For the first time in franchise history, four players made their National Hockey League debuts for the Calgary Flames as they played their season finale on Thursday night against the Los Angeles Kings.

Prospects Zayne Parekh, Hunter Brzustewicz, Sam Morton and Aydar Suniev all suited up for their first NHL games, as the Flames – mathematically eliminated from post-season contention on Tuesday night – closed out their season on the road. And while the Flames were playing a Kings squad that probably had their minds on Monday’s playoff opener with the Edmonton Oilers, the Flames largely carried play and deservedly beat the Kings by a 5-1 score.

Considering that newcomers made up almost a quarter of their lineup, the Flames’ debuting kids played a bit part in the victory.

The Flames’ top pick in last year’s draft, Parekh was voted the club’s top prospect in our rankings last summer. And his spectacular performance this season with the Ontario Hockey League’s Saginaw Spirit didn’t do much to temper expectations.

Against the Kings, Parekh looked… like himself, basically. He played on the club’s top pairing with Kevin Bahl, and also quarterbacked their second power play unit (with Mikael Backlund, Blake Coleman, Yegor Sharangovich and Aydar Suniev) and generally looked calm, cool and collected.

Parekh was credited with 20:31 of ice time, two shots, a goal, a plus-3 rating, and was called for a tripping minor in the second period. Natural Stat Trick had him at 48.46% expected goals for. His goal was a pretty savvy play, with Parekh playing the puck at the point and then cycling down towards the slot for a redirect.

Acquired from Vancouver in the Elias Lindholm trade, Brzustewicz has spent this entire season with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers, primarily paired with stay-at-home ace Yan Kuznetsov. He played on Thursday on the Flames’ third pairing with Brayden Pachal, and he was pretty effective, too.

He played 18:23 and had two shots, a plus-2 rating, a tripping minor in the third period, and 82.38% expected goals for. He was arguably the least impressive of the four prospects, but Brzustewicz has played a really simple, effective game as an AHL rookie this season, and his performance with the Flames was similar to that. (It’s a good thing that he didn’t stand out.)

A college free agent signing last spring, Morton played his first NHL game on the fourth line between a pair of effective veterans in Ryan Lomberg and Dryden Hunt. He also played on the second penalty killing unit alongside Joel Farabee.

Morton had a good game and, like Brzustewicz, looked like he does with the Wranglers. He played 12:25 and had one shot, a goal, a plus-1 rating, went 4-for-7 at the face-off dot, and 48.08% expected goals for.

Morton’s goal was a really effective rush play, and featured the centre getting a redirect from the net-front area, and then freaking the heck out because he scored a goal in the NHL.

Suniev played on the top line, playing with Nazem Kadri and a combination of Adam Klapka and Hunt. (Klapka got hurt and left the game early in the third period, so Hunt got extra reps on the top line.) He also played on the second power play unit.

Suniev played 14:48 and had one shot, a plus-2 rating, and 54.63% expected goals for. Suniev was really effective and had some good offensive looks, but he just wasn’t quite able to convert on his chances.

The Flames’ season has ended. The Wranglers continue on, though, and we’ll likely see some roster re-assignments this weekend to send eligible players (Parekh, Brzustewicz, Morton, Hunt and Klapka) down to the AHL for the post-season.