Calgary's 4-2 victory worth celebrating, even if Huberdeau's benching was an over-riding story
We expected a season of intrigue for the Calgary Flames, especially with all of the integral pending unrestricted free-agents.
Nobody had on their bingo card the highest-paid player benched for the third period on a night the Flames claimed a second consecutive win for the first time in the campaign.
Yet, here we are with Jonathan Huberdeau only a dozen games into the eight-year, $84 million contract he signed prior to the 2022-23 season, before even playing a single game for the Flames.
(We wrote all about it in the aftermath of Tuesday’s 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators, so please click here for all of the details.)
It would be an under-statement to say it has been a rough go for Huberdeau since coming to Calgary in the trade that sent Matthew Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers.
In 12 games this season, Huberdeau has managed only two goals, six points and a minus-12 rating, with turnovers and giveaways the biggest calling card and a fanbase that actually groans when he gets the puck instead of brimming with excitement.
How the Huberdeau situation plays out will be fascinating, and could take a long time. Until now, here are three takeaways from the game in which the Flames scored four unanswered goals and for the first time this season won when trailing after two periods.
Dominant first period: With Calgary drumming up a comeback victory and the Huberdeau story stealing the thunder, it would be easy to forget how the Flames absolutely manhandled the Predators in the first period. The shots were 17-6 and that barely told the story.
A picture will do it, so check out the graphic below courtesy naturalstattrick.com.
That the Predators led 2-0 was a stunning result, but credit the Flames for sticking with the plan, eventually taking advantage of Nashville’s turnstile-calibre defensemen and solving goaltender Juuse Saros.
Calgary’s lack of offensive finish will be an ongoing issue, but games will end up in their favour more often than not with opening frames that good.
Will Mr. Walsh have his say?: Huberdeau is not just the highest-paid Flames player. He’s the highest-paid client of agent Allan Walsh, who is known for fiercely defending his players, even to the point of extremes. Remember the time when Marc-Andre Fleury was not given the starting assignment for the Vegas Golden Knights and Walsh posted on social media a photoshopped picture of the goaltender with a massive sword shoved through his back and the name of the Vegas coach on it?
Last season, he took a shot at now-fired coach Darryl Sutter, noting how "negativity sucks the joy right out of players".
With that in mind, pardon us for anxiously anticipating something from Walsh in the wake of Tuesday’s affair.
Things are a-line-ing: With the trio of Nazem Kadri, Connor Zary and Yegor Sharangovich, the Flames can honestly say they now have two middle-six calibre lines. The other involving Mikael Backlund, Blake Coleman and almost anybody else they place on the other wing, the best being Andrew Mangiapane but Martin Pospisil is holding that spot.
Building a legitimate first line has been a Herculean quest in Calgary while Huberdeau and Elias Lindholm struggle to regain their form from two seasons back, and the fourth line has plenty of good moments.
On top of earning points in all three NHL games, Zary deserves credit for helping Kadri navigate his way back to being an impact player and Sharangovich display the abilities that the Flames expected when they acquired him from the New Jersey Devils last summer.