“I Think We’re Right There”: Matt Coronato on the Flames’ Offensive Push

The Calgary Flames know exactly where they need to improve heading into the new NHL season.

After finishing last in the league in goals scored a year ago, Calgary needs more offence from up and down the lineup if it wants to take another step forward.

Matt Coronato will be an important part of that push.

The 23-year-old winger led the Flames with 18 goals and 45 points last season, but there is plenty of room for his offensive game to grow. His shot, speed and ability to create scoring chances make him one of Calgary’s key offensive pieces heading into the new campaign.

Coronato doesn’t believe the responsibility falls on any one player, though. It will take a collective effort from the entire lineup.

“I think it’s something all of us need to be a little better with,” Coronato told the media. “We definitely want to produce more, I feel like we have the talent to do it. So, it’s just every day, keep getting better and being aggressive and winning our battles will lead to more of it.”

Coronato showed some of that offensive ability during the preseason, scoring twice in two games. He picked the top corner with his wrist shot against the Vancouver Canucks before adding a power-play goal against the Edmonton Oilers.

The Battle of Alberta also gave the Flames an early look at the pace they’ll need to handle once the regular season begins.

“I think it was a great test for us,” said Coronato. “They're obviously a fast team, they play with pace and I think that’s something we’re looking to get better at and build on. We had a lot of chances, a lot of looks, I think it’s good to look at what we need to clean up, a couple things, but I think we’re right there.”

The challenge now is turning those chances into consistent production.

For the Flames, that starts with playing the right way in its own zone and allowing the offence to develop from there. They don’t want to chase offence at the expense of their structure.

“We trust our structure, we know what we need to do to be hard to play against,” explained Coronato.I “I think we know when we’re executing that we don’t need to cheat, because our chances will come from being in the right spots and playing the right way.”

If the Flames can consistently create those opportunities and finish more of them, their offence should look very different from what it did last season.

Coronato will be a big part of that, but as he pointed out, it will take contributions from the entire lineup.