Flames Core Four Under 24 Building Confidence

Matthew Coronato was the OT hero but Dustin Wolf, Connor Zary and Kevin Bahl were key players in the win over Canadiens

Much was made of sophomore Matt Coronato's two-goal performance in the Calgary Flames' overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night. Rightly so — Coronato is one of the more promising Flames prospects. 

But it was an impressive Flames Core Four that helped pave the way to the heroic two-goal finish from the player earning the nickname Scoreonato. 

What made the night at the Bell Centre in Montreal memorable was the glimpse into what the Flames franchise hopes is its future. A foursome of impact players under the age of 25 — an anchor group for when the Flames anticipate being in a position to contend for the Stanley Cup — made their impact on the night. 

Connor Zary, 23, scored the Flames' first goal on the night. It was his third of the season, and his eighth point in 13 games so far. 

Dustin Wolf, 23, made some massive saves early. He stopped 17 pucks in the first period then had to make timely stops while facing just a half-dozen as the Flames dominated possession over the final 40 minutes. 

Kevin Bahl, 24, continues to make the Flames scouts look good with his physical and reliable presence on the back end. The 6-foot-6 blueliner has also shown he can skate and move the puck quickly, too. He's something of a hybrid between Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov. 

Then there's Coronato, who had the Flames fanbase reeling when he was (briefly) sent down to the AHL as part of the numbers game. The 21-year-old has four goals in eight games so far — accumulated through a pair of two-goal games. 

On Tuesday, he tied the game with just a few minutes left in regulation with an agile display of puckhandling to create some space in the faceoff circle on the left side of the Habs net and rifled his shot into the far side. 

Later, he bulled his way through Habs centre Nick Suzuki off the overtime draw, looked off captain Mikael Backlund on a two-on-one confidently snapped a perfect shot top shelf for the Flames franchise's fastest OT goal in history.

“He's remarkable," Wolf said of Coronato after the OT victory in Montreal. "He's had so many chances to score. He's just kind of been snakebit a few times, but to see him score on two unbelievable shots, that's the scouting report on this guy; his shot's lethal."

Those four are at worst a potential long-term starter in goal, a pair of very productive top six forwards and a cornerstone defensive defenceman. Not a bad quartet to keep building around.