Canadiens Stun Avalanche as NHL Weekend Takes Shape
The Canadiens handed the Avalanche a rare regulation loss Thursday night, setting the tone for a weekend that shifts from a quiet Friday to a full NHL slate Saturday, including marquee matchups across Canada and the United States.
CALGARY — The Montreal Canadiens shocked the Colorado Avalanche Thursday night with a 7–3 win at the Bell Centre. That was Montreal’s 30th win of the season as they sit atop the wild-card standings in the Eastern Conference, and they handed Colorado just its eighth regulation loss of the season as the Avalanche continue on with their historically successful campaign.
Friday’s NHL schedule is unusually light, with only one other game across the league. The lone matchup has the Columbus Blue Jackets visiting the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center.
The Blue Jackets enter the night 7–3 in their last 10 games, though they remain 10 points outside of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, leaving significant ground to make up despite the recent surge.
Columbus is still adjusting under new head coach Rick Bowness, who was appointed Jan. 12 following the firing of Dean Evason. Bowness, 70, was brought in to provide structure, defensive improvement, and veteran leadership after previously coaching the Winnipeg Jets.
Chicago enters the weekend with a 21-24-9 record and sits eight points outside of a playoff position as it continues through a developmental season.
The league schedule ramps up Saturday with a full slate of 14 games. In Calgary, the Flames host the San Jose Sharks in a 2 p.m. MT matinee. The Flames are 21-26-6 on the season, tied at 48 points and sitting near the bottom of the Western Conference standings.
Elsewhere Saturday, the Canadiens travel to Western New York for a marquee matchup against the Buffalo Sabres. National attention will also follow the Toronto Maple Leafs as they visit the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena, with live coverage across all Provectus Media platforms from Vancouver on Saturday.
Colorado continues its road swing with an early start Saturday morning, visiting the Detroit Red Wings with puck drop scheduled for 11 a.m. MT.
Flames seize momentum on Hockey Day in Canada with 4–2 win over Islanders
Calgary built a four-goal cushion by the midpoint of the game and held off a late Islanders push to earn a 4–2 victory on Hockey Day in Canada. The win keeps the Flames within striking distance in a crowded Western Conference playoff race.
CALGARY — The Calgary Flames leaned on opportunistic scoring and strong goaltending Saturday afternoon, defeating the New York Islanders 4–2 at Scotiabank Saddledome on Hockey Day in Canada to collect two critical points in the Western Conference playoff race.
Despite being outshot 30–19, Calgary converted its chances at key moments and received a composed performance from goaltender Dustin Wolf, improving to 21 wins and 46 points on the season.
Yegor Sharangovich opened the scoring late in the first period, snapping a wrist shot past Islanders netminder David Rittich at 11:51 after setup work from Rasmus Andersson and Kevin Bahl. The goal gave Calgary a 1–0 lead after a tightly contested opening frame.
The second period proved decisive not because of puck possession, but execution. While New York held a 9–7 edge in shots during the middle frame, the Flames struck three times in an eight-minute span.
Adam Klapka doubled the lead at 3:04 of the second with a net-front tip-in off a point shot from Bahl, with Morgan Frost also earning an assist. Justin Kirkland followed at 9:50, scoring his first goal of the season to make it 3–0 after taking a cross-slot feed from Ryan Lomberg and lifting a shot over Rittich. Yan Kuznetsov added another at 11:49, finishing a play created by Nazem Kadri and Connor Zary to cap the surge.
The Islanders responded quickly through Jean-Gabriel Pageau at 12:21 of the second, but Calgary’s early cushion held through the remainder of the period.
New York pushed hard in the third, and Islanders head coach Patrick Roy made an aggressive move by pulling Rittich for the extra attacker with more than eight minutes remaining. The extended six-on-five pressure produced a late goal from Anders Lee at 17:04, but that was as close as the Islanders would come as Calgary closed out the win.
Wolf finished the afternoon with 28 saves on 30 shots for a .933 save percentage, turning aside sustained pressure and limiting second chances. Rittich stopped 15 of 19 shots (0.789) for New York.
Three Stars
Kevin Bahl, CGY — Two assists and steady defensive play.
Adam Klapka, CGY — A goal and an assist.
Rasmus Andersson, CGY — 25:40 TOI and an assist in what could be his last game with the club.
Kirkland’s goal stood as the game-winner and reinforced a familiar formula for Calgary, which continues to find success when it generates enough offense to reach the four-goal mark.
