Calgary Flames sophomore Matthew Coronato has hot hand despite limited minutes

From healthy scratch to start to season, to multi-goal scorer in his second straight appearance on the Calgary Flames’ fourth unit, Matthew Coronato doesn’t care what line he’s playing on.

Some would suggest he’s in line for a promotion after a two-goal performance in a 3-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday. That’s two more snipes on the night than Connor Bedard, although that had a lot to do with Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf.

Coronato bookended the scoring on a night he wasn’t expected to secure headlines.

The sophomore’s play was so impressive, he found himself on the ice late in the third period with a one-goal lead. He turned on the turbos to get to a loose puck to add the insurance into an empty net and the whole line earned kudos from a coach who didn’t have many guys to applaud despite the Flames executing their fourth straight win to start the season.

Flames head coach Ryan Huska said there were probably three our four guys who were their “best players tonight” and that Wolf was probably at the top of the list. When asked about the play of the fourth line of Coronato, Ryan Lomberg and Justin Kirkland, the coach gushed.

“They were the other three,” Huska said. “They were excellent, all of them. Again, they brought energy. They played the game the right way. They ended up in the scoresheet twice in a close game, so I thought the three of them for two nights in a row have given us great efforts and great games.”

The trio was united in Edmonton, where the Flames pulled off a big win in the Battle of Alberta. If they’re pulled apart for Saturday’s game in Seattle against the Kraken, it will likely be for reasons of promotion.

“Matt is one of a kind,” Wolf said of Coronato. “It's been a privilege to get to hang out with him off the ice quite a bit and obviously see him have success on the ice. He's working his butt off out there, and it's continuing to show.”

With the line clicking, Coronato may not move off it entirely, but he did get extra ice time elsewhere in the lineup on Tuesday, so that bump could happen again. Not that Coronato cares all that much who he’s with out on the ice. He just wants to be out there.

“It feels good. I want to be able to help this team win in any kind of situation, and I want to be trusted,” Coronato said post-game while talking about the late-game assignment. “My goal is just to help the team win and do that any way I can. So it feels good.”