“I think a lot of the issues in the circle come from our lack of right-handed centremen because we’re forcing guys to have to take draws on their off-side a lot,” Flames head coach Ryan Huska said. “And teams know that, so they always put us on that side more often than not. Matt has taken draws in the past. He’s starting to take a few now for us.”
As long as Coronato is on the same line as captain Mikael Backlund, he’ll remain a secondary option for these start-of-shift showdowns.
But Backlund, who has squared up for 679 faceoffs already this season — the fourth-highest total in the NHL — certainly wouldn’t mind a little assistance on his weak-side.
That would help the 35-year-old lefty to boost his own success rate, which currently sits at 47.1% (that is still tops on the team, with the Flames so far combining to win just 44.6%, which ranks them 29th in the league. The good news is that Saturday’s opponents, the Chicago Blackhawks, are even worse at 43.1%.)
So … enter Coronato?
The Flames’ youngest player was tapped for three faceoffs in Thursday’s overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators. On two of those, he was able to secure possession.
Two nights earlier, during the sudden-death session against the Boston Bruins, Backlund asked him to try his luck against their old pal Lindholm. He won that one, too.
While his season-long percentage doesn’t jump off the page at 46.7%, Coronato is 11-of-16 since the calendar flipped to December.
“That’s something we can continue to work with him on and help him build that part of his game up,” Huska said of Coronato. “He’s done it before. He just hasn’t done a lot of it at this level.”