'Playing With Confidence'

He’s aptly nicknamed ‘Sharky’ in the Flames dressing room.

And Yegor Sharangovich can smell blood in the water.

The Calgary forward brings a four-game goal-scoring streak back to the Scotiabank Saddledome tonight, as his Flames open a quick two-game homestand against the Lightning. Get tickets

After lighting the lamp just once in his first 10 games following an off-season move from New Jersey, Sharangovich now finds himself atop the Flames goal-scoring charts with 10 tucks, four of which came on this week’s three-game road trip.

The offensive skill is one thing, but Head Coach Ryan Huska alluded to a different kind of progress recently when asked this morning about whether the 25-year-old sniper has taken a step in his game.

“Yup he has, with puck play for sure,” Huska said. “I know every time we talk about him, my messaging’s always been ‘we just keep working on getting him stronger on the puck,’ and I feel like he’s doing that now, like there’s second and third efforts that you see from him.

“He’s playing with confidence now, and he’s putting himself in positions where he can shoot.”

And shoot, he has.

Sharangovich had 11 shots on goal on the road trip, not counting his nasty shootout marker Thursday night in Minnesota (he’s 3/4 in the skills competition this season, by the way).

He’s also been a scoring threat even when the Flames find themselves a man down, tallying three short-handed points in his last five games including a gorgeous goal against his former club Dec. 9.

Should Sharangovich tally tonight against the Lightning, he’ll tie a Calgary franchise mark - set in 1980-81 by Kent Nilsson and 1985-86 by Joe Mullen - by owning a five-game goal-scoring run in his first season with the Flames.

It’s the type of streak that could help Sharangovich set another personal best - he’s on pace to eclipse his career-high of 24 goals, set during the 2021-22 campaign with the Devils.

For Huska, Sharangovich’s success comes from competitiveness; a willingness to remain in the battle.

Confidence has a lot to do with it too, though.

“He has a good skill set, he’s got a great shot,” Huska said. “We want him to think like he can be a threat all the time, part of that is making sure that when the puck’s up for grabs, he’s really competitive to get it, keep it, and do something with it.

“When he has it, good things happen, and that’s what it’s been like for him lately.”