Team

Betting

FlamesNation has no direct affiliation to the Calgary Flames, Calgary Sports and Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA

Notes from last game: There weren’t a lot of bright spots in the Flames’ 6-2 loss to the Golden Knights

Photo credit: Christopher Trim-Imagn Images

By Cynthia Ryley Delaney

Oct 18, 2026, 15:45 EDTUpdated: Oct 18, 2026, 13:32 EDT

Comments

All the positives from the two games against the Anaheim Ducks have disappeared.

Thursday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights wasn’t great for the Calgary Flames, falling 6-2 to move their season record to 1-6-0. We knew this season was going to be a tough one, but this was a stinker, even in a rebuild.

Somehow, there were positives to take away from this 6-2 loss, but if this game taught us anything, it’s going to be a long few years for this team. Let’s take a look at the notes from last game.

The positives

Joel Farabee had a solid game. He picked up an assist on the Flames’ opening goal, less than a minute after his short-handed breakaway chance. Farabee has been the team’s primary set-up man, as his four assists are the most on the team, while his four points are tied for first on the team.

He’s tied with fellow top six player, Matt Coronato. Late in the game with it already out of reach, Coronato scored a power play goal, his second goal of the season. He’s in a three-way tie for first on the team.

I’ve been really impressed with Adam Klapka this season. Like Coronato, he has two goals through seven games. Although the Czech-born forward didn’t score, he seemed to be in the middle of every scrum and stood up for his teammates.

Martin Pospíšil is a similar player to Klapka, as he has a tendency to get under the opponents skin. While he didn’t score in this game, the Slovak-born forward started a scrum with the Flames down 6-1. I personally love when a player takes a pound of flesh in a blowout loss.

That same scrum saw Jake Middleton receive a 10 minute misconduct. The defenceman had a strong game, scoring his first goal as a Flame on the penalty kill. It was the first time that’s happened in eight years, and he also had a solid shot on a two-on-one later in the game. This was by far Middleton’s best game as a Flame.

The Flames fell 6-2, but without Dustin Wolf in the net, it would’ve been a lot more. He made a few key saves, including a great post-to-post denial and robbing Braeden Bowman of a highlight-reel goal in the final minute of the game.

That said, the opening goal against was a tone-setter for this game, as Wolf allowed a weak one to get by him less than a minute and a half into the game. On the third shot of the game, he allowed his second goal.

Wolf finished with an .818 save percentage, but the Golden Knights had 4.45 expected goals according to Hockey Stats, so it wasn’t Wolf’s worst performance.

The negatives

That second goal came on a breakaway, not really the fault of Wolf. Instead, the blame should be pinned on Yegor Sharangovich, who had his pass picked off by Jack Eichel.

Aydar Suniev looked impressive in his first three games, but the rookie struggled in this one. While he managed to fire three shots on goal, he finished as a game-worst minus-3. Morgan Frost (who picked up his first helper of the season) and Sharangovich also finished as a minus-2.

On their blue line, Šimon Nemec didn’t have a great game, finishing as a minus-2 in his 20:54 of ice time. Other than Middleton’s goal, their blue line had a rather disappointing game.

The turning point of this game came shortly after Farabee’s short-handed goal. On the same power play, Braeden Bowman scored to give the Golden Knights a 3-1 lead. They never looked back, as captain Mark Stone scored three consecutive goals.

Penalties were a major factor in this loss, as the Flames spent nearly half the second period in the box. The Golden Knights only capitalized on one of them, but it ruined the flow of the game for the Flames.

Another thing that cost the team was Wolf allowing the first goal on the first shot. Ideally, a netminder makes the save to help him and the team grow into the game. You can’t fault Wolf for the loss, but this was one he needed to save.

Other notes…

My favourite non-hockey thing from this game came with about five to play. Yan Kuznetsov and Zach Whitecloud stopped a high-danger scoring chance, and a mad scramble ensued. After the pressure was relieved, colour commentator Kevin Sawyer pulled out the fantastic quote of “Please don’t ask me to break that down.” It made me chuckle both times I watched the game.

The Flames are back in action on Sunday evening, returning home to host the reigning Stanley Cup champions, the Carolina Hurricanes. They haven’t had a Stanley Cup hangover, as they carry a seven-game win streak into the Saddledome.

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

Sponsored by bet365: