3 Flames standouts in pre-season loss versus Kraken

The Calgary Flames hit the ice for the third time in this exhibition season on Thursday night, trekking to the Emerald City to visit the Seattle Kraken.

The Kraken dressed their opening night NHL roster, more or less. The Flames had far more prospective members of the Calgary Wranglers than NHLers. And yet, it was a really competitive, close game that the Flames ended up losing after a shootout by a 4-3 score.

Here are three Flames that made an impression over 65+ minutes at Climate Pledge Arena.

Brennan Othmann

In his first pre-season game back on Sunday, Othmann played 53 minutes before he was tossed for an errant elbow that hit Kraken defender Ville Ottovainen. Despite his short stint in the game, he was noticeable – as noted post-game that evening by Flames head coach Ryan Huska.

Well, Othmann played 12:14 in Seattle on Thursday, and was really noticeable. He forechecked hard, played smart, and had assists on two of Calgary’s three goals. He showed some chemistry on a line with Dryden Hunt and Jonathan Castagna, and generally he was someone that was continually noticeable during the outing.

Aydar Suniev

In the first game against Seattle, Suniev scored twice. In this game, he regressed… and only scored once.

Suniev played 20:14 in Seattle, leading all Flames forwards. He had a goal, three hits, two shots, and like Othmann, he was generally pretty noticeable across the board. He played on a line with William Stromgren and Ben Jones and was probably the best member of his line.

Hunter Brzustewicz

You have to feel for Brzustewicz a bit heading into this camp, as he probably entered proceedings ninth on the Flames’ depth chart through no fault of his own. He was really solid late in the season and showed some promise, but then the Flames added Simon Nemec and Jake Middleton during the off-season and there’s no logical regular spot on the NHL rotation for him right now.

But give Brzustewicz credit: he’s handling it by playing some really good hockey. He played a team-leading 25:36 against Seattle on the top pairing with Joel Hanley. He had three shots, a ton of ice time across all game situations, and looked like a good NHLer against an NHL-laden Kraken roster. That’s all you can ask of him right now.

Who impressed you against Seattle?