Takeaways from Flames' road victory over the Buffalo Sabres

The Calgary Flames remain a work in process, but steps forward were taken in Thursday’s 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres.

The Flames still had their flaws while claiming their first victory of the season-longest five-game road swing, but it was an example of improving even during the clash.

Unlike the losses in Pittsburgh and Washington in the first two outings of the trip, the Flames kept their composure after the Sabres scored. In fact, they did a good job of regaining momentum. And unlike the loss in Washington, Calgary found that much needed game-winning goal.

All is not perfect, but the Flames (2-1-1) head into Friday night’s clash with old friend Johnny Gaudreau and the Columbus Blue Jackets with momentum from which to build.

Here are other takeaways from the club's first road win of the campaign.

Need more discipline: It is hard to imagine which was more stressful for the coaching staff through the first half of Thursday’s game: the sloppy defensive play or the number of penalties. Fortunately for the Flames, both are fixable issues, but Calgary would be best served to show more discipline. Most of the infractions in Buffalo were not necessary (although a couple were rather dubious calls) but everybody knows officials will be clamping down early in the season. The good news is Calgary’s penalty kill has been very good so far, having snuffed 14 of 15 shorthanded situations, but regularly tempting fate is unwise.

Darth Vladar comes through: Backup goalie Dan Vladar had a shaky first period — due to being his first game of the season and because he was battling illness — but he also performed better and better as the pressure mounted. After this set of back-to-backs, the Flames have a light schedule, with their next set of clashes not coming until Nov. 10 and 11 with games against Toronto and Ottawa. Vladar, who knows all too well AHL star Dustin Wolf is pushing to take his job, would be best served to see a game somewhere between now and when he is needed next when Calgary plays in Ontario.

Ruzicka starting to roll: The faith put in Adam Ruzicka is both paying dividends and building momentum. Ruzicka’s game-winning goal was the easy element to spot, but his performance in Buffalo went beyond that. Ruzicka continues to be more active and putting him in front of the net on the first power-play unit does have potential. He and his line mates, Dillon Dube and Nazem Kadri, are still struggling during five-on-five play — although their goal was a dominant shift.

C-NOTES: Yegor Sharangovich’s talent is better than being a fourth-liner, but having him there with a pair of hard workers in AJ Greer and Walker Duehr has created an effective fourth line (outside of the 3-3 goal they surrendered against the Sabres). As Sharangovich become more comfortable with his new team, he is being more assertive with the puck. That will make a huge difference when he is called upon to skate on other lines because of performance or injuries … For the second consecutive year defenseman Dennis Gilbert had a stellar game against his hometown club. If he can bottle that and take it to every other city, the Flames will have an impactful sixth/seventh blueliner … Sharnagovich and Gilbert were not the only players to earn their first point of the season. On a night 12 skaters hit the scoresheet, Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman and Greer also earned their first points. That leaves Chris Tanev and — surprisingly — Mikael Backlund the last regulars with all zeroes. In Backlund’s case, it’s even more of a shocker when you think of the two shorthanded breakaways he had in Buffalo but didn’t convert.