Sutter shuffles lines, sparks Flames offence for second straight win

In his six decades playing and then coaching in the National Hockey League, Darryl Sutter might have learned a thing or two.

The Calgary Flames head coach, perpetually searching for chemistry this season with a forward group that includes two new stars, iced a lineup on Monday night versus the Los Angeles Kings (a 6-5 Flames victory) that had franchise cornerstone Jonathan Huberdeau on the third line with defensive stalwarts Mikael Backlund and Trevor Lewis.

Sutter kept the top unit of Adam Ruzicka, Elias Lindholm and Tyler Toffoli intact, while elevating Milan Lucic to play with Nazem Kadri and Andrew Mangiapane. Dillon Dube was on the fourth line with Blake Coleman and Brett Ritchie.

All four lines scored in the victory at Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary’s second straight after dropping seven in a row.

“There was a lot of the game where we did some pretty good things,” Flames assistant coach Ryan Huska said, “where we limited chances and opportunities.”

Huska singled out Lindholm and Toffoli for playing at a higher level in recent games. Ruzicka, Lindholm and Toffoli combined for eight points, and it appears that the top line left winger slot is the 23-year-old Ruzicka’s to lose. Huberdeau, once pencilled in to that role, was very effective on Monday evening. 

This season, no forwards have started more shifts in the defensive zone than Backlund and Lewis, and the logic appeared that those two would help Huberdeau acclimate to Sutter’s expectations for play away from the puck. Huberdeau promptly scored his first even-strength goal of the season to open the scoring.

The look on Huberdeau’s face showed what the goal meant to him.

“It was interesting, eh,” the 29-year-old smiled afterwards, when asked about his reaction.

“[Our line] kept things simple and had some scoring chances. I think in the first period, we were always in their zone. We worked, we cycled the puck. I loved playing with these guys tonight.”

“I thought he was engaged early on tonight,” Huska said.

“I think he’s still trying to find his way a little bit for sure, and now he’s gotta try to figure out some new guys to play with, but he’s a good player and he’s going to do that.”

The victory moved Calgary above 0.500 (7-6-2), but it was far from perfect. The Flames let a 6-3 lead fritter away, and their play in the defensive zone remains a work in progress. The Kings (10-7-1) came within a last-minute, Jacob Markstrom cross-crease save of completing the comeback.

You’re not going to win when you let in that many goals, that’s for sure,” Huska said.

“You get away with one tonight for sure, so I think it’s been a message we’ve had with our players all year. You have to win games and prepare to win games 3-2. That’s what it comes down to. When you’re giving up five [goals], you’re not going to win games. Our players know that.”

Huberdeau grinned when asked if Monday’s 11-goal affair reminded him of his days with the Florida Panthers when high-scoring games were far more common.

“It won’t happen that much here,” he said, “but, at the end of the day, we came out with the win.”

Calgary opens a season-long six-game road trip on Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.