The Calgary Flames still have a big zero in the loss column.
But for the first time in this short 2024-25 NHL season, the Flames left the rink on Saturday night without two points after they fell 2-1 to the Seattle Kraken in overtime.
There’s no shame in starting the season with nine points from five games instead of the maximum of 10, and they were never going to go 82-0-0 this season.
But the reality for the Flames is that they aren’t perfect anymore.
There will surely be some frustration with the way Saturday’s game ended, though. Mistakes cost them, even if coming away with a point from an away game isn’t something anyone is going to lose sleep over.
They’d taken the lead in the first period on a power-play goal from Blake Coleman, only to let the Kraken back into the game by allowing a five-on-three with Jonathan Huberdeau and Kevin Bahl in the box midway through the second period. Chandler Stephenson made the Flames pay.
A careless turnover by Nazem Kadri in overtime sealed the deal, with Jordan Eberle taking the two points for the Kraken.
And so, it was a slight setback for this Flames team, although not one that will likely do much to kill the good vibes that are coming from the Saddledome locker room.
1. All you could ask for
The battle for the Flames’ starting job in net doesn’t seem to be giving us any clear answers just yet.
We mean that in the best possible way, though.
So far this season, both Dustin Wolf and Dan Vladar have been responding to the competition by stepping up.
Wolf was great against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.
On Saturday, it was Vladar’s turn and he didn’t disappoint.
He stopped 21 of 23 shots, but that stat line doesn’t really tell the whole story.
Vladar was the Flames’ best player on the night and the main reason why they found themselves going to overtime.
He made stops on a couple two-on-ones in the first period, was aggressive with his poke-check throughout the game and showed great positioning and rebound control from start to finish.
It was another good night in net for the Flames and with Vladar and Wolf both rising to the occasion, it feels as if we’re no closer to being able to say who the starter is this season.
2. Giveaway in OT
Kadri’s had a great start to the season, so it’s not worth getting too angry about his turnover on the game’s final play.
It was a moment he’d probably like to have back, though.
The veteran collected the puck deep in his own zone and took off. A few strides later, he tried to make a move towards the middle of the ice, only to have Eberle strip him of the puck.
A couple seconds later, it was game over.
It’s not a play he’ll be looking forward to revisiting in video review sessions this week, that’s for sure.
In his defence, though, Kadri had an otherwise solid night and his line with Matt Coronato and Andrei Kuzmenko created a couple near-miss opportunities late in the third period that could have won the game for the Flames.
Nobody’s going to be writing Kadri off based on one mistake. It’s hard to imagine he’ll make it twice.
3. Coleman opens his account
I’ll be honest that it caught me off guard when the commentators for Saturday night’s game said that Coleman’s goal was his first of the year.
He’s been having a strong start to the season and after scoring 30 last year, this naïve reporter assumed he’d already potted one.
Turns out that Coleman did open his account on Saturday, and it was a nice heads-up play to fire a shot at the net through a crowd late in the first period.
In a game where both teams were playing tight-checking, structured hockey, offence was hard to come by at times.
We’ve seen this year that the Flames are at their best when they’re getting goals from up and down the lineup, and while that didn’t happen on Saturday they showed instead that they’re up for the fight if it’s going to be a testy, low-scoring game, too — even if the final result didn’t go their way.