s decision will take some pressure off Parekh. He logged 13 minutes in Philly and resumed his role on PP1.