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Calgary coach Bob Hartley’s look of complete shock and dismay said it all—after Patrick Kane undressed two Flame defenders and beat a flailing Jonas Hiller for the game-winning goal with about ten minutes left in last night’s game at the Saddle Dome.
Too pretty for words. Too sweet.
Kane was a wizard most of the night and does seem to be developing a nice chemistry with Brad Richards who set up the aforementioned gamewinner.
Lots of Hawks had good games last night: Marcus Kruger and Dan Carcillo, both +1 with a point a piece, and Kruger was 65% in the dot.
There was a point late in the first period where it looked like the wheels were about to come off—the Flames had scored two quick goals to tie the game and a couple of Hawks (Corey Crawford and Niklas Hjalmarsson) appeared close to apoplectic.
But when Michal Rozsival and a rookie playing his first NHL game (Adam Clendening, first NHL goal) are both +2 against a tough team on the road, you know the Hockey Gods are smiling on you.
So a great start to what is typically a crude bellwether for the season ahead: the Circus Trip.
In other news, Philip Danault could see his first NHL regular season action (or not) tomorrow night in Edmonton. The Hawks did move Patrick Sharp to LTIR (although he is allegedly still on schedule for a return soon). And C/W Andrew Shaw is projected to be out for a while.
Danault is a defense-first center/wing, but has some underrated setup skills. He has been playing on Rockford’s best line with Mark McNeill and Garrett Ross. A plus skater, but also on the small side, his game has elements of Dave Bolland, Marcus Kruger and even Jonathan Toews in terms of his compete level.
I’ll have an Oilers Preview tomorrow.
All for now,
JJ