The Calgary Flames are going to be sticking around at the bottom of the standings for the foreseeable future. Heading into Saturday evening, the Flames were last in the entire NHL, and that won’t change heading into Sunday. A 6–1 defeat was extremely demoralizing as the team struggled to get anything going anywhere. Multiple things should be looked at and scrutinized. Before we head there, however, we look at what happened over the course of 60 minutes.

How did the game play out?

First period

The first period got off to a horrible start as just 46 seconds in, Mitch Marner scored his first goal with the Vegas Golden Knights. A turnover behind the net, Ivan Barbashev found Marner streaking to the slot. After making the pass, Marner, all alone, shot one past Dustin Wolf. The Flames gained a great chance, however, when Brayden McNabb was sent to the box for interference. On their first power play of the game, the Flames scored a greasy one, with Jonathan Huberdeau scoring in his season debut. A battle in front of Adin Hill, Huberdeau pushed one into the net.

However, that was really the only high that Calgary rode on the Vegas Strip. Tomas Hertl scored on the power play after Rasmus Andersson sent the puck over the glass. His quick release from the slot gave Vegas the lead, one that they didn’t look back from.

Nearly 10 minutes later, it was Mark Stone getting on the board. A quick rush up the ice, and with Stone driving to the net, he put home a slick feed from Jack Eichel. While outshooting their opponents 13–9, Calgary didn’t have the advantage on the scoreboard and went into the intermission down by two.

Second period

While the first period was the most entertaining, the second and third also had loads of goal scoring. Ivan Barbashev fooled Wolf with a redirection in front of the net for his second point of the night. The Kaedan Korczak point shot found its way through traffic, giving the Knights a 4–1 lead.

Joel Hanley gave the Knights their second man advantage of the game, and once again, they made them pay. Mitch Marner started the breakout and easily burned the Flames defenceman. Getting in tight on Wolf, he dangled by sliding one in for his second. The middle frame was all Vegas, with the Flames not being given oxygen and completely suffocating. Being outshot 10–4, the Golden Knights created multiple chances, whereas Calgary failed.

Third period

Everything died down in the third, compared to the previous 40 minutes. No fights, only one goal, and the chances were much more even. However, there was a change for the Flames in between the pipes. Devin Cooley took over for Wolf to close out a game that Calgary was no longer in.

Vegas kept the pressure and intensity up, not giving Calgary any chance at staging a miraculous comeback. With Nazem Kadri in the box, Mark Stone scored his second, making it a 6–1 game. Pouncing on a rebound left by Cooley, Stone gave the Knights their third power play goal on as many attempts.

The game was never in doubt; the Flames lacked confidence and the ability to compete. They couldn’t keep up all night.

The return of Jonathan Huberdeau

Jonathan Huberdeau was activated off the Injured Reserve just one day ago. Subsequently, the rookie sensation Matvei Gridin was sent to the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers. He made his season debut with them tonight as well. Huberdeau is coming off his best season wearing the Flaming C, registering 62 points (28 goals, 34 assists) through 81 games. He didn’t waste any time getting started this season.

As mentioned previously, Huberdeau was the Flames’ only goal scorer, putting one past Adin Hill on the man advantage. The $10.5M man still has more to do to live up to his contract. However, seeing him provide offence on a team that struggles to score is promising that he can continue to improve.

Whether tonight was just a one-off or he can keep this up for the remainder of the campaign remains to be seen.

Dustin Wolf cannot play every game

Lastly, something that came up after the first few games is the overplaying of Dustin Wolf. He cannot play every game. The team risks overworking him and having their superstar suffer a serious injury. Mentioned after the game against the Vancouver Canucks, something similar happened to Thatcher Demko.

There was some hesitancy about playing either Cooley or free-agent pickup Ivan Prosvetov. However, Cooley stood on his head in his only start so far this campaign. He has shown that he can be relied upon. To both ease the workload of Wolf and take away the risk of overworking him, as well as give this team a chance to win. As also mentioned in the post-game against the Canucks, nobody in the NHL is Miika Kiprusoff.

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Where do the Flames go from here?

Calgary is in the basement of the NHL. Any chance of improving from the season before doesn’t seem possible anymore. Numerous things must change on the ice; until then, results like this one will keep appearing. First and foremost, seeing which defenceman fits best next to Zayne Parekh. Have the superstar of the future get acclimated to the league, ideally next to someone who can help him develop.

Next up, the Flames play the Winnipeg Jets at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday with puck drop scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MT.

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