Calgary Flames' Jonathan Huberdeau attempts to score on Chicago Blackhawks goalie Petr Mrazek in Calgary on Oct. 15.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
After missing the playoffs in three of the past four years there was not much in the way of expectations for the Flames this season.
Well, surprise.
As of Friday they were 4-0 and one of three unbeaten teams in the NHL along with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Winnipeg Jets.
No doubt Calgary is playing its heart out in memory of Johnny Gaudreau. Long the team’s most popular and productive player, Gaudreau died this summer with his brother Matthew when they were riding bicycles and struck by an alleged drunk driver.
There is more to it though. After sessions with a psychologist this summer, Jonathan Huberdeau has three goals and three assists and seems to have regained confidence after two miserable campaigns with the Flames.
After accruing 115 points with the Florida Panthers during 2021-22, Huberdeau chipped in 107 points for Calgary over the past two seasons. His 12 goals in 2023-24 were the third-fewest he had scored in a dozen years in the league.
“It is early but I I felt good coming to training camp and worked really hard this summer to be able to be at my best,” Huberdeau said after scoring twice and adding two assists in a victory a week ago over the Philadelphia Flyers. “I think it is the best I have felt the last two years.
“My all-around game is better.”
At present the standing in the Western Conference look like an inverted pyramid: Calgary is at the top and the Oilers next-to-last in the Pacific Division and the Colorado Avalanche last in the Central.
The Flames have a chance to improve to 5-0 when they take on the Seattle Kraken on Saturday. If they do it will be the first time they have been unbeaten through the first five games of any season.
Edmonton stumbled out of the gate – again – and was pretty much hapless in three home losses during which it was outscored 15-3. With a victory at Dallas on Saturday, in a rematch of teams that squared off in last spring’s Western Conference final, the Oilers could even their record to 3-3.
Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid shoots the puck past Nashville Predators left wing Cole Smith in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 17.George Walker IV/The Associated Press
It won’t be easy; the always-underrated Stars are out to a 4-1 start.
“Training camp didn’t go as well as we wanted and we got off to a slow start in the regular season and are trying to get our game back,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch, who took Edmonton all the way to the Stanley Cup final last summer before it lost in seven games to the Panthers. He replaced Jay Woodcroft when the Oilers were 3-10-1. “I think we were a little disappointed and thinking about last year’s playoffs and not about what we need to do now.”
Edmonton came within a whisker of being 0-4 before it came from behind to beat the Flyers 4-3 in overtime on Tuesday at Rogers Place. Philadelphia led 2-0 after the first 20 minutes when the Oilers were assessed four penalties. They had seven on the night but won on a goal by Leon Draisaitl.
Connor McDavid drew an assist on the winning goal and on the tying goal by Evan Bouchard in the third period.
“There was a lot of self-inflicted adversity,” Knoblauch lamented. “Ultimately we made it harder on ourselves than it had to be.”
Their output is usually remarkable, so it is easy to look at McDavid and Draisaitl and take the view that they were off to a slow start. They have three goals and six assists combined in five games.
“I think we are getting a little more focused and ramping up our intensity,” Knoblauch said. “For you to be successful your best players have to be your best and they have been.”
Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins have just one point and no goals between them and the goaltending was shaky at the get-go.
The Flames have got production from defenceman Rasmus Andersson (two goals and six points) and Connor Zary, Martin Pospisil and Andrei Kuzmenko, who have five points each. Dustin Wolf and Dan Vladar have been strong in the net.
“Consistency is the big thing we talked about during training camp,” Huberdeau said. “We need everybody to contribute throughout our lineup. I think we are going to be a hard team to play against.”
For now, down is up and up is down.