CALGARY — The Calgary Flames' historic offensive woes continued Wednesday night.
Despite rookie goaltender Jakub Dobes making a season-high 37 shots, they only beat him once in overtime, a 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
While it ends a streak of six straight losses in regulation, it marks seven games without a win for Calgary since opening the season with a shootout win over the Edmonton Oilers.
“I know it's the same, it's the same. It feels like there's a dark cloud hanging over us, but we have to somehow stay positive. Keep the energy,” Flames defenseman Mackenzie Weegar said.
“It's October. It's too early to start telling everyone – a sad story and sad songs.”
Three points in eight games is the worst start in Flames franchise history.
Calgary started the 1995-96 season under Pierre Page with a 0-5-3 record. They finished 34-37-11 that season and made the playoffs, but lost 4-0 to the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round, a series in which Hockey Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla made his NHL debut.
Back then there were only 26 teams in the league. In a 32-team league, Calgary faces a steeper climb, and they know it.
“We feel like we're not getting any waivers, but we just have to stick with it,” Weegar said. “We have a great room here to do it, and we still believe in it.”
The Flames' struggles centered on their inability to score. Their 12 goals in eight games is the lowest in the NHL.
The Flames' shooting percentage for the season is 5.6%. The next worst place is the New York Rangers (7.0).
For context, since the NHL began tracking shots on goal in the 1959-60 season, the record for the worst team shooting percentage in a season was held by the Arizona Coyotes at 6.9 percent in 2014-15.
Calgary's lone scorer on Wednesday was Adam Klapka, whose first goal of the season came from Noah Dobson to tie the game at 5:56 of the third period.
“We can't count on our fourth line to score goals,” coach Ryan Huska said.
“At the end of the day, we need players to step up to the net to score. So, you can go to the net all you want, but you have to find a way to score, and that's the job of a lot of people on this team, and they have to come to the rink knowing that they can do it consistently, which they are. They just need to demand a little bit more in that area.”
The most notable of the six starters still looking for their first goal of the season was Nazem Kadri, who was second on the team in shots (20) but was unable to find a goal.
An indication of how things are going for the 35-year-old veteran was his power play late in the second period. Kadri was set up for a Grade A chance in the slot, but he hit it right off the post.
Kadri led the team with a career-best 35 goals last season.
“With the amount of shots we've been seeing lately, we're doing a better job of putting more pucks in the net, now it's about being hungrier up front so the goalie doesn't have a chance to make a clean save,” Huska said.
The power play hurts the Flames, who went 0-for-5 against the Canadiens and finished 29th in the league with the man advantage.
“I thought it was a lot better leading up to this game than it was today,” Huska said. “They have chances to score. I'd like to see them shoot the puck more often than they do, and I'd like to see the puck speed move a little faster than it is.”
Weegar, who is the quarterback of the club's best power play, said the team needs to find a way to relax so the goals will come.
“There are a lot of guys here who want to contribute offensively,” said the defender, who is also yet to score this season.
“We've got guys here that have scored a lot of goals in this league, had outstanding results, had outstanding years in their careers and had elite numbers. We just need to not push ourselves so hard. Let the game come to us. Just be patient when you get your chance.”
The Flames' trip to Winnipeg to face the Jets on Friday won't be any easier. Huska says waiting until the next game is a way to prevent frustration from setting in.
“There are always things you take away from the game, good and bad. Tomorrow we'll talk to the players about both and then make sure we get ready for the Winnipeg game, and that's what it's all about,” Huska said. “You move on pretty quickly, and we're preparing for the next one. That's how you avoid it.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2025.
