Jonathan Huberdeau’s power-play goal in overtime gave the Calgary Flames their ninth-straight win over the Ducks in Anaheim.
But the potential loss of Connor Zary cast a dark cloud over Tuesday night’s 3-2 victory.
Early in the second period, the Flames’ dynamic second-year centre was carrying the puck into the Ducks zone and made a cut inside, only to be caught with a brutal knee-on-knee hit by defenceman Drew Helleson.
It was an ugly hit that will surely get a long look from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety. Nobody will be surprised if Helleson is suspended.
That will be little consolation for the Flames if Zary is out long-term, and while medical tests will be needed before the extent of the injury is known, there’s no doubt the 23-year-old was in considerable pain.
Zary stayed on the ice grabbing his left knee after the hit, and the replays are not for the faint of heart.
“When you see a player like that go down you kind of rally the team and rally the troops to get a win for him, but he’s a tough Sasky kid, he’ll be alright,” said MacKenzie Weegar, who scored and added an assist on his birthday on Tuesday night. “I don’t know the (seriousness) of it, it obviously didn’t look very good, but he’s got a great team, great support staff and great trainers, so he’ll be alright.”
Helleson was issued a five-minute major and a game misconduct for kneeing, while Zary did not return.
The Flames who spoke post-game all said they needed to get another look at the replay before they could comment on the hit itself, which was fair enough.
“It’s never easy, I don’t know what he has exactly, it looked like the knee from what we saw, but it’s tough,” Huberdeau said. “He’s playing well, he’s playing with confidence, it’s tough to see a guy go down. It’s part of the game, but it’s sad.”
In addition to Huberdeau and Weegar, Nazem Kadri scored his 15th goal of the season.
Here’s three takeaways from Tuesday’s win:
COULD KERINS GET CALL?
Until the doctors offer their diagnosis, everyone will be hoping that Zary’s injury isn’t as bad as it looked on Tuesday evening.
If he’s out for any length of time, it’s worth wondering whether Rory Kerins might earn his first taste of NHL action.
The Flames are short on centres – and offensive firepower, in truth – and while Yegor Sharangovich could be shifted to the middle of the ice, they also have the option of bringing Kerins up from the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers.
Kerins has been a revelation this season. He’s second in the AHL in points, with 37, and nobody in the league has scored more than the 21 goals Kerins has managed.
It’s been a remarkable year, especially when you consider that Kerins was a bit of an afterthought throughout training camp.
But he’s showed he can score. The NHL is a different level, but the 22-year-old might just be the best option the Flames have if Zary is unfortunately set to be sidelined for a while.
WOLF COMES UP BIG … AGAIN
There’s a renewed focus on the Flames’ goaltending situation after head coach Ryan Huska suggested that the team might start riding the hot hand a little more often for the rest of the season.
It’s largely been a 50/50 split all year between Dustin Wolf and Dan Vladar, but performances like Tuesday might earn Wolf a little more playing time.
It won’t be Wednesday when the Flames take on the Kings in Los Angeles, though. They won’t be playing either guy on back-to-back nights.
But Wolf was once again pretty exceptional against the Ducks, turning away 25-of-27 shots and coming up with some massive saves in key moments, including on an early-third period breakaway by Leo Carlsson that could have been a real momentum-shifter.
PENALTY KILL WOES
For the seventh-straight game, the Flames allowed a goal when they were on the penalty-kill.
It’s been an ugly stretch, plain and simple, even if the team feels like they’ve been making progress.
When Mason McTavish scored while the Ducks were on the man-advantage in the third period, it meant the Flames have now killed only 10 of their last 18 penalties. That’s a troubling 55.55%.
It’s something that’s been talked about ad nauseam and there’s no question they’re working on it, but the Flames can’t be shipping their opponents goals on nearly half of their power-plays if they’re going to keep their playoff push alive, especially if they’re going to be missing one of the guys who consistently generates offence on the other end of the ice.