Three takeaways as Flames grind out win against Crosby, Penguins

Facing the red-hot Penguins in Pittsburgh, the Flames deliver one of their most gutsy performances of the season to halt a four-game slide.

Goaltender Devin Cooley celebrates with MacKenzie Weegar and Nazem Kadri after the Calgary Flames defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. PHOTO BY GENE J. PUSKAR /The Associated Press

The Calgary Flames had lost four straight. The Pittsburgh Penguins had won six in a row.

If there was ever a game where you might have felt comfortable predicting a Flames loss, it was on Saturday afternoon. Instead, they showed up in Pittsburgh and put in one of their most gutsy performances of the season and earned a 2-1 win.

Considering the circumstances, that’s pretty remarkable.

Against the Penguins (21-13-9), the Flames (19-22-4) were without Blake Coleman, their leading goal scorer who is out day-to-day. They were also starting their backup goaltender, Devin Cooley, who hadn’t played since Dec. 20 and was only just recovering from being sick as a dog. They were less than 48 hours removed from completing a back-to-back against the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins, too.

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If they’d wanted excuses, they’d have been easy enough to find.

Instead, the Flames turned up the physicality, locked in defensively and got timely scoring from Connor Zary and Matt Coronato at PPG Paints Arena to secure their first win of 2026.

“That was three games in not even close to four days,” Zary told reporters. “I think it’s big to come out of here in that situation and grind one out.”

The Flames had been struggling in the new year and Saturday’s win, while impressive, still had them five points back of a playoff spot. By the end of Saturday night’s slate of games, it was possible that gap could grow.

But sometimes, you need to stop the bleeding. And Saturday’s win against a red-hot opponent did just that.

Here are three takeaways from the victory over the Penguins:

Yan Kuznetsov knocks away an airborne puck while defending against the Penguins’ Anthony Mantha in front of goaltender Devin Cooley. PHOTO BY GENE J. PUSKAR /The Associated Press

The Flames’ backup likely would have played in at least one or two of his team’s games this week, but he was hit hard by the flu last weekend … and then it got even worse.

“I’ve had a fever for the last five days,” Cooley explained. “We’ve just been mitigating the fever with Tylenol. When the flu went away, it turned into bronchitis, so my lungs. They started me on antibiotics and an inhaler and stuff because I can’t breathe and I’ve got a really bad cough. 

“It’s been five or six days of no sleep, a tonne of meds, just sweating constantly in my sleep and barely eating. I’ve just been in this dream state, very out of it, just loopy. It hasn’t been fun and obviously the travel doesn’t really help.”

Cooley’s illness meant that Dustin Wolf had to carry the load for the Flames, including the back-to-back games mid-week. Given Cooley’s condition, it does beg the question of why the team didn’t bring Owen Say on the road to provide cover for Wolf.

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Either way, Cooley was great against the Penguins, stopping 27-of-28 shots.

“You’ve got to be ready to play,” Flames head coach Ryan Huska said. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to be ready and I think he gave us a game we needed, gave Wolfie a chance to catch his breath a little bit and made some really good saves that helped us get the win.”

Flames forward Matt Coronato celebrates his goal against the Penguins. PHOTO BY JUSTIN BERL /Getty Images

Coronato’s third-period goal was his first since Dec. 18 and broke a streak of nine straight games without a lamp-lighter.

It was a nice snipe in a big moment from a guy the Flames need to see producing. 

It also means that since the team returned from its brief Christmas holiday, Nazem Kadri and Morgan Frost are the only two everyday forwards who haven’t scored. Both of those players are relied on for their offence, so they need to get going sooner rather than later.

With Mikael Backlund scoring once in eight games since the break, it means that the Flames have gotten only one goal from the centre position over that stretch.

Not a particularly encouraging stat, to say the least.

Flames forward Connor Zary (back) celebrates his goal against the Penguins with Adam Klapka. PHOTO BY GENE J. PUSKAR /The Associated Press

Zary hasn’t had an easy season, but there are hints that he’s starting to find his game in a real way. What a great bit of news that would be for the Flames.

If we go back to the Christmas break, Zary is now leading the Flames with four goals in eight games, while adding an assist, too.

That’s doubled his season total, and the goal he scored on Saturday was a pretty one. He read a play well in the defensive zone, intercepting a pass and then taking off to bury the puck in the back of the net on a breakaway.

“I kinda saw they had three high and I was kinda just trying to read the (pass) and hoping he was going to make that and was maybe cheating a little bit and it all worked out,” Zary explained. “It feels great. We had a good attitude in here tonight.”