Devin Cooley answered the call.
There were worries among Calgary Flames (1-4-0) fans about Cooley’s ability to give the team a chance to win when Dustin Wolf wasn’t available. There were rumours from reliable insiders that the team might have been monitoring the trade market for other backup options.
On Wednesday night, though, Cooley stood on his head and did everything you could ask of him. That the Flames fell 3-1 to the Utah Mammoth (2-2-0) was absolutely not his fault. He turned away 29-of-31 shots — the Mammoth also managed an empty-netter — and was the Flames’ best player on the night.
“For his first game of the year, I thought he was excellent tonight,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “He made the saves he had to and sprinkled in some that were competitive saves. That’s what you want to see from him.”
Cooley was the big positive.
The rest? Not so much.
The Flames didn’t actually play particularly badly for stretches, especially for a team that got into Salt Lake City around 3:30 a.m. on Thursday and had played the previous night at home against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Still, though, they’ve now lost four games in a row and are tied for the fewest goals-per-game scored in the NHL, with two lamp-lighters a night on average. Their goals-against-per-game has them hovering near the bottom of the league, too.
The schedule’s been a grind and Jonathan Huberdeau’s imminent return should help, but they need to stop losing games and they need to do it fast.
Here are three takeaways from Wednesday’s loss:
Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson celebrates a goal against the Mammoth on Wednesday with Nazem Kadri.
TOO MANY PENALTIES
The Flames liked their first period. They came out flying and took a 1-0 lead when Rasmus Andersson scored his first of the season.
Their second, though, was a lot rougher.
The Flames took six penalties in the middle frame, although Adam Klapka’s fight with Jack McBain didn’t give the Mammoth a man-advantage and there were offsetting calls when Kevin Bahl and Joel Farabee were sent to the box, too.
The Flames still spent an inordinate amount of time on the PK, though, and it hurt them.
“It’s going to be a hard game to win when you take six minors,” Andersson said. “I think we had a good first period, second period we come out flat and take a bunch of penalties and they get momentum. Sure, we had a good push in the third and probably could have scored one or two, but we didn’t. Just the penalties cost us tonight, I thought.”
If you’re looking for silver linings, the Flames did kill off all six of the penalties they took. They still don’t want to be spending nearly so much time in the box, though.
COOLEY’S SOLID NIGHT
To go back to Cooley for a second, his performance really was notable.
He didn’t have the greatest pre-season, even if he narrowly edged out Ivan Prosvetov for the right to play behind Wolf. When the Flames went with their starter for both games of the back-to-back that kicked off their season, it felt to many like there wasn’t a tonne of organizational confidence in what Cooley could do.
Wednesday’s performance should go a long way toward calming any nerves about his ability to play when he’s needed. In Cooley’s first NHL start since April 18, 2024, he kept the Flames in the game, especially in the second period when he stopped 16 shots.
“I felt pretty good, maybe a little jumpy, a little scrambly, but maybe that comes with not playing in a while and just having a lot of energy and feeling really excited to get an opportunity,” Cooley said. “I thought our guys battled really hard, it wasn’t easy coming in, I think we got in at 3:30 or 4 in the morning on a back-to-back, it wasn’t easy. Our guys battled until the end.”
Flames forward Matt Coronato skates between Kevin Stenlund (82) and Lawson Crouse of the Mammoth on Wednesday.
FINDING WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE
Klapka still hasn’t registered a goal this season, but he’s certainly not alone in that regard among Flames forwards and is finding other ways to make an impact.
Dropping the gloves with McBain delivered Utah fans a heavyweight showdown and delivered a burst of energy to a Flames team that desperately needed it during the aforementioned second period.
Fighting isn’t a huge part of the 6-foot-8 forward’s game, but Klapka showing he’s willing to mix it up when his team needs it can only be a good thing for the Flames.
Utah Mammoth mascot Tusky makes his debut at Delta Center on Wednesday.