Honzek helps hot Flames beat Kraken 4-3 in OT

Calgary Flames rookie Samuel Honzek continued his scoring teardrop connected Monday with a superb short-handed effort.

Giving him an NHL-leading 7 pre-season points, Honzek’s highlight-reel extremity successful the 2nd play helped the Flames bushed the Seattle Kraken 4-3 successful overtime.

“When Penticton (rookie tournament) started, it was pugnacious due to the fact that 3 months without a game, but erstwhile the main campy started, I consciousness truly different, similar a caller player,” said the 19-year-old Honzek, the Flames’ first-round prime (16th overall) successful 2023.

With 2 goals and 5 assists successful 5 games, Honzek sits unsocial atop the NHL’s pre-season scoring leaders.

“I’m truly enjoying it. So far, it’s good, but I’m trying to enactment humble, not beryllium excessively overconfident,” said Honzek, who turns 20 connected Nov. 12.

Tied 2-2 aft the archetypal period, Seattle had aggregate chances to instrumentality the pb aboriginal successful the 2nd erstwhile Calgary took 4 penalties successful the archetypal six minutes.

But not lone did the Flames termination disconnected the extended powerfulness play time, Honzek ignited the location assemblage astatine 6:33 with his goal.

After taking a breakout walk from Yegor Sharangovich, Honzek skated down the close helping done the neutral portion and into the Seattle extremity wherever helium utilized his 6-foot-4 framework to powerfulness his mode astir defenceman Vince Dunn, past arsenic helium chopped crossed the beforehand of the net, helium neatly eluded netminder Joey Daccord’s poke cheque earlier tucking the puck successful the nett portion falling to the ice.

“He conscionable goes retired determination and works. I deliberation that’s what you’d similar to spot successful a young player. You travel and listen, you travel and learn, and you effort to marque definite you bring your champion erstwhile you’re astatine the rink,” said Flames manager Ryan Huska.

Honzek played past play with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants wherever aggregate injuries constricted him to conscionable 33 games successful which helium had 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists).

“I cognize aft past year, everybody was talking astir ‘Oh geez wherever is this Honzek guy, and is helium going to beryllium a player?'” said Huska. “Well, helium is simply a player. He’s a beauteous bully player. We’re beauteous excited astir wherever he’s astatine close now.”

Brayden Pachal, Blake Coleman, and Nazem Kadri — with the game-winner connected a slick setup from Andrei Kuzmenko — besides scored for Calgary (5-0-1), which has yet to suffer successful regulation.

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Eeli Tolvanen, Ville Ottavainen and Shane Wright replied for Seattle (1-3-1).

In his archetypal afloat crippled aft playing 2 periods successful each of his archetypal 2 starts, Dan Vladar — coming disconnected off-season hep country — made 30 saves for the win.

“Every time I consciousness amended and better, and I conscionable cognize it’s gonna get amended and better. So I’m ace affirmative and assured astir that,” Vladar said.

Daccord made 23 stops for the Kraken.

Making his pre-season debut for Seattle was Dunn, conscionable backmost from an injury.

“Really good,” said Seattle manager Dan Bylsma, asked to measure Dunn’s debut. “I deliberation his archetypal oregon 2nd shift, helium went backmost for a puck, took a hit, and we present cognize helium tin instrumentality a deed and marque a play.”

After taking the lead, the punishment barrage successful the 2nd continued for the location broadside with Blake Coleman’s punishment with 7 seconds near — Calgary’s sixth insignificant of the play — yet costing them with Wright scoring 39 seconds into the 3rd to necktie it 3-3.

Barrie battling

Picking up a brace of assists for the Flames with secondary helpers connected some first-period goals was defenceman Tyson Barrie, who is successful Flames’ campy connected a nonrecreational tryout.

“Just trying to proceed to marque an impression, and skate well, and make immoderate offence erstwhile I can,” said the 33-year-old, who had 3 assists successful 3 games. “I’ve been trying to beryllium myself each crippled and each practice, and it’s the champion league successful the world, and you got to enactment hard to enactment present and instrumentality your opportunities erstwhile they come.”

Barrie has played 809 vocation NHL games and should helium motion with Calgary, would articulation his 5th NHL organization. He played past play for Nashville.

Up next

Kraken: Host the Edmonton Oilers connected Wednesday.

Flames: Visit the Winnipeg Jets connected Wednesday.