As the Calgary Flames continue to defy expectations, delivering their latest victory on Tuesday night was Justin Kirkland, whose NHL journey has been just as improbable.
Nine days after scoring his first NHL goal, the 28-year-old journeyman centre scored his first shootout-deciding goal as the Flames rallied late for a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
With 11 points in its first six games, Calgary (5-0-1) is off to its fastest start in franchise history with Kirkland a fitting poster child.
“I just heard my name called and I looked back to double check. Me? Me?” said Kirkland with a chuckle. “It was exciting. I knew I had a job to do, and that was to go out and try to score. Happy that it went in and obviously (Dustin Wolf), he made a big save on the next one.
“So all in all, fantastic night, just absolutely living the dream.”
Kirkland’s goal came in the sixth round of the shootout. Dustin Wolf then denied Evgeni Malkin to clinch the win.
“I got to play with (Kirkland) in my first pro year in Stockton and as soon as I saw he was going for the shootout, I knew we were going to win,” said Wolf. “He’s Mr. Automatic when it comes to shootouts, I don’t think I’ve seen him miss yet.”
That scouting report was corroborated post-game by coach Ryan Huska.
“Look at the American League stuff, he scores all the time. So I was kicking myself for not going to him earlier, to be quite honest with you,” said Huska.
While Huska coached Kirkland during his days behind the bench for the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League, he knows Kirkland is a different guy now.
“The guy back then was more about all skill and not a lot of will,” the coach said. “Now he’s flipped it where he still has a great skill set, but I would say he’s more of a harder player than a skill player now.”
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Now, like everyone else in Calgary, Huska is enjoying watching the Kirkland story plays out.
A third-round pick by Nashville in 2014, the forward from Winnipeg, Man., entered the year with 412 games in the minors and just nine NHL games on his resume, during which he had gone scoreless.
He’s got a goal and an assist, and now a shootout winner, in four games with the Flames.
“He’s good person that has worked a long time to try to get himself here, and now he’s having some success,” said Huska. “So it’s a really nice story for us to be a part of.”
“It’s inspiring,” said Nazem Kadri, who tied the game with 43 seconds left in the third period and the goalie pulled. “I really had no idea of his story when he came up here. Learned more about him becoming my teammate and obviously scoring his first goal. So it’s always a guy you’re rooting for when he puts in the work as well, and he’s a good teammate.”
Kirkland is just soaking it all in.
“It’s special,” he said. “Just coming in every day, trying to have a good attitude, good work ethic, and if I’m in the lineup, great, and any way that I can help this team win, that’s what I’m willing to do.”
Calgary dealt away several core pieces at last year’s trade deadline, opening up spots for guys like Kirkland. Now the rebuilding Flames continue to prove skeptics wrong.
“We understand the expectation of ourselves, but we understand the expectation of the outside world as well,” said Kadri. “And I think that motivates us and fuels the fire a little bit. You always want to prove people wrong, and that’s what we’re trying to do this year.”
Defying those expectations takes the entire team, Wolf said.
“Every single person in this room is contributing, and that’s exactly you need to win hockey games,” said the 23-year-old, who had 35 saves Tuesday, and four more in the shootout.
“You can’t rely on three, four, five guys. It takes a whole group, and it’s been pretty cool to see how well we’ve done for the first six games. And we just need to keep our foot on the gas and keep going.”
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