These are the type of outings Calgary Flames fans could get used to watching. The kind where the club’s bevy of youngsters step up to try staking their claim on big league jobs. Facing a far more experienced Kraken team in Seattle on Sunday, the Flames opened the pre-season with an energetic, physical brand of hockey that included a handful of notable performances.
Those who didn’t watch might think Dustin Wolf’s 33-save effort was the story in a 6-1 win, or that Matt Coronato’s goal and two assists stole the show from Adam Klapka’s pair of snipes. While those efforts, and productive outings from Clark Bishop (1G, 1A) and Sam Honzek (two helpers), were instrumental, it was the Flames’ group of relatively inexperienced defencemen who stole the show. A look at the pairings: Jake Bean-Brayden Pachal This could very likely be the team’s third pairing to open the season, as Bean is a lock in the top six, while Pachal’s claim on the sixth spot likely hinges on him doing exactly what he did all night Sunday: crush opponents.
The 25-year-old Pachal led the game with a whopping eight hits, which included two monster blasts in the first to set the tone in a mismatch that saw the Flames outhit the host Kraken 52-26. The Flames want to be a tough team to play against, and that’s exactly the type of physical dominance the team needs more of. Pachal and Bean both had an assist and were plus-3, while Bean led all Flames with 21:50 of ice time.
Pachal was second at 20:02. A.