It’s a start worth savouring.
Against all odds, the Calgary Flames have charged out to a 3-0-0 record.
Making it even sweeter than the pumpkin pie that was served in so many Calgary homes on Sunday evening, the Flames did it by knocking off the Edmonton Oilers by a 4-1 scoreline in the first Battle of Alberta of the season.
Who saw this coming? Not many people outside of the locker room at the Saddledome, that’s for sure.
But with 16 goals in three games, the Flames are proving they might have more firepower than people were giving them credit for. Goals from Rasmus Andersson, Anthony Mantha, Justin Kirkland and an empty-netter from Connor Zary were more than enough to put down the struggling Oilers and a solid performance from Dan Vladar, turning away 24-of-25 shots, ensured the final scoreline made it look like an easy night.
It wasn’t, though. The Flames had to grind this one out. The Oilers had two goals called back and hit a few posts, but the Flames ultimately took the best punch the Edmonton crew could apparently muster and kept fighting.
You won’t score six goals every night, which head coach Ryan Huska alluded to earlier in the day.
“The biggest thing for us is took look forward to the hard part,” Huska said of the challenge of playing for the second night in a row. “It’s not easy playing back-to-back games, but it’s an area last year where we were no good in. I think we have to be much more committed in these types of games and be focused on the details and doing things right.”
Here’s three takeaways from Sunday night’s game:
ANDERSSON LEADING THE CHARGE
The Flames blueline has contributed four goals so far this season. According to the NHL Network, no other team’s defencemen have scored more.
MacKenzie Weegar has two goals and, on Sunday night, Andersson equalled his teammate’s early season tally with a spectacular solo goal that tied things up at 1-1 in the second period.
Andersson collected the puck in the neutral zone, danced around a couple defenders and then fired it past Stuart Skinner before staring down an Oilers fan in the stands. That might just be what he does when he scores now. Someone’s got to ask.
The 27-year-old Swede also added two assists in Sunday’s game and seems to be back to his very best. With five points on the year, he’s contributing on the offensive end in a major way while providing leadership in the locker room.
The Flames need Andersson to be capital-G Great if they’re going to keep up their hot start. So far, he has been.
MANTHA SETTLING IN JUST FINE
If the idea of signing Mantha was that it might bring out the best in Jonathan Huberdeau, there can’t be any complaints about how that experiment has started off.
If the idea of putting Martin Pospisil between them was his speed might free up space for the two wingers, well, it seems that’s working, too.
Through three games this season, the trio are having an impact, plain and simple.
After picking up a Gordie Howe Hat-Trick in his Flames debut on Wednesday against the Vancouver Canucks, Mantha scored the game-winner after a terrific possession shift on Sunday against the Oilers.
“It was just a matter of time before we had a really strong offensive shift,” Mantha told reporters in Edmonton. “We just circled the puck and moved it properly and ended up with a goal.”
Pospisil added an assist of his own and has now picked up points in each of the Flames’ first three games and, while Huberdeau was held off the scoresheet, he was a big part of the Mantha goal and played well.
There’s lots of hockey to be played, but it has been an encouraging start for the trio and if they can keep it up, who knows? Nobody thought the Flames would be 3-0-0 at this point and maybe they really can surprise some people and keep it up.
Even if that doesn’t happen, it has been a great start for the line.
KIRKLAND’S BIG MOMENT
There were probably bigger storylines that should maybe be talked about from Sunday’s game than Kirkland scoring.
There wasn’t a bigger smile anywhere in Alberta — and maybe not in the whole hockey world — than the one Kirkland flashed on the bench after scoring the first NHL goal of his career.
Kirkland was playing in his 11th NHL game. He’s 28 years old. This is a guy who has had to fight tooth-and-nail for his NHL opportunity. He has played 408 games in the AHL since breaking into the pro ranks in the 2016-17 season and was sent down to play with the Calgary Wranglers at the end of training camp this year.
“Almost like the weight of the world is lifted off my shoulders,” Kirkland told reporters in Edmonton. “It means the world, especially on a night like this in the Battle of Alberta. Friends and family all over watching, it’s special. I couldn’t have drawn it up any better.”
An injury to Kevin Rooney in the Flames’ opener against the Vancouver Canucks earned Kirkland a call-up and he has taken advantage of the opportunity.
Then, in the third period, he scored his first NHL goal — it was his first point in The Show, too. That’s special for any player, but for a guy who has had to work this hard for that moment? The smile on his face told the whole story. What a moment.
Scoring wasn’t the only thing Kirkland did on Sunday. He threw his body around all game, including when he laid out Leon Draisaitl early in the third.
It’s the goal he’ll remember, though, and with the way he’s playing he’ll have chances to score a few more, too.
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