Matthew Coronato was the most productive member of the Calgary Flames on their three-game road trip.
Just how the franchise drew it up.
Although the Flames faithful were furious when the 21-year-old was sent back to the minors when the body count was too high in Calgary, he was quickly brought back when management could manoeuvre it.
The transactional up and down is just part of the journey for young players like Coronato who are still waiver exempt when teams are dealing with the numbers.
But it’s clear Coronato is a worthy NHLer. Maybe even a young star in the making. His impressive and timely contributions at critical times during a somewhat successful 1-0-2 road trip this week was more evidence to that.
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Using his improving quickness, a knack for finding open ice, and his elite shooting ability, Coronato was the main reason the Flames got a win against the Montreal Canadiens. He scored the tying goal with 2:46 left in regulation with an individual effort that saw him loop around on the left side then walk into the faceoff circle for a deadly accurate shot.
In overtime, he bulled his way through Habs centre Nick Suzuki after Mikael Backlund won the faceoff and sniped the winner just seven seconds into extra time — a Calgary Flames franchise record.
“I thought he was very competitive, and those were two great individual plays,” Flames head coach Ryan Huska said after the win in Montreal.
“He put himself in an excellent position where he was able to show off his shot. That’s what he’s all about. I’m really excited for him.”
Flames fans are excited too. Again in Buffalo, he put himself in prime scoring position all alone at the right side of the net to tap in his fifth goal of the season to cut the Sabres lead in half late in the second period.
That goal sparked another Flames third-period comeback as the team rallied to force a third straight overtime.
It also put Coronato in a tie for the team lead with five goals, despite the fact he’s played five fewer games than Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri.
It’s fair to say a demotion is less likely (although not impossible) going forward.
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