The victory came in front of an announced crowd of 17,358 and carried notable standings implications. The Flames remain five points back of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference currently held by the San Jose Sharks. In the Pacific Division, Calgary trails the Vegas Golden Knights by 12 points, the Edmonton Oilers by eight, and the Seattle Kraken by five, keeping the race behind the division leader tightly contested.
Calgary has also made recent roster adjustments aimed at boosting its offense, including the recall of Matvei Gridin from the Calgary Wranglers. With eight games remaining before the Olympic break, the Flames enter a critical positioning window. Once play resumes, the stretch drive toward the Stanley Cup Playoffs truly begins.
Saturday’s performance offered a clear blueprint: efficient finishing, disciplined structure, and goaltending capable of holding the line. For a team still within reach, it was exactly the type of afternoon that keeps belief intact.
Late Goal Sinks Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome as Pacific Race Tightens
Calgary tied the game twice but surrendered the deciding goal in the final minute, falling 4–3 as movement elsewhere in the Western Conference continued to tighten the standings.
CALGARY -- The Calgary Flames fell 4–3 Saturday night, undone by a late third-period goal in a game that intersected with a busy day across the Western Conference standings.
Calgary opened the scoring just 1:56 into the first period when Yan Kuznetsov stepped into a slap shot from the point to make it 1–0. The lead was short-lived. Erik Haula tied the game midway through the period, then scored again less than two minutes later to put Nashville ahead 2–1.
The Flames answered late in the opening frame. Rasmus Andersson pulled Calgary even at 2–2, closing a first period that produced four goals in under 14 minutes.
Nashville regained the lead early in the second when Michael Bunting scored unassisted at 4:08, restoring a 3–2 advantage. Calgary pushed back again in the third period, with Blake Coleman finishing a play from Mikael Backlund and Matt Coronato at 12:49 to tie the game 3–3.
The tie held until the final minute. Nicolas Hague fired a slap shot past Calgary at 19:31 of the third, delivering the game-winning goal.
Dustin Wolf was the goalie of record for Calgary, stopping 32 of 36 shots for an .889 save percentage.
The result followed movement elsewhere in the Pacific Division earlier in the day. The Edmonton Oilers were defeated 5–2 by the Philadelphia Flyers, creating an opportunity for Calgary to close the gap in the standings. With the Flames losing in regulation, the distance remains six points between the two clubs.
Edmonton sits at 46 points, one point ahead of both the Vegas Golden Knights and Anaheim Ducks, who are tied at 45. Further down the board, the Los Angeles Kings picked up a win over Minnesota, moving to 43 points and into a three-way tie atop the Western Conference wild-card race with the Seattle Kraken and San Jose Sharks.
Calgary’s margin to Edmonton stayed the same, but results elsewhere continued to compress the Western Conference playoff picture.
Flames shut out Sharks 2–0 behind Wolf’s 16-save gem as Skinner exits with injury
Dustin Wolf posted a 16-save shutout and Blake Coleman scored the winner as the Flames beat San Jose 2–0, while the Sharks lost Jeff Skinner to a lower-leg injury.
CALGARY — The Calgary Flames snapped their three-game losing streak and halted the San Jose Sharks’ momentum with a 2–0 win Thursday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Goaltender Dustin Wolf posted his first shutout of the 2025-26 season by stopping all 16 shots he faced, standing tall as the difference in the contest. Calgary broke through when veteran Blake Coleman ripped a high shot at 5:46 of the second period after forcing a turnover. Rookie Sam Honzek sealed the win with an empty-net tally in the final seconds.
The night’s turning point came even before the score sheet filled. Sharks forward Jeff Skinner collided hard into the boards in the opening period and exited the game without putting any weight on his leg. A local physician at ice level told reporters the impact and Skinner’s reaction were consistent with a tibia or fibula fracture. At the time of the game, the Sharks had not released an official update.
Calgary dominated the shots early, outshooting San Jose 13-1 in the first period and 27-6 after two, but relied on disciplined defensive structure and timely plays to preserve the lead. Wolf remained sharp throughout, particularly when San Jose pulled the goaltender for an extra attacker late in the third.
With the result, the Flames improved to 5-12-2 and snapped a slide, while San Jose fell to 8-7-3 and will now await an update on one of their key forwards. Calgary now shifts its focus to converting strong starts into deeper momentum through the remainder of the season.
Wranglers edge Reign 3–2 behind Suniev’s winner and Prosvetov’s strong night at the Dome
Calgary edged Ontario 3–2 at the Saddledome, powered by Adar Suniev’s third-period winner, a shorthanded finish from Clark Bishop, and a steady 22-save performance from Ivan Prosvetov. The Wranglers now head into a three-week, 10-game road trip before returning home December 9.
