The Calgary Flames have leaned on top- and middle-six forwards to score goals so far in 2026-27. That wasn’t the case on Monday night.
Instead, Adam Klapka and William Stromgren found the net as the Flames defeated the San Jose Sharks 2-1. This was a major uptick for Calgary. In so many matchups in the early stages of the season, opponents routinely got the best of the Flames when its top six came up short.
To see Klapka and Stromgren score, along with two helpers from Jonathan Castagna, is an indicator that one can’t count out the Flames if the likes of Joel Farabee, Matt Coronato, and Matvei Gridin, among others, aren’t producing.
Head coach Ryan Huska also weighed in. Via Max Miller of NHL.com, Huska said, “I thought that line was arguably our best one. Any road win is a big win. Finding a way to limit their opportunities until later in the game was important to us.”
It was an especially big night for Stromgren, who earned his first NHL point and goal when he batted the puck into the net and put the Flames up 2-1 at 9:14 in the third period. The Flames won a rough puck battle in their own end before Klakpa collected it and skated down the ice.
Klapka found himself in a battle with a Sharks player before he saw Stromgren wide open in front of the net. Stromgren’s first shot was blocked, but a second effort saw him batting in his own rebound for the score.
Flames’ Fourth-Line’s Big Game Was A Momentum-Booster
Castagna and Stromgren skated for less than 10 minutes while Klapka recorded 11:36 of ice time. The trio posted the least amount of time on ice throughout the forward group, but they ended up collecting all the points.
Castagna and Klapka are two regulars who have appeared in a combined 27 games this season with three total goals. Stromgren was making his fourth NHL appearance and regular-season debut.
While fourth liners generally score less than the top six and even the top nine, a momentum-boosting performance like this can signal more consistent production in the near future. That would take pressure off the top six and lead to grittier wins now that the fourth line has shown it can produce.
Calgary Keeps Improving In Small But Significant Ways
The Flames opened the season as one of the NHL’s most inept teams offensively. Then, they started scoring and winning games, distancing themselves from the team that started the year 0-5-0 and was outscored 27-8.
In the last 21 days, the Flames have gone 7-3-0, with 30 goals scored and 26 allowed. This still means they aren’t all-world offensively. And Monday night served as another reminder of that when the fourth line stepped up.
But they have been winning games with improved defense and goaltending — with Dustin Wolf enjoying yet another strong outing with 26 saves on 27 shots.
Now, the challenge is to remain consistent. That will be tough as the Flames gear up once again to face the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday.
Seattle had blown out Calgary twice before the Flames returned the favor in their most recent matchup. It will be interesting to see if the fourth line has an encore waiting.
Flames’ Win Over Sharks Featured Extraordinary Fourth-Line Performance