3 Takeaways From Flames’ Shootout Loss to the Jets

Despite some early struggles, we have seen signs of life from Coronato recently, scoring against the St. Louis Blues two games ago and recording four or more shots in five straight games, a streak he continued against the Jets on Saturday night.

Coronato’s goal was well deserved; he had been robbed a couple of times earlier in the game and was taking a beating in front of the net on the power play, leading up to his goal. Coronato has been causing havoc in the offensive zone for a few games in a row now, and he was finally rewarded for it with his second multi-point night of the season.

Morgan Frost Picks up 100th Career Assist

On Jake Bean’s goal, which broke the ice for the Flames, Morgan Frost was credited with a secondary assist after winning an offensive zone draw. This was the 100th time he got credit with a helper on a goal in his NHL career.

Later in the game, Frost got another assist on Bahl’s second goal of the season to record his first multi-point night of the season.

Frost has now played parts of seven seasons in the NHL. He became a mainstay in the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2021-22 season. He has now played 330 career games and is up to 156 career points after recording his 100th and 101st assists.

Frost has always been respected for his offensive talent. That is what led to his being selected 27th overall in the first round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. However, since then, the consistency has always been a question.

At times, he is electric. We saw that earlier this season when he had a five-game point streak for the Flames. However, these assists tonight were his first points in five games and were only his second game with points in November.

More consistent production from Frost would be a big boost for this Flames team.

Dustin Wolf Looks Good Again

Throughout the early part of this season, Dustin Wolf has struggled to keep the puck out of the net at times. Whether that was because he was not playing up to standard or because he did not have much help in front of him is beside the point.

However, Wolf has looked much better recently, and that was the case again on Saturday night, even though the numbers may not suggest it. On the night, Wolf only faced 22 shots, and he saved 19 of them for an .870 save percentage.

Despite not being overly tested with a high volume of shots, the Jets had several high-quality scoring chances. Wolf finished the night with 0.36 goals saved above expected (via Natural Stat Trick), and cannot be blamed for any of the goals that got by him.

The first goal came on a defensive breakdown, where Kyle Connor found Mark Scheifele streaking up the wing at full speed for a breakaway. The next came after a point shot was blocked and pinballed around the defensive zone and ended up in the Flames’ net before Wolf could locate the puck off the bounce. The final goal came after Wolf saved a tough one-timer shot from Connor, which caught him high and left a rebound in the crease, which Cole Perfetti cleaned up.

Wolf has started to look better, even though the Flames are still struggling defensively and on the penalty kill. However, if they want any hope of winning games consistently, they need him to start taking over games to cover up their goal-scoring deficiencies.

What’s Next for the Flames?

This is not what Flames fans want to hear, but the team is coming up on one of its most difficult stretches of the season, with seven of eight games on the road, starting against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.

If the Flames don’t come out of this stretch with a winning record, it may be safe to start talking about the Gavin McKenna sweepstakes.