MacKenzie Weegar: Two assists, three hits, one pivotal shot block.

Nazem Kadri: Assist on the game winning goal, two penalties drawn.

Jonathan Huberdeau: Countless sublime passes in transition, one beautiful assist on the powerplay.

Good start for the new guys. The rest of the Calgary Flames looked pretty good on route to a 5-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche last night. This marks the Flames’ first season opener win in 12 years.

A few notes.


Fat Ras
1:39 into the first period, Rasmus Andersson failed to separate a breaking Bowen Byram from the puck. The Avalanche defenceman squeezed into the low slot and put a waffle past Markstrom. Following that play, Andersso played one of his best games as a Calgary Flame. He led the team in ice time (25:06), quarterbacked the first powerplay unit, and put away a breakaway goal. Oh, and he killed penalties too.

On the defensive end, he took the harder assignments and kept his head above water. The 25 year old was on the ice for four goals for and one against.


Dube
A goal, three shots and two hits — Dillon Dube had a fantastic game. He ate a couple big hits in shifts leading up to his shorthanded goal. Sometimes hitting a player can backfire. That adrenaline can go a long way.


Zadorov
It’s great to see Nikita Zadorov’s game taking another step forward. The now 6’6” 248lb defender had four hits and two shots on the night. He stepped into the rush several times as well. Big Z got burned a couple times, but certainly looks hungry to crack the top four this season.


Markstrom
Benefit of the doubt given that he was sick this week and is very likely still not 100%, but Jacob Markstrom didn’t look great.

Shots Against: 25
Saves: 22
Sv%: .880

All three goals he would probably like to have back. He certainly has the ability to save all three.


Veterans
Lesson learned about criticizing veterans during the preseason.

Both Tyler Toffoli and Milan Lucic looked excellent last night. A powerplay goal for Toffoli and a primary assist for Lucic on Brett Ritchie’s first period tally.

While they may still be working through some injuries — or are simply losing some foot speed — the two stepped up big time.


A Different Kind of Defenceman
MacKenzie Weegar was selected the first star by the media following the conclusion of the game. An easy choice. His primary assist on Rasmus Andersson’s breakaway goal immediately following a penalty kill was pivotal to keeping momentum on the Flames’ side. He blocked a shot on that same penalty kill that would have been a very high danger opportunity. He crushed Mikko Rantanen on the left wall in the Flames’ end of the ice.

Nine seasons at below 6.5 million for this guy may be Treliving’s best move to date.


Next up is a Saturday night Battle of Alberta. 8:00pm MST. The meeting caps off a day featuring 14 NHL games. Can’t wait.


If you’re looking for something to watch tonight, Johnny Gaudreau and the Columbus Blue Jackets face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning at 5:00pm MST.



Trevor Neufeld


@Trevor_Neufeld


Stats via natural stat trick and nhl.com.

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