CALGARY — The Calgary Wranglers closed their homestand with a hard-fought 3–2 win over the Ontario Reign on Wednesday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome, powered by a shorthanded strike from captain Clark Bishop and a third-period game winner from rookie forward Adar Suniev.
Calgary opened the scoring late in the first when Martin Frk finished a quick passing sequence at 17:19. Matvei Gridin carried the puck on the entry, slipped it wide, and the puck eventually moved through Dryden Hunt to Frk at the edge of the crease for his fourth goal of the season. The Wranglers carried a 1–0 lead into the intermission with a 10–8 advantage in shots.
The second period delivered most of the night’s emotion. After Gridin was called for tripping as part of a sequence that included offsetting roughing minors, Calgary found itself shorthanded. Bishop turned the situation into an opportunity, jumping on a loose puck and scoring one-handed on the breakaway at 6:41 for his third of the year. David Silye recorded the lone assist.
Ontario responded with a strong push of its own. Akil Thomas cut the lead to 2–1 at 13:45, walking down the right side and snapping a high shot past Ivan Prosvetov. Martin Chromiak picked up the assist, and the Reign carried that momentum into the intermission despite trailing on the scoreboard. Calgary held a 22–12 shot advantage through forty minutes.
Ontario tied the game during a lengthy two-man advantage in the third. Jakub Dvorak pounced on a rebound at 17:17 to make it 2–2, with assists from Francesco Pinelli and Kenny Connors.
The Wranglers answered quickly. On the power play at 9:03, Suniev hammered home a cross-slot feed for his fourth of the season, restoring Calgary’s lead. The assists went to William Strömgren and Hunter Brzustewicz, who moved the puck sharply across the top before the decisive finish.
Prosvetov preserved the win with a sprawling right-pad save minutes later as Ontario threatened to tie the game again. The Reign pulled their goalie with 90 seconds left and generated pressure, but Calgary’s defensive group closed the final shift without surrendering another clean look. Shots finished 32–23 for the Wranglers.
The win sends the Wranglers into a three-week road swing that spans 10 games before their next appearance at the Saddledome. Calgary opens the trip on Nov. 15 and 16 in Henderson, followed by stops in Bakersfield (Nov. 18), San Diego (Nov. 22), Coachella Valley (Nov. 23), San Jose (Nov. 26), Abbotsford (Dec. 2 and 3), and a back-to-back in Ontario (Dec. 6 and 7). The Wranglers return home on Dec. 9 to face the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
Three Stars
Clark Bishop, CGY
Adar Suniev, CGY
Ivan Prosvetov, CGY
Ontario Reign defeat Calgary Wranglers 5–1 on Remembrance Day at the Saddledome
The Ontario Reign defeated the Calgary Wranglers 5–1 on Remembrance Day at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Calgary outshot Ontario 29–27, but the Reign capitalized on their chances with goals from Kenny Connors, Cole Guttman, Jared Wright, Taylor Ward, and Koehn Ziemmer. Dryden Hunt scored the lone goal for Calgary.
CALGARY — The Ontario Reign defeated the Calgary Wranglers 5–1 on Remembrance Day at the Scotiabank Saddledome, powered by balanced scoring and strong goaltending from Pheonix Copley.
Ontario opened the scoring early in the second period when Kenny Connors of Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, beat Owen Say upstairs from a sharp angle for his third of the season. Just over two minutes later, Cole Guttman of Northridge, California, finished a feed from Glenn Gawdin and Andre Lee to make it 2–0.
Calgary answered midway through the frame when Dryden Hunt of Cranbrook, British Columbia, converted a well-executed passing play from Rory Kerins (Caledon, Ontario) and Hunter Brzustewicz (Michigan) at 6:41, cutting the deficit to 2–1.
Ontario regained control in the third. Jared Wright scored shorthanded on a clean finish through Say’s five-hole — the game-winner — before Taylor Ward added his seventh goal of the season off a rebound from Akil Thomas. Koehn Ziemmer closed out the scoring with his first AHL goal, assisted by Aatu Jämsen and Jack Hughes, to make it 5–1.
Calgary outshot Ontario 29–27, but the Reign capitalized on their chances to improve to 8–4–1, while the Wranglers fell to 6–5–2 as they head out on a three-week road trip.
Three Stars:
Jared Wright (78), Ontario – Shorthanded game-winner
Pheonix Copley (29), Ontario – Steady 28-save performance
Koehn Ziemmer (13), Ontario – First AHL goal