Through two games, the Calgary Flames are undefeated.

The good news and bad news, depending on your perspective, is that the two wins haven’t been full marks. The Flames have several elements of their game that they likely want to polish, especially as they get further into the season and play less rusty opponents (and teams league-wide start to find their rhythm).

One of the parts of their game – two, really – that the Flames are hoping to improve is their special teams play.

The Flames’ power play wasn’t great in 2023-24, though it picked up quite a bit once Andrei Kuzmenko was acquired prior to the trade deadline.

The Flames scored a power play goal during their comeback against Vancouver, with MacKenzie Weegar teeing up a point shot. He repeated the feat against Philadelphia, and Nazem Kadri scored on a five-on-three. Last season the Flames scored one five-on-three goal all year, so Kadri’s tally already represents a bit of an improvement over last season.

Overall, the Flames have gone 3-for-8 on the man advantage. They’ve scored three goals but allowed a shorthanded goal against the Flyers. When the PP has worked well, it’s had a ton of rapid puck movement and also seen the personnel themselves move around actively to confuse the opponents’ kill. It’s still working out the kinks in terms of movement coordination, though, as evidenced by the shorthanded goal they gave up.

Last season, the Flames had one of the NHL’s better penalty kills. Early on, it hasn’t been great but you could argue there are extenuating circumstances – already without PK regular Yegor Sharangovich due to injury, they lost Kevin Rooney against Vancouver and then got behind the eight-ball with a slew of penalties early. An interesting development so far has been Jonathan Huberdeau’s involvement in the PK, which has provided a decent amount of energy to the group.

The Flames allowed two power play goals against Vancouver – and a third goal that was scored just after a penalty expired – but they scored a shorthanded goal, too. They allowed one power play goal against Philadelphia. So far, their challenge has been containing down-low passes around the net-front area. Vancouver scored a couple goals off quick passes and shots (or redirects), while Travis Konency’s goal on Saturday was another in-close pass-and-shoot play.

The penalty kill overall has gone 5-for-8, allowing three power play goals. But they’ve also scored a shorthanded goal.

If you’re the Flames, you’re probably anticipating a lot of close games this season – head coach Ryan Huska has said as much recently. For those types of games, you’re probably hoping that your special teams units can either saw off even or even give you a slight edge overall.

“That’s the difference, always, in close games,” said Huska after the Flames’ victory over the Flyers. “If you can get your power play to score, and if you can, at certain times of course, have your penalty kill come up with a little bit of momentum for you, that’s often times the difference in games.”

So far, the Flames are even: four special teams goals for, four special teams goals against. They’re not where they want to be, but it’s still early, and we’ll see what adjustments they can continue to make going forward.