Calgary flipped a familiar script from the disappointing 2022-23 campaign to kick of the campaign on a high note
The record will show Elias Lindholm was the goal-scoring hero thanks to his winning tally that came with 92 seconds remaining in regulation of the Calgary Flames’ 5-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday’s season opener at the Saddledome.
Andrew Mangiapane will go down as the first star thanks to his two-goal, three-point performance which also included a brilliant pass to Lindholm on the winning marker.
What should not be lost was the spectacular performance from Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom, whose 34-save outing was a thing of beauty.
“When your goalie’s kicking like that and making big saves, big saves and big saves again, you want to help him out, right,” Mangiapane said. “He was standing on his head there for us, and I think everybody on the bench saw that, saw he was dialled in, and we’ve got to help out.”
If the Flames wanted to prove this was indeed a new season from the miserable 2022-23 campaign, their win to kick off the campaign is a whale of a start.
Last season, the Flames all too often were on the other side of such results. Instead, the Jets were the ones who left the building feeling one got away, having outshot the opposition by a 37-22 count, never managing a lead and then losing due to a late goal.
Let’s be honest, would anybody have believed last season the Flames could surrender a trio of leads yet not completely fall apart before actually coming up with the winner?
“They were the better team pretty much all game and we found a way to get one late,” Lindholm said. “Hopefully we can build off that throughout the season.”
It’s only Game 1 of a long season, but the way the Flames came up with a win can exorcise more of the past demons.
Kyle Connor, Alex Iafallo and Mark Scheifele replied for the Jets, while goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 17 shots.
Here are three other thoughts from the affair, Calgary’s second consecutive home-opener victory on the heels of the 0-10-2 run its previous 12.
Mangiapane cooking
After a 35-goal season in 2021-22, Mangiapane managed only 17 snipes last season, after which it was revealed he played almost the whole campaign with a shoulder that required surgery.
Mangiapane, who was inserted onto a line with Lindholm and Jonathan Huberdeau midway through the affair, kicked off the season in a big way.
He opened the scoring with a power-play marker. He set up Lindholm’s winner and then iced the affair with an empty netter.
“Really important for him coming off a surgery, coming back and trying to find his game,” said coach Ryan Huska, who collected his first win as an NHL bench boss. “It was nice to see him get rewarded. I felt like he got better and better as the game went on.”
Defensive whoas!
The Flames are definitely trying to adjust to the different defensive system coach Huska is trying to implement, more of a zone setup compared to the man-to-man style used under former coach Darryl Sutter. Scheifele’s goal was one of those wide-open tallies the Flames were regularly guilty of last season. Huska said the structure of his team was “not horrible”, but the issue was easy to spot.
“It’s more the puck play as to how many times we gave it back to them, and how often they came out of scrums or battles with it,” Huska said. “That’s one big thing that leads to the challenges we had. You can be in the right spots all you want, but you’re going to take on water.”
Officially, the Flames were guilty of 15 turnovers.
Special team success
Calgary’s power play is still a work in progress under the new regime, with Marc Savard the coach most involved in that regard. Netting a power-play goal on a night the Flames went 1-for-3 with the man advantage is a positive.
“When we got in the o-zone, I think a lot of guys were making plays. You saw some shades of what we can do,” Mangiapane said. “There’s room for us to grow in that department and that comes with playing and chemistry and building, all that.”
The penalty kill was perfect, blanking the Jets on four of their power plays, but Markstrom deserves the bulk of the credit in that area. He made 14 stops while his team had a player in the sin bin.
ICE CHIPS: It’s hard to imagine there was a dry eye in the house when the family of the late Flames assistant GM Chris Snow — his widow, Kelsie, and their children, Cohen and Willa — came out for the ceremonial puck drop. “You see the family, it hits home a little bit,” Huska said. “There’s a lot of people in here that have kids and it’s tough when they lose their dad at a young age. The crowd did an amazing job of saluting him with a nice ovation.” By the way, take the time to watch the Sportsnet interview with Kelsie Snow (below) … Flames rookie Matt Coronato had a tough game on the defensive side, but you must love the fact he wants to shoot the puck … Lindholm also won an astounding 21 of 25 face-offs.