The Calgary Flames played three consecutive games in the New York metropolitan area over the past five days. Most importantly for the Flames and their playoff aspirations, they won all three games.
But forward Matt Coronato completed a pretty rare feat, scoring a goal in each of the three games – he had four goals over the week – and becoming just the second player in Flames history to pull off what we’re going to call the “New York metro hat trick.” And Coronato happened to do it during his first visits to each of the three New York area arenas as an NHLer.
Coronato is the first player to complete the feat since Jarome Iginla did it in December 1999. The feat is so rare because, well, the NHL scheduling can be a bit weird. The Flames have only embarked on road trips that saw them face the Rangers, Islanders and Devils seven times since the Devils moved from Colorado in 1982. In most seasons, the league has split up their visits into multiple trips to balance out other trips to the east coast.
On Tuesday against the New York Rangers, Coronato scored a power play goal that stood as the game-winner. At 18:03 of the first period, he received a pass from Nazem Kadri, then fired a shot from the slot area that beat Igor Shesterkin.
On Thursday against the New Jersey Devils, Coronato scored a power play goal that got the Flames on the board. At 11:58 of the second period, Coronato’s attempted pass to Kadri at the top of the goal crease was inadvertently redirected into the Devils’ net past Jacob Markstrom by Dawson Mercer.
On Saturday against the New York Islanders (the team he grew up cheering for), Coronato capped out the week with two goals. 36 seconds into the first period, he fired a shot with a screen from Jonathan Huberdeau that beat Marcus Hogberg to give the Flames a 1-0 lead.
At the 6:03 mark of the second period, Coronato scored again… on another feed from Huberdeau. This time, he received a pass from Huberdeau in motion and fired a wrist shot past Hogberg’s glove hand to tie the game at 2-2.
Following the game in New Jersey, Flames netminder Dan Vladar mused about Coronato’s homecoming performance.
“Well, he just he just plays like he’s at his home backyard,” said Vladar. “That’s what it feels like. He knows how to beat goalies, and it’s awesome for him. I think everybody’s so happy for him that he’s got his family here and and great for him that, you know, he’s showing he’s showing his family that what kind of player he is.”
Coronato’s four goals brought his goal-scoring output in his first full NHL season to 20 games – with 13 games still remaining in the regular season.
“It’s been a fun week,” said Coronato. “I think the main thing that sticks out is winning all three games in such an important time of the year. This team really showed a lot of heart, a lot of grit, so really proud of the effort.”
The Flames return to action on Tuesday night when they host the Seattle Kraken.

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