by IHM Team | IHM News | October 27, 2025
The Calgary Flames finally got what they’ve been starving for: relief.
After eight straight losses, Calgary came out with energy, execution, and pride in a 5-1 win over the New York Rangers on Sunday night. It was the first time all season the Flames scored more than three goals in a game – and it did not look like an accident.
This was pressure hockey from a team that’s been under fire for two weeks.
Fast Start, Loud Message
The Flames struck early. Less than two minutes in, Nazem Kadri opened the scoring off a sharp give-and-go with Jonathan Huberdeau, ripping a clean wrister high glove on Igor Shesterkin.
Calgary doubled the lead midway through the first on Kevin Bahl’s first of the season, another high-glove snipe from distance. Same spot. Same result. Shesterkin never saw it clean.
The Rangers did answer right away – literally seconds later – with Noah Laba scoring his first career NHL goal in his 10th game, cutting it to 2-1. But that was as close as New York would get.
From that moment on, Calgary controlled the game.
Middle Frame: Stabilize, Then Punish
The second period didn’t have the chaos of the first. It had something more important for Calgary: control.
About halfway through the frame, Yegor Sharangovich made it 3-1 with his first of the season. That goal also snapped Connor Zary’s eight-game drought without a point. That’s not a small detail. Calgary needs the middle of the lineup to wake up. It woke up.
At that point you could feel it on the bench. This wasn’t just “please let us hang on.” This was “we’re taking this.”
Third Period: Coleman Slams the Door
The Flames then finished like a team that remembered how to win.
Blake Coleman scored twice in the third to blow the game open.
- First, a textbook shorthanded two-on-one with Mikael Backlund.
- Then, another one that beat Shesterkin from range, again with Backlund on the setup.
Final score: 5-1 Calgary.
It was ruthless. It was needed. And it was overdue.
Calgary has now scored eight goals in its last two games. That matches their total from the previous six combined. For a team that sat dead last in the league in offense, that matters.
Coach Mark Lehtonen’s Comment
“That’s what urgency looks like. You could feel a different mentality from Calgary shift after all the talk this week about trades and changes. Kadri set the tone right away. Coleman and Backlund finished the job like pros.
What I really liked: Calgary didn’t panic with the puck. They didn’t force plays through the middle. They played direct, used support, and attacked downhill.
If this is who they actually are, not just one good night, then the conversation in Calgary changes fast.”
What’s Next
These two teams meet only once more this season, in March at Madison Square Garden. That one is going to feel different now.
Next up:
- The Flames face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.
- The Rangers go to Vancouver to play the Canucks.
Both opponents can score. We’re about to learn if Calgary just broke the skid… or actually turned a corner.
IHM Verdict
- The losing streak is dead.
- Kadri looked like a driver, not a passenger.
- Coleman and Backlund closed like killers.
- Calgary finally punched back.
This is the version of the Flames the rest of the league hoped would stay asleep.