The Calgary Flames get another shot at the Seattle Kraken on Friday night in Calgary, and this one comes with more weight than a routine division game. The Flames are at the Scotiabank Saddledome, trying to answer two 6-1 losses Seattle delivered at the start of October while they work through a difficult back-to-back set.
Devin Cooley was forced out of his fifth straight start on Wednesday after a crease collision with Colton Dach, leaving Calgary to sort out its options with Saturday in Colorado looming next. Ryan Huska said the team would need to see how things go over the next 48 hours before making a call, and he did not have an update Thursday on Cooley's lower-body ailment.
That uncertainty matters because the goaltending picture has been shifting fast. Wolf entered in relief on Wednesday and stopped 20 of 23 shots, then Huska pointed to the fact that Wolf has not started a game in more than two weeks. He said the young goaltender was put in a tough situation in Edmonton, but got better with every minute that went by.
The Flames also got another option Thursday, when Arsenii Sergeev made 36 saves in Calgary's 4-2 victory over Laval. That does not settle the decision for Friday, but it shows Calgary is not short on an answer if Huska decides to keep moving pieces around through the back-to-back.
What makes this matchup different from the first two meetings is the team Calgary says it is now. Huska said the Flames were playing a much better brand of hockey right now, and that they were a different group, more connected than they were early in the season. He also said Seattle has done a good job all year, but that Calgary feels it is in a better place now than it was when those losses happened.
That is the friction in the night: the Flames can point to better form, a home crowd that Huska said had been almost outstanding, and a reset in confidence, but Seattle has already shown how harsh this matchup can be. Calgary gets the chance Friday to prove the season has moved on from those two blowouts, with the next question waiting less than 24 hours later in Colorado.
