Coronato’s hot streak comes at perfect time for Flames

Maybe it was the home-cooked meatballs that did the trick.

Matt Coronato, the 22-year-old Calgary Flames right winger, suited up for the first time as an NHLer on Long Island on Saturday, about 50 kilometres from where he grew up in Greenlawn, N.Y.

Coronato’s family had been in the stands to see him score for the Flames in wins over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden and in Newark against the Devils.

Long Island was different. He had a much larger contingent in the UBS Arena stands and was at his family’s place the night before for dinner.

“It was nice to have a nice, home-cooked dinner and eat some good food,” he said after the team’s practice on Monday following a road trip where the Flames got six of a possible eight points.

“[My mom] knows it’s my favourite. She texted me and she was like, ‘I’m making meatballs.’ I was like, ‘Perfect.’”

Coronato scored twice against the Islanders, including on the game’s first shift.

“Definitely an easy game to get up for…to play in front of family and have so much support, I’m so grateful for it,” Coronato said.

Coronato, who was drafted by the Flames 13th overall in 2021, was a late training camp cut but has since emerged as a key offensive driver and responsible two-way forward for a club that has shocked the hockey world to remain firmly in the playoff conversation.

The Flames are currently four points back of St. Louis for the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot but have three games in hand. Coronato is third on the team in goals, tied for second in game-winning goals, fourth in points, and has earned head coach Ryan Huska’s trust in late-game situations when the team is protecting a lead.

According to Natural Stat Trick, Coronato has played nearly 200 five-on-five minutes with Jonathan Huberdeau, who had lofty praise for him.

“His shot is just lethal,” Huberdeau said. “He’s going to be a real superstar in this league for sure.”

Huska said that Coronato has earned the opportunity to have a big role for a club with legitimate postseason aspirations.

“I think he’s always going to be in a position where he’s going to play a lot,” he said. “He’s earned a lot of minutes that he’s getting…I think he’s playing very good hockey for us right now.”

Coronato and his teammates have continued to showcase their resiliency and determination. After a 6-2 loss in Toronto to open the trip, they swept the New York-area teams while playing without their captain, Mikael Backlund, who has missed the past five games because of an upper-body injury.

Backlund was a full participant in Monday’s practice and could return as soon as Tuesday versus the Seattle Kraken. Blueliner MacKenzie Weegar missed Saturday's win and Monday's practice, but Huska said he is likely going to play on Tuesday.

Throughout the season, Huska has leaned on Backlund, Weegar and a group of veterans for creating and maintaining the team’s culture.

“Our leaders, Backs and all those older guys, have set the standard that we’re going to do whatever it takes to get the job done,” Coronato said. “We know the type of players that we have in this room. There’s just a lot of belief that we really can get it done.”

Huska sees it every day and will rely on that energy to close out a season that began with modest external expectations.

“Those guys haven’t rode any sort of wave,” he said. “They’ve been the same every day, good or bad. They challenge teammates the right way, I think they play by example a lot, and I think their attitude and how they’ve shown their teammates that they believe that the team can be a good one this year has rubbed off on the group.”

Coronato will be a key part of those efforts. Huska was asked jokingly if he’d fly the Coronato family out to Calgary, given Matthew’s recent success in front of them.

“He got hot, which is great,” Huska said. “Hopefully he can continue that here.”