Everyone loves an underdog story. Even the Calgary Flames are going to fully embrace the lack of outside expectations this season and use it as motivation.
Inside the locker-room, there is only belief. Before their NHL season-opener against the Vancouver Canucks, veteran leader Nazem Kadri mentioned the Flames have a “sneaky amount of talent” and told members of the media that the team shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Game 1 overtime hero Connor Zary alluded to that same interview in his own post-game chat with Sportsnet on Wednesday night after the Flames came back from 3-0 and 4-1 deficits to beat the Canucks 6-5 in OT in Vancouver.
Zary’s incredible game-ending goal — a dynamic toe drag and deke around defenceman Filip Hronek and goalie Arturs Silovs — kicked off an emotional celebration on the ice. It set a bit of a tone for the season. It was as if they made a statement to their fans that they will fight for every point this season, but also convinced themselves of what can happen when they do.
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Goal scoring, according to many pundits, would be a problem for the Flames this season.
Not so much in the opener, with newcomer Anthony Mantha starting things off (and adding a momentum swinging fight and an assist on the team’s third goal). Linemates Martin Posposil and Jonathan Huberdeau also scored. As did defencemen Rasmus Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar.
Then it was Zary, the sophomore who has looked nothing but confident and dazzling with the puck on his stick all through training camp and the preseason.
Rookie Samuel Honzek had some early looks and looked pretty good on a line with Kadri and Andrei Kuzmenko. The Zary, Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman combo was also solid in regulation.
It’s a long season, and one game doesn’t mean all that much. But you can bet the Calgary Flames will remember and want to recreate the feeling they had at the end of their first win.
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