Coronato continues to play a key role for improving Flames

Calgary Flames' Matthew Coronato, second left, celebrates his goal with teammates during second period NHL hockey action against the Los Angeles Kings in Calgary on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Dustin Wolf, Matt Coronato and Jonathan Huberdeau have each played pivotal roles for the surprising Calgary Flames this season and that was the case again on Saturday night.

Coronato had a goal and an assist, Huberdeau notched the game-winner on the power play, and Wolf made 31 saves as the Flames overcame a slow start to post a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings, snapping the visitor's five-game winning streak.

Tied 1-1 in the third period, the game-winner came at 4:36 when Kings' netminder David Rittich couldn't control Coronato's rebound and Huberdeau buried his team-leading 18th goal. His second game-winner in as many games gives him a team-leading four on the season.

“Fortunately got a good bounce on Matty's shot. I just tried to put it in as fast as I could. I knew the goalie was out of position,” said Huberdeau, who is on pace for 36 goals. His career high is 30.

That shot was Coronato's game-high fifth of the contest and came after the right-winger tied it 1-1 at 8:58 of the second period when he picked the top corner on a perfect wrist shot from 30 feet out after a set-up from Blake Coleman.

“He gets it off quick, probably when the goalies aren't really expecting him to shoot. But it's also hard, and then you throw in accurate with it, too. So he can put it through a goalie,” said Flames coach Ryan Huska.

Dangerous player

Coronato, who turned 22 in November, has emerged as one of the club's most dangerous players.

“He's feeling good. You can see he's got that jump in his legs. He has such a good shot, it's impressive. I think that shot was unbelievable, and all year he's been playing well,” said Huberdeau. “He's really playing with confidence right now.”

Wolf knows how dangerous his shot is from having to stare it down every practice.

“It's deceiving,” said Wolf, who also played in the minors with Coronato. “That goal is one of the top ones I think he's had for sure, and came at a very good time for us.”

Up to 10 goals on the season, eight of Coronato's goals have come since he returned to the NHL after a brief stint in the AHL at the end of October.

“He's grown a lot this year, from having to be sent down early on in the year,' said Huska.

“When guys get sent down, it's up to you with the attitude that you go down with. The night he got sent down, he didn't play for the Wranglers, but he went to their game and was in there after the game, after a win, when he could have easily just stayed at home for that one because we didn't ask him to go.

"But it just shows you about the type of person that he is, and his game since he's been back here has continued to get better and better.”

Solid performance

Keeping the Flames in the game early on Saturday night was Wolf with another solid performance, especially in the one-sided first period, as the rookie goaltender improves to 13-5-2.

At the 15-minute mark of the first period, the Kings had a 17-2 edge in shots on the Flames but only led 1-0 thanks to Wolf's heroics.

“They played last night, right? You know they're gonna come in and have a push to try to push us out of the game,” said Wolf. “As the game went on, we started to control more of it.”

As they hit the halfway point in the season, Calgary is 20-14-7 and find themselves just one point out of a Western Conference playoff spot.

“Now that we're in that conversation, you can get the confidence from it and say, you know, we're one of these teams now, we're capable of being here, which is why we're here, and we're going to continue to prove people wrong,” said Ryan Lomberg, who had a pair of fights for Calgary.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 11, 2025.