It's been tough sledding so far for the Calgary Flames, who sit 5-12-2 and dead last in the National Hockey League through 19 games in 2025-26. But they were able to secure a rare victory on Thursday night, shutting out the San Jose Sharks at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Head coach Ryan Huska didn't mince words after the 2-0 triumph.
“We needed a win,” Huska said, per NHL.com's Laurence Heinen. “There’s a lot of things we liked about our game. I thought we did a really good job on the checking side of it, which is important for our team (and) the way we have to play, and then we found a way to get the one goal and the extra one.”
Blake Coleman scored what ended up being the only goal the Flames would need — in unassisted fashion — just under six minutes into the second period. Samuel Honzek added an empty net tally with just five seconds remaining in regulation.
Dustin Wolf wasn't busy between the pipes, but made all 16 saves en route to his first shutout of the season and fourth of his career.
“I thought that was a 60-minute effort start to finish,” the netminder said, per Heinen. “That’s the way we want to play each and every night. We didn’t give them anything, and our (penalty) kill was excellent. We shut them down there in the last couple minutes and it feels good to get two points for your home (fans).”
Flames looking to build on rare win
As Huska admitted, Calgary badly needed a victory after losing three in a row — all in regulation — coming in. After just barely missing out on the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, it's been one of the worst starts in the history of the franchise.
Although it's a long season, it's already looking like it could be a long year for the Flames. Wolf has mostly been doing his part, but there is a significant lack of offense.
Calgary is scoring just 2.05 goals per game, which is dead last by a longshot. The next lowest is the Nashville Predators, who are averaging 2.56 goals per contest.
What's even more concerning is that there are virtually no reinforcements coming; outside of Martin Pospisil and rookie Zayne Parekh — neither of who have been moving the needle too much — the roster is fully healthy.
That means it's up to the guys in the room to right the ship and try to get this team out of its early-season funk. A shutout victory over a surprisingly competent 2025-26 Sharks team is a good start. But it's just that — a start.
The Flames will look to build on the momentum and win back-to-back games for just the second time this year when the Winnipeg Jets visit the Saddledome for an all-Canadian clash on Saturday night. Puck is set to drop just past 10:00 p.m. ET on Hockey Night in Canada.
