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Flames Takeaways: Depth scoring ignites offence in scrappy win over Wild
There were plenty of good moments for the Flames in Saturday’s win, including Clark Bishop’s first NHL snipe in six years and Andrei Kuzmenko’s two-goal night. Eric Francis has that and more in his takeaways from Calgary’s third straight victory.
It had been 21 games since Rasmus Andersson last punctuated a goal with his patented death stare, and 26 games since Martin Pospisil last found the net.
Neither streak can hold a candle to the six-year wait Clark Bishop had endured between his last NHL snipe and the one he celebrated Saturday.
All three ended their lengthy funks in a 5-4 win in Minnesota that saw the Calgary Flames‘ scoring rounded out by a man whose offensive struggles have been one of the biggest stories of the season: Andrei Kuzmenko.
Less than a week after the colourful Russian snapped a 29-game scoring skid, Kuzmenko potted a pair against the Wild, which included the game-winning wraparound with five minutes left. He also added an assist.
“It was a good goal because we win it – I like it,” Kuzmenko told Flames TV in his endearingly broken English, before rehashing his first-period power-play goal.
“I say to Kadri, ‘pass, pass, pass, pass.’ I probably say to Kadri 100 (times), ‘thanks, thanks, thanks, thanks.’ It’s a good moment.”
There were plenty of them for a Flames team that has only eclipsed the three-goal mark eight times this season, winning all eight.
“Nice to see a few guys contribute and us not have to rely on Jonathan Huberdeau or Kads (Nazem Kadri) quite so much tonight,” said Ryan Huska, grinning when asked about Bishops’ goal, which saw him race in and rip a hard shot from just inside the left dot, despite having Declan Chisholm draped all over him.
“It’s good to have one that I actually shot and went in the net,” beamed Bishop, who said his only other NHL goal, on Dec. 7, 2018, bounced in off his skate.
“It means a lot. It’s been a while since I scored an NHL goal, so it feels good.”
The 28-year-old Newfoundlander’s roof-job past Marc-Andre Fleury midway through the third put the Flames up 4-1, lifting the players on the bench to their feet to celebrate the latest Wranglers call-up.
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Bishop was summoned from the AHL Thursday, almost three years after his last NHL game.
Despite allowing a pair of goals in the final two minutes of the game, Dustin Wolf made 21 saves to win his third game in a row for the third time in a month, going 9-2 in that stretch.
Now more takeaways from a Flames team that scored twice on the man advantage and got four goals from their bottom two lines:
Rough stuff
A low-event game that saw both teams combine for just 10 shots in the first period started heating up when Jakub Lauko blasted Kevin Bahl headfirst into the dasher behind the Flames net.
As Bahl lay on the ice from the ugly hit, the officials handed the Wild forward a five-minute major and game misconduct.
However, upon video review, it was reduced to a minor, as it was determined that although he hit Bahl square in the numbers, Bahl had turned slightly at the last second and pulled up.
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Either way, it’s the type of hit hockey needs to eradicate.
Bahl was done for the night, and Ryan Lomberg immediately went to work, challenging Lauko minutes later for a see-saw fight both deserved credit for.
“The hit on Bahl wasn’t one that we thought was a very good hit,” said Huska, who had no update on Bahl’s status afterwards.
“Ryan is a great teammate, and once you see stuff like that, I felt like we did take another step, so I do think that had an impact on our game tonight.”
Several post-whistle scrums started to form after that, including one exchange in which Andersson responded to a Fleury headlock by punching the veteran goalie in the face with a quick left.
“He came kind of behind me and put me in a headlock, and I gave him a quick left and he backed down a little bit.” Chuckled Andersson when asked about the exchange.
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Andersson’s goal soon thereafter was punctuated with a targeted glare for a front-row Wild fan who wasn’t quite sure what to make of the exchange.
Andersson was chirped the rest of the game by the Wild, putting an even bigger chip on the shoulder of the Flames defender, who wore a scowl the rest of the night.
The lines
Jakob Pelletier’s game-changing promotion to the top line two nights earlier earned him another assignment with the big boys. His hustle in the final 20 seconds to erase an icing call was applauded by Huska.
The bottom two lines offered a significantly different look for the team, as Lomberg was promoted to the third line to play with Yegor Sharangovich and former first-liner Martin Pospisil.
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Rory Kerins sat for the first time in six games, opening the door for Kevin Rooney to draw back in, centring a fourth unit with unlikely scoring heroes Bishop and Kuzmenko.
Joel Hanley replaced Jake Bean on the third pairing.
Huberdeau-Kadri-Pelletier
Coleman-Backlund-Coronato
Lomberg-Sharangovich-Pospisil
Bishop-Rooney-Kuzmenko
Bahl-Andersson
Weegar-Miromanov
Hanley-Pachal
Wolf
The Flames play in Winnipeg Sunday, where Dan Vladar will undoubtedly get just his second start in the last three weeks.
