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Notes from last game: Zayne Parekh shines in Flames’ 4-0 loss to Oilers

Photo credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images

By Cynthia Ryley Delaney

Oct 30, 2026, 17:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 30, 2026, 16:46 EDT

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All good things must come to an end.

On Wednesday evening, the Calgary Flames fell 4-0 to the Edmonton Oilers, snapping their four-game winning streak and moving their record to 5-7-0.

This loss halted the Flames’ momentum they built up at the Saddledome. It’s not like they played weak teams either, defeating the Carolina Hurricanes and Minnesota Wild, two teams that made it to the second round. But injuries and lack of finishing cost them on Wednesday.

Let’s take a look at the positives, the negatives, and other notes from last game.

The positives

The Flames weren’t quite the “better team” through two periods, but they were the more dangerous team through 40. While the Oilers scored on their first shot, that first shot didn’t come until nearly eight minutes into the game.

In the expected goal battle, the Flames finished with 2 expected goals over the 40 minutes, holding the Oilers to just 1.45 expected goals. Hockey isn’t played on paper or through advanced metrics, but it is an encouraging sign for the Flames and a worrisome sign for the Oilers as it has been going on all season for them.

As for individual performances, I thought the Zayne Parekh and Yan Kuznetsov pairing had a good game. Parekh in particular was terrific during five-on-five action, as the Flames attempted 24 shots to the Oilers 12 with him on the ice, landing 12 shots on net and giving up just five shots. The Flames owned 78.39 expected goals in Parekh’s 15:43 minutes of five-on-five ice time. As always, he’s a dangerous player when he has the puck on the power play.

Matvei Gridin’s three-game goal streak came to an end, but I was encouraged by his game as well. No forward, including Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, played more than Gridin’s 22:31 of ice time. In fact, no forward even hit 20 minutes. He also had a strong defensive play late in the second and made a disgusting pass before being the trigger man to one of the Flames’ best scoring opportunities in the game.

That’s really it for the positives. The Flames were shelled in the third period and allowed a power play goal, ending a streak of 11 straight kills.

The negatives

It’s been a while since there were far more negatives than positives. That third period was a rough one of the Flames, as Kevin Bahl took a penalty early, and the Oilers scored shortly after. That ended any chance of coming back in this game, and the game was put away with a fourth goal less than a minute later.

The biggest negative from this game were the two injuries. Early in the first, Brennan Othmann dropped the gloves with Ty Emberson and sustained an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day. This fight came at the wrong time, as the Flames had the Oilers hemmed in their zone for over a minute.

Late in the first period, Oilers’ Colton Dach ran Devin Cooley, picking up a two-minute goaltender interference penalty. Cooley remained in the game as there was less than 30 seconds, and he even stopped McDavid on a breakaway, but Cooley wasn’t out for the second period.

Robert Munnich

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Devin Cooley makes a big save on Connor McDavid at the end of the 1st period. 🎥: Prime | #Flames

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1:21 AM · Oct 29, 2026

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Losing Cooley, the biggest reason for the Flames’ four-game winning streak, is a big blow. But what I find concerning as well is the lack of response from the Flames. Dach just injured a player on a needless drive to the net, that needs to be answered. Especially since he did it again early in the first, though he was pushed by a Flame that time.

Wolf played the final 40 minutes for the Flames, allowing three goals on 23 shots for an .870 save percentage. It’s hard to fault him on the second goal (heavily screened) and third goal (great passing play), but he had to stop the fourth goal. My concern metre for Wolf is pretty high early into the season given his performance in 2025-26.

The Flames’ best chance to score came with about seven and a half minutes left in the second period. Joel Farabee was alone in the slot, but elected to pass to Mikael Backlund, who was not expecting the pass. He didn’t get enough on the shot, and the Flames failed to cut the lead in a half. Farabee had to shoot this.

Other notes

This was the final Battle of Alberta until Mar. 3, as the Flames host the Oilers in the penultimate BoA at the Saddledome. The two teams will play twice in March, both in Calgary, as well as one game in April in Edmonton.

But before that, there’ll be a whole bunch of games, including their next match-up against the Seattle Kraken on Friday at 6:00 p.m. MT. The Flames are looking to get their revenge after a pair of 6-1 losses to the Kraken in their first three games of the season.

Cynthia Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for DFO Calgary, DFO Edmonton, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @CynthiaRDelaney.

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