The Flames were full measure by playing with speed and determination against the Eastern Conference leaders
Exciting. Excellent. Entertaining.
Feel free to come up with more superlatives for the Calgary Flames after their impressive 4-1 victory over the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins.
The Flames deserve accolades for that performance — even from those on Team Tank.
Now, let’s see if the Flames, with their flickering playoff hopes, can do it again. And again. And again.
Plus, do it while doing the right thing with their assets, notably pending unrestricted free agents who will not re-sign on a deal that works for the club and should be dealt for picks/prospects/players.
Three-point games from Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri, a tally by Andrei Kuzmenko in his Flames debut, a slick goal by rookie Connor Zary and tally from Noah Hanifin — one of those aforementioned UFAs — made for a great game against a Bruins team still on the beach.
"That's the type of mentality that we need is playing as a team, everyone chipping in," Kadri said. "And when we do that, we can accomplish great things."
It will be an interesting study whether that’s the norm or an aberration between now and the March 8 trade deadline.
Now, more thoughts from that outing and heading into Thursday’s road clash with old-friend Tyler Toffoli and the New Jersey Devils.
Kumenko conclusions
It didn’t take long to see the shot he possesses. Kuzmenko also displayed skill making passes. It also didn’t take Sherlock Holmes to see elements that drove his coach in Vancouver, Rick Tocchet, a little crazy. Considering how the trio of Kuzmenko, Huberdeau and Yegor Sharangovich has the potential to be a Green Jacket line, it was a great start. A pair of shooters — one with great speed (Sharangovich) and the other with a knack for sliding into a hole (Kuzmenko) — may be just what the doctor ordered for the Flames to finally see the Huberdeau’s best.
Strong season debuts
The first game back from injury always includes extra adrenaline, and that will be for Jakob Pelletier and Kevin Rooney to deal with going forward. Even so, both played admirably in Boston. Pelletier’s exuberance, determination and hockey sense is eye-catching, and he did an excellent job stepping up after Martin Pospisil was ejected.
Dial it down, Martin
Personally, the major for cross-checking and game misconduct handed Pospisil was a little much. He punched Brad Marchand with his glove on, and because it was the hand Pospisil was using to hold his stick, the stick hit the side of Marchand’s helmet — and led to a subsequent world-class yard sale for which he’s famous. That said, Pospisil does need to scale back his reactions. It’s great he cares about the team so much, but he is putting himself in situations where officials start looking to be punitive.
Kadri stepped forward
With Lindholm gone, Kadri will be counted on more and more to be a leader among the centres, and his work in Boston was a perfect example of how effective he can be. The three assists were the cherry on top.
Pachal’s play
Making his Flames debut, defenceman Brayden Pachal provided a healthy dose of physical play, and a couple of miscues that appeared about trying to figure out his new team. It will be interesting to see how he is integrated into the penalty killing units after practice time.