Huberdeau’s 4 factors weren’t the one factor Flames head coach Ryan Huska favored about his winger’s sport on Saturday
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There haven’t been many media availabilities with Jonathan Huberdeau like this one throughout his two years with the Calgary Flames.
Huberdeau has all the time been keen to face in entrance of the native reporters and dissect his sport for the reason that Flames acquired him in the summertime of 2022. Even within the moments the place he struggled probably the most over his first two seasons, he didn’t draw back from the powerful questions.
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On Saturday, although, the questions weren’t powerful. Why would they be? After a four-point night time the place he scored twice and added a pair of assists in a 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers, Huberdeau was rightfully basking within the glow of one in every of his greatest nights in a Flames uniform.
Did he know the place the puck was on his first aim, when it bounced off his shoulder and in?
“You didn’t see it? I known as it after which pretended I didn’t know the place it was,” Huberdeau quipped.
After he’d scored and assisted on MacKenzie Weegar’s first-period aim, did he take into account dropping the gloves and going for a Gordie Howe hat trick like his linemate Anthony Mantha had accomplished just a few nights earlier?
“No, I can’t try this,” Huberdeau mentioned with a smile. “Have a look at me.”
If Huberdeau is feeling assured proper now, he must be.
He scored within the Flames’ season opener after which added 4 factors on Saturday. He’d by no means accomplished that in his tenure in Calgary, and his final four-point sport got here again on April 5, 2022, when he was nonetheless with the Florida Panthers.
He wasn’t the one Flames participant to step up on Saturday, with Nazem Kadri netting two and Weegar and Martin Pospisil additionally scoring.
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Two video games is simply too small a pattern measurement to say that Huberdeau is again to his greatest, however by six durations of the 2024-25 NHL season he’s wanting much more assured in his sport.
The bounces are going his manner, lastly.
“I don’t assume I’ve ever scored a aim with my shoulder, it was an amazing bounce,” Huberdeau mentioned. “To begin the sport like that, it’s large.”
1. Not simply the factors, both
Whereas Flames head coach Ryan Huska actually wasn’t complaining about Huberdeau’s offensive contributions, the 4 factors weren’t the one factor he favored about his winger’s sport on Saturday.
For the second sport in a row, Huberdeau additionally hung out on the penalty kill, enjoying 2:46 of shorthanded ice time. He’s spent 4 minutes and 11 seconds enjoying on the penalty kill in two video games to this point this 12 months. He performed a complete of three minutes and 15 seconds shorthanded in 81 video games final 12 months.
Huska believes that’s bringing out one of the best in him.
“He needs to be a distinction maker each night time and it hasn’t gone the way in which he’d favored to have seen it go the final couple of years, however he’s doing plenty of issues and he did prior years, too, with out the puck,” Huska defined. “He’s killing penalties, too; I’m in all probability extra enthusiastic about that stuff than the factors he placed on the board tonight as a result of I really feel like he’s engaged even within the penalty kill, that’s one thing that’s good for us, we’d like him proper now.”
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It does seem like Huberdeau has already discovered some chemistry with Mantha and Pospisil, and his work on the power-play was spectacular in opposition to the Flyers.
Huberdeau additionally began effectively final season, with 4 factors within the Flames’ first 4 video games, so it’s going to take a while earlier than anybody is confidently saying he’s rounded the nook after two powerful seasons.
But it surely’s been an excellent begin.
2. Wolf makes his case
Dustin Wolf had a really sturdy night time in opposition to the Flyers.
There’s a highlight on each Wolf and Vladar and it’s doubtless going to proceed till one in every of them stakes a transparent declare to being the full-time starter.
It received’t be one sport that determines who earns that job and Vladar will certainly be in web in opposition to the Edmonton Oilers on the second night time of a back-to-back on Sunday night.
However Wolf actually didn’t damage his trigger in opposition to the Flyers, making 37 saves within the win.
“After about 5 minutes I assumed he appeared in management,” Huska mentioned. “When he’s not letting rebounds, issues are type of sticking to him and he looks like he is aware of the place the puck is, he’s monitoring it effectively, that’s when you realize he’s dialled in. I assumed he appeared in management night time.”
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Wolf turned away 18 photographs within the first interval to maintain the Flyers off the scoresheet.
And not one of the objectives he allowed had been his fault. The Nice Wall of China couldn’t have stopped Travis Konecny’s first. It got here on a two-on-one and completed off a nifty passing play. And Joel Farabee’s second-period aim wasn’t any simpler, and Konecny’s second of the night time was on a point-blank shot from the slot.
By and enormous, Wolf appeared very stable on Saturday night time. He didn’t need to do something spectacular, however that was largely as a result of his positioning was glorious and his rebound management was on-point. His fast reflexes to knock a puck off the road after it had come off Konecny’s stick had been top-notch.
Wolf’s going to get plenty of enjoying time this season. If he performs the way in which he did Saturday, he’ll solely earn himself extra.
3. Everyone concerned
Identical to everyone was predicting, Sunday night time’s Battle of Alberta in Edmonton might be between an undefeated crew and a winless group that’s been blown out in two video games.
There weren’t many individuals per week in the past who had been guessing it will be the Flames rolling in with an ideal 2-0-0 document and the Oilers stumbling to an 0-2-0 begin.
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It’s nonetheless manner too early to imagine the standings are going to remain the way in which they’re right this moment, however Flames followers can in all probability be forgiven in the event that they need to benefit from the second.
And whereas these takeaways selected to deal with Huberdeau and Wolf, it’s price noting that there have been plenty of different gamers who put in good shifts on Saturday night time.
The Flames are getting scoring from up and down the lineup, with 13 gamers pitching in with a minimum of some extent within the first two video games.
5 of the Flames’ six defencemen have recorded factors and whereas Daniil Miromanov hasn’t managed one, he’s nonetheless been in and across the motion.
Huberdeau has 5 factors, whereas Kadri, Pospisil and Andrei Kuzmenko all have 4 and Weegar, Mantha and Connoy Zary have three apiece.
The Flames have preached that they want contributions from everybody to win video games.
To date, they’re getting that.
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