Huska won’t shuffle lineup as Flames face Wild in must-win game
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In the midst of a playoff chase few saw coming, the Calgary Flames will not rush top prospect Zayne Parekh into action.
The Flames are coming off a tough loss in Anaheim where their power play went 0-for-6 and the team’s defence struggled late in the game, but head coach Ryan Huska will use the same lineup Friday when the Flames host the Minnesota Wild in a must-win game.
Calgary is chasing Minnesota for a Western Conference playoff spot. The Flames are five points back of the Wild and St. Louis Blues, both of whom have 93 points. The Flames have one game in hand on the Wild and two on the Blues.
Parekh joined the team in Anaheim this week. Parekh and Bobby Orr are the only Ontario Hockey League defencemen in history with multiple 30-goal campaigns, and Parekh’s possible addition to the lineup has been a hot topic on Calgary sports radio this week.
Huska is emphasizing patience with the 2024 ninth-overall pick.
“I don’t have to manage that [hype] right now,” Huska said Friday. “Zayne’s been here for a pre-game skate. This is his second pre-game skate [laughs]. He’s gonna play games. He’s gonna have a long career, but we want to make sure he’s in the position where he’s ready to roll.”
Teammates had fun with Parekh on Friday morning, who took rotations on both power-play units. Parekh had a nice goal, prompting forward Joel Farabee to playfully yell to media to “tweet that.”
Huska said that Parekh’s NHL debut is contingent on two things.
"For one, understand how we play the game,” Huska said. “Two, make sure he’s comfortable too. So all that comes into play. He’s gonna play. He’s gonna have a nice, long career. But he’s been around us for two days.”
Parekh and his family were in attendance to watch the Flames relinquish the lead against the Ducks in the dying minutes and lose in overtime. Veteran forward Blake Coleman said that a big lesson from Wednesday is situational awareness.
“If you look at times that we’ve been burnt, it’s been late in periods or early in games,” he said. “It’s two of the most critical times in games. [We] don’t want to be learning lessons at this point in the year. It’s all about squeezing points out of games, but if we find ourselves in that situation again, I have a feeling that guys will bear down and make sure we take care of business.”
Huska said he has faith the team’s man-advantage units have also learned hard lessons from Wednesday. Calgary has the 24th-ranked power play in April and never looked like a threat in Anaheim.
“It wasn’t good the last game,” Huska said. “They’ve had stretches over the last few [games] where they need to be better. I think they all know that. The situation we’re in, we need them to be difference makers for us. I know they’re going to be much better tonight.”
Huska said the struggles are in two areas.
“A little bit of execution and a little bit of pace,” he said. “I think they were a little bit slow with moving the puck around. They’re holding on to it a little too long, so it’s about moving it quick, and then sometimes…simplifying and getting it to the net much quicker than we were trying to.”
Friday’s tilt versus the Wild is the Flames’ biggest game in three seasons. Players and coaches have said constantly that every game is the most important game of the campaign, but a loss on Friday all but closes the door on playoff hockey at the Saddledome this season.
“We all believe that we can make the playoffs,” Jonathan Huberdeau said. “We can’t let this [game] slip away.”
The old barn will surely be the loudest it’s been in a long time on Friday night.
“Our fans have been amazing this year,” Huska said. “Every game that we’ve needed a push, we’ve got it from them. There’s been some nights in this building that it’s been playoff-like, the atmosphere. I wouldn’t expect anything different with this game tonight.”
Flames projected lineup
Huberdeau-Kadri-Klapka
Coleman-Backlund-Coronato
Farabee-Frost-Sharangovich
Lomberg-Rooney-Pospisil
Hanley-Weegar
Bahl-Miromanov
Bean-Pachal
Wolf