Calgary Flames left wing Johnny Gaudreau and Anaheim Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm battle for the puck on Dec. 4, 2016.Sergei Belski
The return of Johnny Gaudreau to the Calgary Flames lineup occurred unexpectedly last Sunday, when the diminutive sniper came off the injury list weeks earlier than anticipated and immediately scored an early goal in an 8-3 romp over the Anaheim Ducks.
The energy he brought to the team, and to the building, was palpable – and according to coach Glen Gulutzan, far different from the player who showed up for work just as training camp ended, armed with a new six-year, $40.5-million contract, and feeling more pressure than he's ever felt in his pro career.
That Gaudreau was tentative and uncertain – nothing like the player who Calgary fans had come to expect these past few years. When he's humming along in high gear, Gaudreau is an elusive, quick, play-making imp who confuses and perplexes NHL defences. Mysteriously, that Gaudreau had gone missing before the slash from Minnesota's Eric Staal broke his finger and sent him to the sidelines for 19 days.
Read more: Amid all the fuss, Calgary Flames' goalie Chad Johnson stands tall
There were a lot of reasons why the Flames got off to a miserable start this season. They had to adjust to the teachings of a new coaching staff headed by Gulutzan, while integrating two new goaltenders into the mix.
But mostly, Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, captain Mark Giordano, defenceman T.J. Brodie – four of the six core pieces at the heart of their rebuild – were not good.
Indeed, they were so not-good that even the increasingly elusive president of hockey operations, Brian Burke, came out of the shadows to explain why.
Burke blamed the rich-guy syndrome for their struggles. Gaudreau, Monahan and Giordano were all in the first years of contract extensions that gave them whopping pay raises and, as such, were feeling the pressure to earn those dollars on every shift they took.
It meant they were getting away from the things that made them effective in the first place. Suddenly, all looked lost out on the ice.
But a funny thing happened during Gaudreau's absence. Without their most gifted scorer, the Flames started to perform better defensively, thanks in large part to goaltender Chad Johnson's excellent play.
They were 6-3-1 in Gaudreau's absence and are 3-0 since his return. The net result is a five-game win streak that's moved them back into playoff contention.
On Friday morning, after returning home from a two-game trip, the Flames woke up tied with the Edmonton Oilers atop the Pacific Division.
That standing was a little bit of a mirage, given that the teams in pursuit – mainly a trio of California contenders – all held either three or four games in hand on Calgary. Still, this was a vast improvement over the first month, when a season that began with some reasonable level of optimism, had threatened to go completely down the drain.
Since then, the Flames sorted out their goaltending and special-teams play and have won a league-high nine road games (in 17 tries).
"We've got to keep this rolling," said Gaudreau, following a two-assist performance in a 2-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes. "We've put ourselves in a good position now, but we're not out of the woods yet. There's still a lot more season to play, but this is definitely helping us."
Last Sunday, Gulutzan said he saw something different in Gaudreau's body language upon his return to the lineup: "Johnny [against Anaheim] was really excited. Sitting back, watching, getting excited and recentered, he brought a lot of good energy when he came into the room."
That energy carried over to the trip, where Calgary won a pair of back-to-back 2-1 games. Gaudreau earned points on all four goals they scored. All along, the Flames have been getting good work from their supporting cast, but they didn't have a difference maker on offence. That's Gaudreau. That's why he got the big raise. When playing with confidence, he can be such a catalyst offensively. He has gone back to playing with the same daring abandon that makes him so hard to defend. Just in the nick of time, too.