1. Youth Gone Wild
One, three, or even five (or more) years down the road, the casual Flames historian might turn to a third-period moment from Tuesday as the start of something special.
On paper, it was a powerplay goal that tied Game 71 of the 2025-26 season at 2-2. But in reality, the goal was so much more.
Zayne Parekh's first goal on Scotiabank Saddledome ice, assisted by Matvei Gridin and Matt Coronato. Three key pieces of the Flames' future and - quite obviously - integral cogs in the team's present-day success, too.
Gridin joked post-game that he's hopeful he and Parekh can link up on plays for the next 15 years, but that goal - that moment - might just be the spark that resonates in the two rookies' minds.
They belong here.
For Parekh, it's been a season of learning. Playing against men for the first time after a dominant OHL career, the 19-year-old is really starting to find his stride in the NHL game.
And that's not just based on an eye test, his Head Coach figures Parekh is learning on the fly quite well, too.
Even if until Tuesday, he hadn't lit the lamp yet this season.
"He just needs to remember that he’s doing a lot of great things away from the puck. He’s learning how to play the game at the NHL level," Ryan Huska said of Parekh's progression. "He’s a smaller defenceman, that’s a skilled guy and it’s hard to break in as a 19-year-old.
"I think he’s doing an excellent job, and a lot of that pressure, I feel like, gets put on him from outside sources at times. What he is doing, though, is learning to be more of a complete player and I think he’s done an excellent job at that. The points are going to come for him, that is a matter of time. It’s starting to feel comfortable, and figuring out how to play in the NHL."
Gridin, who would be playing at about a 40-point pace had he spent the entire season at the NHL level, is fast becoming one of the Flames' premier offensive threats.
And for Huska, the young Russian has the self-confidence (actually, boatloads of it) to let his game do a lot of the talking.
"I think he just understands the game a little bit more right now, so that, maybe, is translating into more offensive production for him," Huska said of Gridin's recent form. "He’s always got a great bit of swagger that, as coaches, we quite enjoy.
"Not a lot of young guys have what he’s got, and I just feel like him understanding the game a little bit better now is putting him in positions to actually finish, and generate some offence."
Those positions - as evidenced by Tuesday's win over the Kings - now include powerplay time at key moments.
And why not? With 11 games left in the regular season, there's no time like the present for the future to strut its stuff.
Real-time results, like Parekh's first career powerplay goal, make for special moments.
For Huska, those moments are building blocks, confidence-boosters.
And for his new, young core, they're standard-setters, too.
"At that moment in the game, when we’re thinking about winning games and trying to maintain, establish, push a standard that we want to have, you have to find a way to score that goal," he said. "Happy for Zayne.
"I know he’s probably been waiting a long time for that, but really happy for the powerplay in that moment."
