Jonathan Huberdeau received an assist on his debut for the Calgary Flames, who set the tone for the season well with a 5-3 victory over defending champion Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.
Thus Albertans handed their 700th victory in the National Hockey League to their head coach, Daryl Sutter, who recently signed a contract extension.
Brett Ritchie, Dillon Doby, Rasmus Anderson, Tyler Toffoli and Elias Lindholm have made The Flames, all at the expense of Pavel Francos.
The Flames ended the NHL’s longest active streak in a first-game losing streak of the season. They haven’t won since 2009, going 0-10-2 during that series.
The match got off to a poor start for Calgary, with Bowen Byram giving the lead to Colorado after just 1:39 in play.
However, Sutter’s forces tightened their defensive game after that, prioritizing four goals, early in the last period.
Nathan McKinnon and Valerie Neshchkin beat Jacob Markstrom, but the avalanche didn’t really threaten a tie.
In the loss, Artturi Lehkonen received a crucial pass. This is his fourth point in two games after his three-point performance (2-1) on Wednesday.
The two big Flames team that excelled in the off-season are Nazem Kadri (one pass) and Mackenzie Wigar (two assists).
McKinnon hits the accelerator
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