It was, at least by their standard, an offensive outburst.
And yet the Calgary Flames needed one more goal. That same old story.
After Friday’s 5-3 loss to the host Winnipeg Jets, a result that wasn’t sealed until an empty-netter in the dying seconds, the Flames have now lost eight straight.
This is three in a row where one timely tally could have made all the difference, although that is little consolation for a squad that sits dead-last in the league at 1-7-1.
Friday was highlighted by milestone moments for youngsters Sam Honzek and Zayne Parekh, who each notched their first assist on the NHL stage.
The Flames’ three goals, their biggest haul since opening night, were scored by Nazem Kadri, Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman.
Kyle Connor, Jonathan Toews, Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo and Vladislav Namestnikov did the lamp-lighting for the Jets, while Calgary-raised rearguard Josh Morrissey had a hat-trick of helpers.
Penalties continue to be a problem for the Flames. They served up eight power-play opportunities in this whistle-filled affair, and Vilardi and Iafallo both capitalized with the visitors shorthanded.
As Coleman summed up: “You’re just beating yourself at that point.”
Next up for the Flames is Sunday’s showdown with the New York Rangers at the Saddledome. But before we look ahead, here are three takeaways from this latest loss …
The Flames’ Nazem Kadri and Zayne Parekh celebrate Kadri’s goal on Friday.
This is what Flames fans have been waiting for — a glimpse of Parekh as the quarterback on the top power-play unit.
And this is why.
The rookie rearguard/future cornerstone made the most of his promotion to PP1, collecting his first big-league apple when he helped set up Kadri’s special-teams snipe in Friday’s opening frame. (Bizarro stat: The Flames are now 0-5-0 when they score first.)
The 19-year-old Parekh hinted he was about to unleash a wrister from the point, a fake that prompted penalty-killer Cole Koepke to momentarily stop moving his feet as he tried to fill the shooting lane, and then dished to Morgan Frost on the left flank.
The puck wasn’t on Frost’s stick for long before he sauced a pass to Kadri for a wicked one-timer. For No. 91, it was his first goal of the new campaign.
Parekh’s stat-sheet last season with the Saginaw Spirit included 46 points on the man-advantage, the most by an OHL blue-liner since 2010-11, serving notice that he’d someday be a staple on the Flames’ top power-play unit.
Perhaps that time has already arrived.
There was one obvious hiccup Friday, resulting in a shorthanded breakaway for Koepke, but Parekh showed more than enough positive to extend this audition.
“I think he did a good job up there,” Flames coach Ryan Huska told reporters in Winnipeg. “The puck movement up top was noticeably different, from him in particular tonight. It was a lot quicker off his stick moving side-to-side, and I think that’s what opened up that chance for Naz on his goal.”
While MacKenzie Weegar won’t be happy about losing his spot on PP1, it wouldn’t be the worst thing if the Flames could trim his workload even a little. Weegar has averaged close to 25 minutes per contest, which puts him among the league leaders in nightly ice time.
The Flames’ Blake Coleman (20), Mikael Backlund and Samuel Honzek celebrate Backlund’s goal on Friday.
Sam Honzek, shorthanded success story
Honzek took another stride Friday toward establishing himself as a full-timer NHLer.
And not just because he put his name on the scoring summary.
Let’s start, though, with that second-period assist. Honzek was outnumbered along the wall in the neutral zone, but this power-forward-in-progress was persistent as he battled Toews for the puck and then was able to disrupt an attempted pass with his left foot.
After stealing possession, the 20-year-old made a quick feed to Coleman and Backlund capped this sequence with a slick deke to his forehand.
“I’m happy for Honzo, getting his first point,” said Coleman, who now leads his team with three tallies this season. “He’s worked really hard and he’s looked really good for us, so happy for him.”
It is certainly worth noting, especially since the Flames have been dinged for the second-most minors of any team in the league, that Honzek has also looked really good on the penalty-kill.
He logged 4:43 of shorthanded duty on Friday night and wasn’t on the ice for either of Winnipeg’s PP pottings.
It was just a few days ago the rookie left-winger told Postmedia that this could be a way he can keep himself in the lineup.
“I think I can be really good at P.K., right? And I think I can capitalize on that,” said Honzek, who has now dressed for seven in a row, boosting his career total to a dozen NHL appearances. “And I’m a good skater so I think as the year goes, I can really improve and start putting things together.”
Flames forward Connor Zary knocks down his own rebound off Jets goaltender Eric Comrie on Friday.
Connor Zary, man in the middle
Huska tinkered with his forward combos on the flight to Winnipeg, with the most notable change being Connor Zary’s elevation to second-line centre.
It’s not the first time that the 24-year-old has played pivot this fall, but those previous shifts as a faceoff man had come on the fourth unit. He’d done all of his middle-six work on the wing.
Frost found himself demoted Friday to a checking role, logging just five minutes at even-strength.
While Zary is on Calgary’s long list of early-season under-performers, there are signs that he’s starting to regain some of his offensive swagger.
You can tell he’s feeling it when he’s willing to attack opponents in those one-on-one scenarios.
During Wednesday’s overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens, he was able to draw a late penalty doing exactly that.
On Friday, he toe-dragged past Dylan DeMelo on a down-low drive. He later clanked the cross-bar on a power-play shift.
Those are the sort of plays that make him a threat — and continue to make him an intriguing option at centre.