Matthew Phillips makes the Flames pay for giving up on him

The Calgary Flames paid the price for giving up on Matthew Phillips last night.

Phillips, who was taken in the sixth round of the 2016 draft by the Flames, had several incredible AHL seasons in the organization but was never given much of a shot at the NHL level. His two games last season with the Flames were a career-high and came during a year in which he scored 36 goals and 76 points in 66 games with the Calgary Wranglers.

To little surprise this offseason, Phillips chose to walk in free agency, despite the Flames attempting to bring him back, and instead signed a one-year, one-way contract with the Washington Capitals. As fate would have it, he was not only able to crack the Capitals roster out of training camp but got an opportunity to play his former team just two games into the season last night. Safe to say, the 25-year-old got his revenge.

🚨 FIRST NHL GOAL 🚨

Matthew Phillips buries a beautiful saucer pass! 🛸 #NHLFaceOff pic.twitter.com/XwufhTDyXg

— NHL (@NHL) October 17, 2023

Phillips’ goal started the comeback for the Capitals, and he wasn’t done there. The 5-foot-7 winger had the primary assist just minutes later on a Connor McMichael goal to even things up at two apiece. The Capitals wound up winning the game by a 3-2 shootout final.

“Feels pretty good,” said Phillips when asked how it felt to have that type of performance against his former team. “I’ll leave it at that.”

“I’m always trying to play my best every single game, and tonight was no different. Obviously, it’s kind of funny that we ended up playing [the Flames] in the second game of the season, it happened pretty quick. It was great, I’m very lucky to play with some awesome players. You see the pass Sonny [Milano] made, I just kind of had to bury it.”

While it was an exciting night for Phillips, it was a very frustrating one for Flames fans. For several seasons, many begged the organization to give Phillips an opportunity with the big club, but it never came to be. Though this season is still young, it is looking like not giving Phillips that chance may have been a mistake.

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