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The Calgary Flames, as expected by many, walked away with another two points last night against the bottom dwelling Buffalo Sabres who have managed just two wins in their last ten games played.
Conversely, the Flames have been playing quite well despite sitting near the bottom of the standings themselves. With a current ten game record of 6-4-0, Calgary continues to impress the hockey world with their strong play from all lines, despite having a rather young and inexperienced roster.
In fact, the Flames had six players in the lineup last night who have less than 100 games in the NHL, with a few being in their first season of their NHL careers. It should be no surprise to anyone that Calgary has been icing many young prospects with injuries coming about, but also given that they are rebuilding. What should be, and continues to be impressive however, is their level of play.
One player in particular who head coach Bob Hartley was rather pleased with after a 3-1 win against Buffalo, was forward Paul Byron. The 24 year old rookie has but 72 NHL games under his belt, but often plays like a seasoned veteran with his shot blocking, penalty killing, and hustle. The 5’7 centerman is certainly not the biggest guy out there, but boy can he skate!
“He’s like our little energizer bunny…whenever he gets a step on a defenseman, there are not too many defensemen in this league who can catch up to him… said Hartley when asked about Byron.
In addition to complementing the play of Byron, Hartley went on to speak about how this year has been a much greater opportunity for some of the young players of the Flames organization to grow and develop, compared to last year’s shortened season. With a full offseason and exhibition period, regular practice times and less time in between games, Hartley explains that players like Sean Monahan and Joe Colborne have had a better chance to succeed and develop as a player.
That said, Joe Colborne has been finding some success of late since being placed on the wing. Somewhat struggling down the middle, Hartley felt that it would be wise to develop Colborne on the wing rather than subject him to less minutes while playing on the 4th line. Since, Colborne has managed to rack up a few more points than he was previously, and also develop some added confidence which is critical for a player of his ilk.
With respect to the overall team play last night, it was just as expected…at least for me. The team, despite starting off slow, showed a high level of hustle, stuck to a solid defensive game, but most importantly put together some strong offensive chances which resulted in two goals from just nine shots in the third period.
With 12 points out of a possible 20 of late, the Flames have been possibly gaining a few more points than some fans may want, however they remain five points behind Nashville for 25th place league wide, and I do not sincerely see them passing anyone in the standings as teams start to heat up for the playoffs.
That said, Calgary will take to the ice on Friday night against the Nashville Predators where newly signed Kenny Agostino has been confirmed to be slotted in the roster. This game is one, I feel, most fans will hope to come out without any points while still putting up a solid effort for the night.
That’s all for today folks, thanks for reading!