The Calgary Flames kicked off the 2024 edition of the Young Stars Classic tournament in Penticton on Friday with an early evening tilt with the Winnipeg Jets.
The Flames started off slowly and tentatively, but found their legs and made a game of it after trailing 2-0 after the first period. They couldn’t quite turn enough good chances into goals, though, and they dropped a 4-3 loss to the Jets in overtime.
The rundown
The Jets opened the scoring early in the first period off a turnover in the Flames’ zone by Artem Grushnikov. He couldn’t come out of the corner with the puck, as Brayden Yager set Nikita Chibrikov up with a lane to the net and he beat Connor Murphy to make it 1-0 Winnipeg.
The Jets made it a two-goal lead a little later off a rush sequence, as Markus Loponen went wide and found a seam to pass to Connor Levis all alone in the slot. He beat Murphy to make it 2-0 Winnipeg.
First period shots were 9-8 Flames.
The Flames battled back in the second period. Sam Morton got the club on the board off the rush. He entered the zone and attempted to throw a cross-zone pass to Matvei Gridin, but the puck bonked off blueliner Dmitry Kuzmin’s skate and back to Morton. Morton opted to shoot in all the confusion and beat Thomas Milic to cut Winnipeg’s lead to 2-1.
A little later the Flames tied things up off a really nice offensive zone cycle play. Morton carried the puck behind the net to the far corner, then threw a pass right to Hunter Brzustewicz, sneaking in from the point. Brzustewicz’s shot beat Milic to tie things up at 2-2.
Second period shots were 10-5 Flames. The Flames were very unlucky not to leave the second period with a lead.
The Jets took advantage of some Flames penalties and managed to retake the lead early in the third period. With Parker Bell in the penalty box for hooking, Jacob Julien made a nice redirect of a pass from Brad Lambert in the slot past Murphy to give the Jets a 3-2 advantage.
Midway through the third, though, the Flames answered back… again on a Jets power play. With the clock winding down on a Joni Jurmo minor, Lucas Ciona caused a turnover and raced up ice, chucking the puck on net. Milic couldn’t corral it and Jaden Lipinski whooshed in and poked the loose rebound into the Winnipeg net to score shorthanded and tie the game at 3-3.
Third period shots were 5-3 Jets.
This one went to extra time, where the Jets cashed in. Zayne Parekh attempted to win a puck battle inside the offensive blueline, but the puck squirted away from him, sending Colby Barlow and Kuzmin in on a two-on-oh rush. Barlow fed Kuzmin and it was academic, giving the Jets a 3-2 victory.
Why the Flames lost in overtime
On the good side of things, the Flames were really good in the offensive and neutral zones for two-thirds of this game. Once they got past a pretty ugly first 10-12 minutes, they really played well and they probably could’ve scored another 2-3 goals in the second period.
However, the Flames played a pretty flat first 10-12 minutes and were a work in progress in their own end. They have a young blueline group and they looked quite young at times with their decision-making. It’s prospect camp and it’ll be the type of game that the video coaches can highlight a lot of lessons from.
Red Warrior
Morton and Strömgren were the two most consistently noticeable Flames skaters, though Misa and Lipinski also had some strong stretches.
Defensive zone schemes for both teams were fairly spotty. It seems unfair to single out any particular blueliner given that the Flames had a lot of guys playing with each other for the very first time in a competitive environment.
This and that
Lines, via Sportsnet 960 The Fan’s Pat Steinberg:
William Strömgren [A] – Sam Morton [A] – Matvei Gridin
Samuel Honzek – Jaden Lipinski – Andrew Basha
Lucas Ciona [A] – Luke Misa – Jacob Battaglia
Parker Bell – David Silye – Hunter Laing
Artem Grushnikov – Hunter Brzustewicz
Joni Jurmo – Zayne Parekh
Etienne Morin – Henry Mews
Connor Murphy started in net, backed up by Waltteri Ignatjew.
In the latter part of the game, most noticeably in the third period, Gridin and Honzek swapped spots.
Up next
The Flames prospects are back at it on Saturday night when they face the Edmonton Oilers prospects. It’s a late start with an 8:30 p.m. MT puck drop from Penticton.
