Calgary Flames' Huska not happy with Parekh after costly overtime mistake

Mistakes are going to happen with young players from time to time, as those watching the Calgary Flames witnessed on Thursday night.

Looking for their fifth-straight win, the Flames found themselves headed to overtime tied at two against the Anaheim Ducks. Unfortunately, a costly Zayne Parekh penalty allowed Mikael Granlund to score his third of the night on the power play with just one second remaining in regulation.

Mikael Granlund competes the hat trick and wins the game in overtime for the Ducks

🎥: Sportsnet | #Flames pic.twitter.com/Y7Uf3Ily7I

— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) March 27, 2026

It was an inexcusable penalty for Parekh, who jumped onto the ice thinking that Zach Whitecloud was coming for a change. He left the bench too early, giving the referees no choice but to call the Flames for too many men.

“That’s totally on us,” a frustrated Ryan Huska said postgame. “Whether you’re a young guy, old guy. Referees made the right call there.

“We were both warned. Both teams were warned right before it.”

When asked if it could be used as a teaching moment for a young player, Huska didn’t seem very sympathetic.

“No, no. Not for me. No.”

#Flames head coach Ryan Huska gives his assessment on the 3-2 setback to Anaheim. pic.twitter.com/4wMBQ3HYOs

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) March 27, 2026

While this was a tough sequence to defend, everybody knew that there would be some difficult moments for Parekh. He is just 20 years old, after all.

What Thursday’s outing also shows is how unforgiving the NHL is. Just two nights prior, Parekh was all smiles when speaking to reporters after scoring his first goal of the season.

“I was kind of accepting I wasn’t going to score this year,” Parekh said. “It was nice to find one. I feel like I’ve had better nights, but I was putting pucks to the net, and eventually you hope it’s going to go in.”

Brighter days lie ahead for the 2024 ninth-overall selection, but this was undoubtedly a tough one in what has been a trying season. Parekh and the Flames will look to bounce back in the last outing of what’s been a six-game homestand on Saturday night against the Vancouver Canucks.

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