It takes a certain amount of confidence for a 20-year-old to turn to his coach and let them know he wants to take the decisive shot in an NHL shootout.
But confidence has never been an issue for Matvei Gridin.
With the Calgary Flames needing a goal to secure a win against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night, Gridin gave a nod to head coach Ryan Huska letting him know he was ready to go.
The rookie then went out and buried an absolutely gorgeous shot into the top corner before casually – on ‘non-chalantly’, as he described it – skating down the ice to celebrate with his teammates.
“It’s calmness or, I don’t know, it’s another level from calm,” Huska said. “We talk a lot about players on the bench when the next one counts or it’s on the line. A lot of guys won’t turn around and look at the coach. He did tonight, that shows a lot about ‘I want to go, put me out there.’
Fans cheer as Matvei Gridin skates past after his shoot out game winning goal against the St. Louis Blues during NHL action at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Wednesday, March 18, 2026.Gavin Young/Postmedia
“That’s something (Nazem Kadri) used to do a lot. Joel Farabee does that a lot right now so he’s moved himself up because he’s scoring
“For a young 20-year-old to look and say ‘Hey, I’m the guy who can finish this’, that’s a pretty impressive thing.”
While Gridin buried a shootout goal in pre-season, Wednesday’s winner was officially his first regular season shootout goal. He was stopped in the Flames’ first game of the year against the Edmonton Oilers and then hit the post on March 1 against the Anaheim Ducks.
Neither of those could be considered bad attempts, though, and his wicked shot release means he’s going to be getting lots and lots of shootout attempts throughout his career.
“I wouldn’t say it bugged me (hitting the post against the Ducks, but I obviously thought about it, especially hitting the post,” Gridin said. “I guess you can’t score all of them. Now, I’ve got a better percentage, so that’s good.”
Gridin’s emergence has made him one of the big good news stories of the Flames season. Selected 28th overall in the 2024 NHL Draft, he earned a place on the NHL roster after an impressive training camp. He spent a few months in the AHL with the Calgary Wranglers getting a little more seasoning, but he’s firmly established himself as a full-time NHLer since returning to the Flames in mid-January.
Shootouts are only a very small part of that. The Flames have him playing on a line with Morgan Frost and Matt Coronato these days, and the early returns on the trio have been positive.
“I think he was pretty confident from Game 1,” Frost said with a smile. “All joking aside, a little bit, he looks comfortable but he does some stuff out there that not many guys can do. It’s a treat to play with him, he makes some really skilled offensive plays.”
Wednesday’s shootout winner was just one of them. Watching the shot that Gridin fires past the Blues’ Joel Hofer, it’s hard to imagine how any goalie would stop it. Gridin patiently waits for his chance and then rips the puck right into the top corner.
If a guy knows he can do that, why wouldn’t they let their coach know they want the puck on their stick?
“I didn’t tell him to put me in,” Gridin clarified. “I just gave a look because I thought I’d go. I went last time. I was 95% sure that he’d put me in, so I gave him a look and he said ‘Yeah, go’, “