The star of Wednesday night’s game might have St. Louis Blues head coach Jim Montgomery.
Three times the Calgary Flames scored. Three times, the Blues made successful coach’s challenges and the goals were called back.
There wasn’t much controversy on any of them. Kevin Bahl was offside on one, Joel Farabee was offside on another and Connor Zary clearly high-sticked the puck on the third.
That each violation led to legitimately nice goals from the Flames that didn’t count might have been frustrating, but it didn’t change the fact that the right calls were ultimately made.
Somehow, it didn’t wind up costing the Flames, though.
Zary’s first period goal – this one counted – was cancelled out by Dylan Holloway’s second period equalizer, but it was enough to get the game to overtime and eventually the shootout, where Farabee and young Matvei Gridin each sniped lamp-lighters and Devin Cooley did the rest to secure a 2-1 win.
“Not much to say about that one,” Zary said post-game. “We’ve all been a part of a disallowed goal, but three straight? That’s pretty nuts, honestly. I guess that’s on us. We’ve got to work on onsides and high-sticks.
“It’s just such miniscule stuff. Like, it’s obviously the rule but I think at the end of the day, you see two and you’re like ‘This is crazy’, you see three and you just have to laugh.”
The Flames were able to laugh because of the way the game ended. Three disallowed goals is funny when you win, it would have been a whole lot more frustrating if they’d wound up on the losing end.
This goal by the Calgary Flames forward Joel Farabee on St. Louis Blues goaltender Joel Hofer was called back during NHL action at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Wednesday, March 18, 2026.Gavin Young/Postmedia
But for all the jokes, there’s some value to be found in the way the Flames didn’t allow the calls to throw them off. That sort of thing can be demoralizing, but they stuck to the gameplan and kept on grinding.
That was something head coach Ryan Huska was pleased with. Life hasn’t been easy for this group over the past couple of weeks. They lost two veteran leaders, in MacKenzie Weegar and Nazem Kadri, at the trade deadline and are floundering in second-to-last in the NHL standings.
But they didn’t throw in the towel when things didn’t go their way against the Blues. That’s important and instilling that mentality is a priority for the coaching staff, even if wins and losses don’t matter much between now and season’s end.
“We have good character, we have good people in our room,” Huska said. “I thought we stayed with it even though the three were taken back and I thought we stood up for each other, as well.
“We’ll show them (the disallowed goals) in video tomorrow, because they were nice plays, both of them, all three of them actually, when you look at it that way. We’ll build off that because there’s things that were done right on those goals.”
Ultimately, Wednesday wound up being a good night for the Flames and a nice homecoming after a tough road trip that saw them go 1-4-0.
It was a weird game, to be sure, but nobody could argue that the right calls weren’t made and ultimately the Flames felt like they got the win they deserved after a performance they could be proud of.
Calgary Flames forward Martin Pospisil reaches for the puck as St. Louis Blues goaltender Joel Hofer and defenceman Philip Broberg try to clear during NHL action at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Wednesday, March 18, 2026.Gavin Young/Postmedia
Calgary Flames forward Connor Zary, right, smiles as celebrates his goal on the St. Louis Blues with teammates forward Yegor Sharangovich during NHL action at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Wednesday, March 18, 2026.Gavin Young/Postmedia
Calgary Flames forward Morgan Frost eyes a flying puck with St. Louis Blues goaltender Joel Hofer during NHL action at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Wednesday, March 18, 2026.Gavin Young/Postmedia