DALLAS – After turning a chest-thumping romp into a heart-pounding escape, Calgary Flames netminder Dan Vladar approached the media with a grin.
“Swiss cheese here,” he chuckled, referring to the holes in his game that allowed the Dallas Stars to turn a 6-1 deficit into a 6-5 nailbiter.
Alas, the Flames backup and his bunch got the last laugh in a typically atypical afternoon tilt that provided plenty of anxious moments for a team that barely hung on to a four-goal lead in the third period against a Stars club that is arguably the class of the west.
“I wasn’t anxious,” insisted Darryl Sutter, who doesn’t speak on behalf of Flames fans sweating it out at home.
“Anxious is usually if you’re scared and you don’t know what you’re doing.
“That’s anxious.”
His club knows exactly what it’s doing these days, which is finding ways to continue building momentum, even through lapses like the ones that have dotted this trip, like the overtime loss in Chicago, as well as third-period meltdowns in St. Louis Tuesday and Dallas Saturday.
But the bottom line is: this team is starting to play to its potential with more regularity.
The pieces are finally falling into place for the revamped squad, enabling a deep, talented team on paper to start rolling on the ice.
Saturday’s win in the most hostile of environments gives the club six of a possible eight points on this road trip, giving the team points in 14 of their last 17.
They are, as the kids say, trending.
Remember, it was this time last year when the Flames embarked on a 14-1-1 run that took them to the top of the division.
There’s a feeling we may soon find out if this bunch is capable of finally stringing together a bunch of wins as fans – and the players – have been waiting for.
Holding back this year’s edition has been the absence of top-line dominance, as Jonathan Huberdeau’s slow path to finding his groove has hampered both top units.
However, as his two setups Saturday can attest, he seems to have found a home alongside Nazem Kadri, and the lines seem to be taking turns being the difference-makers.
His no-look pass to set up Kadri in the midst of a four-goal spree in the second period extended his center’s point streak to five games, and gave himself six points in that span.
It came on a play that took several minutes to review, as it appeared Huberdeau was off-side while waiting for the puck in the air, making it impossible for officials to find conclusive evidence to overturn the goal.
“I think it was close, but I thought it was offside,” shrugged Huberdeau, who has 13 points in his last 13 outings.
“We let down in the third period, but we’ve been playing well and got the two points.
“We’ve been picking up a lot of points lately.”
Fortunate enough to face Scott Wedgewood, as opposed to playoff hero Jake Oettinger, everybody got in on the act Saturday after Andrew Mangiapane opened the scoring 25 seconds in.
Six different goal scorers helped 12 Flames get on the score sheet, including Chris Tanev, who scored his first of the year. Trevor Lewis made it 2-0 with his third career power-play goal, while Elias Lindholm and Rasmus Andersson also scored for the Flames, who have points in five straight.
The lads had plenty to celebrate as they jetted off to Nashville after the game for a chance to wrap up the trip with eight of ten points Monday.
But first, the all-important rookie party was slated to take place in one of Broadway’s storied Honky Tonks.
“I think this week we proved we can play every single team in the league,” said Vladar, who is on a 6-0-3 roll.
“No one is asking what the score is, the two points are what matter most.”
