Coming off of a 5-1 drubbing at the hands of the Canucks, the Calgary Flames play their first home game of the 2025-26 season against the 0-1-0 St. Louis Blues at the Scotiabank Saddledome this afternoon.
With a rough recent history against St. Louis (1-6-2 in the Huska era) as well as a tendency to lose matinee games, grinding out a win may be Calgary’s greatest challenge yet. Let’s take a look at a few things to keep an eye on.
Farabeast
The play of winger Joel Farabee was a light in the darkness of Calgary’s 5-1 loss to Vancouver. His forechecking provided an abundant amount of space for linemates Morgan Frost and Yegor Sharangovich. The unit went 3-0 in scoring chances at 5v5 and scored Calgary’s only goal.
Not So Great
We’ll see if Huska wants the line of Matvei Gridin, Nazem Kadri and Matthew Coronato to remain intact. The three got outscored 0-2 as a line. Gridin ended the night -4 and Kadri -3.
All four should be volume shooters with their own dedicated line.
The Danger Zone
St. Louis kicked off their season by getting smashed by the Minnesota Wild; a 5-0 shutout loss in their home opener.
Despite the rough score, Jake Neighbours, Jordan Kyrou, and Colton Parayko, among a few others, put up some dominant underlying stats. Kyrou went 10-3 in shots at 5v5. The Blues had ten scoring chances to the Wild’s three when Parayko was on the ice.
This is all to say that the score may have been more due to goaltending and a failure to execute.
It’s worth noting where Minnesota’s goals came from:
Courtesy of ESPN.
All below the hash marks inside the low slot. Huska has preached getting to the net more often this season. Let’s see what the Flames can muster from in-tight.
Drama
We’re three days into the Flames season and already the Zayne Parekh saga is getting old.
Parekh, 19, watched both games of the back-to-back from the player’s box. He watched a tired Joel Hanley and Jake Bean get exposed by Vancouver’s transition game—It’s possible that there is more to it. Maybe the ultra-hyped offensive defenceman is nursing an injury.
Head coach Ryan Huska isn’t one to give away roster spots; especially when Parekh didn’t have a particularly strong preseason, but Zayne did outplay a couple veterans.
Time will tell. Today could be the day he gets into his second NHL game.
Calgary Flames Projected Lineup
Gridin-Kadri-Coronato
Farabee-Frost-Sharangovich
Zary-Backlund-Coleman
Lomberg-Kirkland-Klapka
Hanley-Weegar
Bahl-Andersson
Bean-Pachal
Wolf (Starter)
Cooley
St. Louis Blues Projected Lineup
Buchnevich-Thomas-Snuggerud
Holloway-Schenn-Kyrou
Neighbours-Suter-Texier
Joseph-Bjugstad-Walker
Fowler-Parayko
Broberg-Faulk
Tucker-Mailloux
Binnington
Hofer
Expect the puck to drop around 8:25 P.M. MST after a few season-opening ceremonies.
Stats courtesy of NaturalStatTrick and the National Hockey League. Blues practice lines courtesy of Matthew DeFranks. Flames lines will be adjusted closer to game time.
KEEP READING:
Flames Fall Short in Vancouver, 5-1
Hot Takes: Calgary Flames 2025 Preseason Grades
Neufeld: 11 Calgary Flames Preseason Thoughts & Observations
Neufeld: 7 Bold Predictions Heading into the New Season
9 Reasons the Calgary Flames Struggled Last Season
Remarkable Turnaround: How the Flames PK went from 30th to 1st
Five Former Flames Head Coaches: Where are they now?
Follow on X: @Trevor_Neufeld
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