The Calgary Flames put forth a valiant effort on Monday night, but it didn’t do them any favours in the standings, as they fell to the Winnipeg Jets by a 2-1 final. The Flames were up in this game 1-0 heading into the second intermission, but gave up two unanswered in the third to suffer their sixth-straight loss.
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There’s no way to sum up the Flames start to the season other than to state the obvious; it’s been rough. They are now 1-6-0 on the season, and would need to go on quite a run in order to convince their fan base that they are a playoff team. With that said, here are the three main takeaways from what was yet another frustrating and deflating loss.
Goal Scoring Continues to Haunt Flames
The biggest worry for this Flames team entering the 2025-26 season was their goal scoring, or perhaps lack thereof. They struggled to put pucks in the net in 2024-25, and, to no surprise, they’ve been struggling with it through their first seven games. After scoring just one goal versus the New York Rangers, they have now managed just 11 goals in seven games.
“I think you have to turn frustration a little bit,” head coach Ryan Huska said. “If you allow yourself to get stuck on that emotion, then it just keeps snowballing. You have to focus on things that you’re doing well, and you have to do them harder. That’s the way I look at it. You get more competitive, you get to the net harder, you make sure you’re doing everything you can possibly do to make sure you’re prepared and ready to play.”
The offence is certainly in a rut, as the Flames will wind up having more success on the stat sheet as the season goes on. That said, this game, and the season to date, is a tough reminder that they lack scoring forwards. It doesn’t help that Nazem Kadri is still without a goal, as he is a player they desperately need to get going in the immediate future.
Wolf Gives Fantastic Effort
The 2025-26 season hasn’t gotten off to a great start for Dustin Wolf, but he looked much more like himself in Monday’s tilt. The 24-year-old, who hasn’t won since the Flames’ opening game of the season, gave his team every opportunity to pick up two points in this one, kicking aside 26 of the 28 shots he faced.
Dustin Wolf, Calgary Flames (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
“It hurts. We just can’t seem to find a way to get a couple goals to go in the net,” Wolf told reporters postgame. “I thought our kill was good all night. They made us work. We want to try and limit the amount of penalties we take, I think that was too much for our group. Can’t give a group like that that much time.”
Monday’s game was a frustrating reminder that it doesn’t matter how well Wolf plays if the Flames can’t put the puck in the net. The positive from this, however, is that it should help the young starting goaltender regain some confidence after a series of tough starts.
Power Play Struggling to Get Anything Done
To no surprise, given their overall lack of offence to begin the 2025-26 season, the Flames’ power play has been abysmal in the early going. They were unable to get anything done on the man advantage versus the Jets, despite having five opportunities.
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The Flames’ power play is now clicking at just 14.8 percent, which is 26th amongst all 32 teams. The hope was that welcoming Jonathan Huberdeau back into the lineup on Saturday versus the Vegas Golden Knights would help, though it’s quickly becoming apparent that the issues still remain. They need to find a way to get that going if they hope to pick up some wins in the near future.
Looking Ahead for the Flames
The Flames will be back in action on Wednesday, as they are set to host the Montreal Canadiens at the Saddledome. Once that game is wrapped up, they will head out on the road for a rematch versus the Jets, before a Sunday game in Calgary against the Rangers.
