Notes from last game: Matvei Gridin has arrived

Then early in the second period, he scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal, beating Bobrovsky glove side as the puck went in and out of the net in a flash. Add an assist, and Gridin scored four goals and six points in the four-game home stand. The cherry on the top was the “griddy” after his second goal.

Mikael Backlund scored the game’s second goal, showing patience before firing it past Bobrovsky to give the Flames a 2-0 lead. With the goal, the Flames’ captain moves into a tie with Johnny Gaudreau for fourth-place in all-time Flames scoring.

I predicted Matt Coronato would be the Flames’ top goal scorer this season. With the emergence of Gridin and Aydar Suniev, as well as Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee’s performances in the early goings, that may not happen. However, he’s added another dimension to his game with his playmaking ability. Through 11 games, Coronato has two goals and 10 points.

Joel Farabee is the lone Flame who is point-per-game, as he scored an empty net goal and picked up a helper to give him three goals and 11 points in 11 games this season. Frost was held off the scoresheet, but has been productive this season as well.

Zayne Parekh continues to get better each game. He picked up a helper on Gridin’s second goal with a terrific stretch pass, his third assist of the season. The right-shot defenceman probably could’ve had more, as he was buzzing all over the ice in the second period. When he gets the puck at the point and skates downhill, it creates so many problems for the opposition.

Šimon Nemec had his best game of the season, picking up two assists and finishing the night as a +2. His defence partner, Kevin Bahl, finished as a +3. Nemec led the team with 21:51 of ice time, five seconds more than Bahl played.

Martin Pospíšil picked up a goal and a helper in this one as well. Fellow bottom six player, Adam Klapka was held pointless, but oh boy does he ever have hands. It didn’t result in a goal, but just look at how he finds the open space here.

There was also Devin Cooley, who at this point could have his own section in each of these articles. He picked up his fourth consecutive victory, stopping 26 of 28 shots for a .929 save percentage and a 0.61 Goals Saved Against Expected. It was his “worst” performance of his last four games.

On top of the save percentage, Cooley picked up an assist on Gridin’s second goal and took a penalty by playing the puck in the trapezoid (still the dumbest rule ever).

He made up for it with this save. Never change, Cooley.

The negatives

I mean, are there really any negatives from this game? If I want to nitpick, they lost nearly 60 percent of the face-offs and only scored one goal in five attempts on the power play, though the Leafs’ penalty kill has been terrific this season.

It was pretty much the closest thing to a perfect game that Flames could have played, and they absolutely deserved the victory. I guess victories are bad for a rebuilding team, but man, that was a fun game.

Other notes

After a 0-5-0 start to begin the season, the Flames have crawled back to a 5-6-0 record and find themselves a few points out of a playoff spot. It isn’t ideal for the long-term as they need high picks, but it was incredibly fun covering the 2024-25 season. Another run like that would be great for the short-term.

The big question is whether or not the Flames can translate their home play on the road. They’ll have a chance to do it this Wednesday, as they head up Highway 2 to face the struggling Edmonton Oilers. Yes, the Oilers’ 8-2-2 record is far better than how they’ve actually played.