Struggling Flames hope outdoor Battle of Alberta will spark club

A day after getting shut out 3-0 by the St. Louis Blues at the Saddledome, the Calgary Flames were in a much lighter mood on Friday.

There were no profanities uttered or players calling each other out after a hard, 50-minute skate that included battle and compete drills ahead of the journey to Edmonton to face the listless Oilers for Sunday’s Heritage Classic game at Commonwealth Stadium. Instead, there was a recognition that the season could slip away again if the losses continue and that playing in a picturesque setting versus their biggest rival is a unique opportunity to rewrite the narrative in the first Battle of Alberta to be played outdoors. 

“I don’t want to go back to last year, but we did put ourselves in a hole with that seven-game losing streak,” captain Mikael Backlund said.

“We don’t want to do that again.”

To win a hockey game, a team has to score goals – an area that has proved particularly challenging for this Flames group. They have gone nearly 120 minutes since they last scored, and their goals-per-game is near the bottom of the league. Thursday’s loss dropped Calgary to 2-5-1, good enough for sixth place in the Pacific Division, two points up on the Oilers (1-5-1) who have a game in hand.

Nazem Kadri has just a single assist in eight games, Jonathan Huberdeau has scored just twice (he just one point – a goal – in his last five games), and Backlund has yet to find the back of the net as the team’s captain. Eighteen of the 23 skaters Calgary has used this season have one goal or less. Of the bottom-11 NHLers in the plus-minus rating stat, five play for the Flames. 

“Sometimes, you try to do too much when it’s not going well and you overdo it,” Huberdeau said. 

“I feel [my game] is not that far [from returning]. I know offensively, it hasn’t been great, but I’m working hard. I just need to work smarter…that’s my goal, to find chemistry with my linemates.”

While the season is young, the Flames forwards have been together for almost 90 games, dating back to last season. They have yet to find consistent duos. Early on this season, Huberdeau has played with Kadri and Elias Lindholm and a rotating cast of right wingers. Nothing seems to have ignited the Flames’ highest-paid forwards. 

“We’ve got to work for each other out there,” Huberdeau said.

“We’ve got to help the guy beside us…we went away from that this year…we’ve got to work every shift on the ice. It’s too easy to play against us. We’ve got to make it hard on the other team and the bounces will come our way.”

“If you’re thinking of generating offence and cheating the game a little bit, it’s not going to come,” head coach Ryan Huska said.

“It’s going to start with the hard work in your own zone, the hard work in how you manage pucks, and how you play together…you want guys to be creative and to have some freedom, but they also need to recognize that scoring goals is not an easy thing to do and you have to be willing to put in the work to do that.”

Huska was blunt on Thursday in his assessment of the team’s work ethic. Friday’s practice emphasized battle drills and compete level and included brisk sprints. 

“Nobody was pleased with last night,” the coach said, “but it’s a chance to look forward now and recognize that some of the things we worked on today are going to put us in a better position to be successful.”

Goalie Jacob Markstrom’s play has been a bright spot this season. As skaters adjust to a new defensive system, he has seen plenty of quality scoring chances against. Among the 34 goalies who have played at least 150 minutes, Markstrom’s five-on-five high-danger save percentage (.938) is third in the league. Despite keeping his team in games where they can’t score, he isn’t praising himself publicly. 

“One win, not good,” Markstrom summarized.

“You’ve got to win hockey games. Yesterday, zero goals, we take it to overtime. We can win it there.”

The Flames are looking forward to Sunday’s game at Commonwealth Stadium against an Oilers group that has also languished in the league’s basement to start the season. An outdoor game away from the Saddledome could be the spark this group needs. 

“There’s always extra incentive when you play Edmonton,” Huska said. 

“We have a great opportunity now to forget about the past and really enjoy this weekend here,” Backlund said.

“It’s going to be a very special game. We have a chance here to really enjoy it and play really well and hopefully get that win.”