The Calgary Flames are no longer perfect in the pre-season.
After winning three in a row to start their exhibition slate, the Flames wound up on the wrong side of a 4-3 overtime decision in Wednesday’s meeting with the Vancouver Canucks in Abbotsford, B.C.
Jake Bean, Sam Honzek and Dryden Hunt did the lamp-lighting for the Flames, who left their big names back home. Calgary-raised left-winger Andrew Basha, a second-round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft, made a pretty pass to spring Hunt for his breakaway bury.
Daniel Sprong notched the equalizer with just 14.3 ticks left in regulation and Vancouver’s prized free-agent acquisition, Jake DeBrusk, scored his second of the evening in overtime. The Canucks’ top guns connected on that sudden-death strike — Quinn Hughes to Elias Pettersson to DeBrusk.
Here are three takeaways from Wednesday’s auditions in Abbotsford …
HOW ’BOUT HONZEK?
Honzek was arguably the Flames’ best forward against the Canucks, and his strong showing in three exhibition outings so far has hardly come as a surprise to his off-season workout partner.
This summer, Honzek trained in Slovakia alongside his teammate Martin Pospisil.
Pospisil told reporters that Honzek was “outstanding” in Sunday’s two-point performance in Seattle and “also awesome” as he piled up three assists Monday in Edmonton.The 19-year-old left-winger continued his offensive hot streak with a goal Wednesday, redirecting a pass from his pal Pospisil.
“He’s doing really good, and I’m really proud of him,” Pospisil said of Honzek, a first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and now the Flames’ top power-forward prospect. “He’s showing all the tools, what he has. He’s big. He’s strong. He can skate. I was telling him, ‘Just play simple.’ When he does his things, he can be really effective.
“I’m really proud, and he just has to keep playing like that.”
Listed at 6-foot-4 and 195 lb., Honzek is at his best when there’s some assertiveness to his game.
On Wednesday, he once again showed a willingness to take pucks to the blue paint and managed to hold his own in board battles against Vincent Desharnais, who is one of the NHL’s biggest dudes. On a third-period sequence, the Flames’ hopeful flashed solid speed to generate a high-danger scoring chance.
Honzek also deserved an assist after a sweet feed to a wide-open Matvei Gridin, but the USHL’s reigning scoring champ was robbed by Canucks netminder Jiri Patera. Gridin, 18, could only grin after a great glove save.
GOALIE IN A GROOVE
By his own admission, Dustin Wolf put a heap of pressure on himself during training camp last fall.
Since Jacob Markstrom was locked into the starting role and Dan Vladar was the incumbent backup, Wolf felt like he needed to be darn-near-perfect to steal a job.
He was ultimately demoted to minors, left to wait on another opportunity. Injuries eventually allowed him to log 15 starts at the NHL level before the season was done. After Markstrom was traded to New Jersey, most believe that Wolf will be a full-timer in 2024-25.
“You come into camp and you’re trying to force a hand and you kind of put pressure on yourself to basically be flawless, to a degree,” Wolf said, reflecting on the fall of 2023. “Last year, you know Marky is the guy and I was trying to push Vladdy to earn a spot.
“But I think this year I’m more prepared, maybe less stressed. I still have to earn a spot, but there are spots to be earned. And now I have games under my belt and I know what it takes, so I’m just going to go out there and play.”
That approach seems to be working.
Wolf stopped 17 of 19 in two periods of action in Abbotsford. The only pucks to sneak past him were on a deflected pass and then a tipped shot.
The 23-year-old Wolf now owns a .943 save percentage in 100 minutes of tune-up work.
Devin Cooley is doing his darnedest to create a crease controversy — and he wouldn’t be blamed on either of the goals he allowed in the late stages of Wednesday’s overtime loss — but as long as Wolf keeps this up, he and Vladar should open the season as Calgary’s twine-minding tandem.
INJURY CONCERNS?
There was no shift chart available Wednesday, making it impossible to double-check on who played when, but the Flames seemed to finish the night with a short bench.
It’s believed that both Bean and Matt Coronato exited early.
Here’s hoping it’s no biggie for either.
While we wait for an update on Bean, who signed over the summer with his hometown team, it should be noted that the Flames already have one injury concern on the left side of their blue-line. Kevin Bahl has yet to lace ’em up for a practice with his new squad.
Beyond Bahl and Bean, Calgary’s crew of left-handed rearguards includes Artem Grushnikov, Joel Hanley, Ilya Solovyov, Jarred Tinordi and top pick Zayne Parekh. (Tinordi was burned on Wednesday’s tying tally, missing on a pokecheck attempt as Sprong raced into the offensive zone.)
Coronato was held off the scoresheet in Abbotsford but still has three goals and five points in three exhibition contests so far. There’s been plenty of debate in Calgary about whether the 21-year-old right-winger could force the Flames to find him a spot on one of the top three lines.
Cooley was slow to get up after Sprong’s goal, but it’s a good sign that he remained in the game for overtime.