The Calgary Flames spent the opening week of the season looking like a team trying to extinguish a fire with an empty bucket.
Now they are the fire.
Calgary’s 5-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday completed a perfect four-game homestand, extended its winning streak to four and pushed its record to 5-6-0. That may not sound like parade-planning territory, but it represents a remarkable recovery from an 0-5-0 start that had the Flames chasing games, confidence and almost everything else.
They have won five of six since then. More importantly, they suddenly look like they know exactly how they want to play.
“We’re playing a simpler brand of hockey,” Ryan Huska said to reporters.
Simple has rarely looked this lively.
The Flames have gone from appearing slow and disconnected to supporting the puck, moving through the neutral zone with speed and attacking in layers. Defencemen are making the first pass instead of forcing the heroic one. Forwards are arriving together. When the puck is turned over, Calgary has bodies close enough to recover it.
The result is a team that looks faster without changing its personnel.
Calgary’s turnaround began before the winning streak, but the four-game sweep at the Saddledome gave it substance. The Flames edged the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes 3-2, survived a 38-shot Minnesota barrage in a 2-1 victory and produced their most complete performance of the young season in beating Detroit 4-1.
Then came Toronto, riding a four-game winning streak and arriving with plenty of offensive swagger.
Calgary did not blink.
Matvei Gridin opened the scoring at 11 minutes of the first period, finishing a setup from Martin Pospisil and Simon Nemec. Mikael Backlund doubled the lead exactly one minute later, scoring in his return after missing two games with an upper-body injury.
The captain’s goal was the 609th point of his Flames career, tying Johnny Gaudreau for fifth on the franchise’s all-time scoring list.
“It’s nice to put a few together here at home,” Mikael Backlund said to reporters.
It was especially nice to put two together in 60 seconds.
Gridin struck again only 25 seconds into the second period, ripping a power-play shot from the left circle past Sergei Bobrovsky. It gave the 20-year-old his first two-goal game and first three-point performance in the NHL.
It also provided the celebration of the night.
The player nicknamed ‘Griddy’ broke into the dance bearing the same name, giving a packed Saddledome one more reason to bounce. Calgary has spent several seasons talking about adding youth, skill and personality to its lineup. Gridin delivered all three in one shift.
The fun mattered because the game tightened from there.
Easton Cowan redirected a Troy Stecher pass past Devin Cooley at 12:54 of the second period. William Nylander made it 3-2 early in the third, finishing a cross-crease feed while Cooley scrambled across his crease.
This was the point where the Flames of the first week might have cracked. A bad bounce might have become a bad shift, which might have become a bad period and another discussion about learning painful lessons.
These Flames settled down.
Cooley stopped the next push, Calgary protected the middle of the ice and Joel Farabee and Pospisil finished the night with empty-net goals. Farabee added an assist, Matt Coronato and Nemec each contributed two helpers and Cooley made 26 saves for his fourth consecutive victory.
That is the encouraging part of this upswing. It is not being carried by one line, one veteran or one goaltending miracle.
Gridin supplied the fireworks against Toronto. Farabee produced three points against Detroit and followed with two more Monday. Zayne Parekh has looked increasingly comfortable joining the attack. Backlund returned and immediately supplied a captain’s goal. Cooley has given the team calm, timely saves and a chance to find its footing.
Even the victories have had different shapes.
Carolina required a response against a champion. Minnesota demanded patience while Cooley handled a third-period storm. Detroit was controlled through two periods before Calgary relied on its goaltender late. Toronto asked the Flames to protect a one-goal lead against one of the league’s most dangerous collections of finishers.
Four tests. Four answers.
The Flames are also beginning to generate offence without abandoning the details that left them in ashes. Their power play has contributed important goals, their forecheck is creating turnovers, and their younger players are attacking rather than simply trying to survive their shifts.
Confidence is visible in small decisions. Calgary’s players are holding pucks for an extra beat, finding the late option and trusting teammates to be where the system says they should be. The difference between hesitation and conviction can be half a second in the NHL. Right now, the Flames are arriving on the right side of it.
Nobody should confuse an October winning streak with a solved season. Calgary remains one game below .500 and gave up enough third-period pressure against Minnesota and Detroit to provide Huska with plenty of teaching material.
However, the conversation has changed.
A week ago, the question was whether the Flames could stop a season from escaping before Halloween. Now it is whether this stretch has uncovered something sustainable: a fast, connected team with emerging young talent, useful depth and a goaltender enjoying the best run of his NHL career.
The next exam arrives Wednesday in Edmonton. Calgary will take its four-game streak into the first Battle of Alberta of the season before facing Seattle at home Friday and Colorado on the road Saturday.
That schedule will test the legs, the structure and the newfound confidence.
For the first time this season, though, the Flames are not merely hoping to survive the test. They are skating into it with momentum, a little swagger and a kid who will happily dance after scoring.
The fire alarm has stopped ringing.
The Flames are finally bringing the heat.
