The Calgary Flames will look different the next time they take the ice.
They knew that on Thursday night when Andrei Kuzmenko was scratched from the lineup and they were all too aware of what it meant when Jakob Pelletier was pulled from their 4-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks (21-24-6) at the first intermission.
Two popular teammates were being shipped out of town.
The Flames (25-18-7) didn’t know the return, which will net them centre Morgan Frost and left winger Joel Farabee, two young-but-experienced forwards who should immediately give the lineup a boost.
Those two will be welcomed to town with open arms. They should make the Flames better, both right now and for years going forward, given that Farabee is 24 years old and Frost is 25 and both are former first-round picks.
But that didn’t make it any easier on Thursday night knowing that two popular teammates were being dealt away. That was true long before the trade was made official shortly before 11 p.m., more than an hour after the game against the Ducks had ended.
“That’s professional sports,” Flames centre Nazem Kadri said. “It sucks when you lose some good people who are well-liked in the dressing room and popular in here, especially when it happens to the younger kids who this typically might be the first time when they might be in a situation like this, you feel for them.
“It sucks, it’s hard to stay focused, obviously it caught everybody’s attention but at the end of the day we got the job done.”
The Ducks didn’t make it easy on Thursday night, either. They took the lead early when Frank Vatrano scored shorthanded and Dustin Wolf needed to be on his game all night, stopping 30 of 31 shots.
A beautiful equalizer from Adam Klapka early in the second period took the stage for the Flames taking over, though, with Blake Coleman earning credit for the game-winner and Matt Coronato scoring two more.
It was an important win that was made all the more impressive because the Flames were able to block out the distractions as the trade rumours swirled.
That’s not easy.
“You don’t often see things transpire the way they did tonight with players having to be told and all that stuff,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “I thought our older guys, our leadership group were fantastic with it. The game was the most important thing, you deal with stuff after the fact and I was very proud of how they did handle themselves tonight.”
Here’s three takeaways from Thursday’s win.
1. A LITTLE INSPIRATION
Klapka played his best game in a Flames uniform on Thursday night.
He scored his team’s opener in the second period with a slick drive to the net and also recorded four shots on net while looking confident and playing with physicality.
And not that a guy with 1,300 career NHL points to his name needs another one, but maybe Jarome Iginla deserves an assist on Klapka’s goal.
As the towering winger revealed post-game, a chat with the Flames legend and special advisor to the GM on Wednesday provided him with a little inspiration.
“I have a little talk with Mr. Iginla, he helped give me some advice. I was really happy about it, we just had a little talk, and I said to myself I have an opportunity to show how I can play so I showed it, I think,” Klapka explained.
While Klapka didn’t go into details about what he talked about with Iginla, he was clearly grateful for the conversation. Who wouldn’t be?
And if it brings out the best in the 6-foot-8 forward, Iginla surely will be willing to have follow-up chats.
“If Jarome Iginla talks to you, then you might want to listen,” Huska said. “Adam, we’ve talked about him before, but we don’t have anybody in our organization like him. He’s got a skill-set he has with him and he also can be an imposing physical player, which is something our team needs. Very happy with his game tonight.”
2. MORE PROOF
This is not the first time we’ve talked about Coronato’s ascendancy in this space and it’s hard to imagine it will be the last.
Until about half an hour after the final buzzer on Thursday, Coronato was credited with a hat-trick. The NHL ultimately determined that Blake Coleman had gotten his stick on Coronato’s first of the night, so he’ll have to settle for a two-goal game and being the offensive driver in a big win.
Coronato is now third on the Flames roster in goals with 13 and is fourth in points with 27, despite playing five fewer games than many of his teammates.
As Klapka put it, he’s not sure Coronato needs a conversation with Iginla.
“I don’t think someone has to talk to him,” Klapka said. “He’s so good, he showed it last year with the Wranglers and he’s showing it now, I’m really happy for him.”
3. A NEW LOOK
The Flames expect both Farabee and Frost to be in their lineup on Saturday night against the Detroit Red Wings and Huska said he even has an idea already of where the two will slot into the lineup.
They aren’t like-for-like replacements for Kuzmenko or Pelletier, but they’ve both had better offensive seasons than the players the Flames shipped out and will likely be excited to be joining a team that leapfrogged the Vancouver Canucks with Thursday’s win and is now back in the Western Conference’s second Wild Card position.
Pelletier and Kuzmenko will be missed, no doubt about it. They were both well-liked in the lockerroom and a part of the fabric of this surprising Flames team.
On paper, at least, the Flames got better on Thursday night, though.