Flames believe massive win will spark confidence in several areas

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The Calgary Flames were able to pick up a big two points in yet another gutsy, come-from-behind shootout win on Tuesday night.

Things appeared out of sync through the opening two periods, likely in part due to a three-day break in their schedule. It seemed as though a loss was going to be the outcome when trailing 1-0 after 40, but in what is becoming typical Flames fashion, they were able to grind their way to yet another victory.

A big part of last night’s win was special teams, most notably the struggling power play, which was able to convert early in the third period to tie things up at one apiece on what was their only opportunity of the night. Coming at such a big time, it could go a long ways in building momentum moving forward.

“Yeah, a lot,” Rasmus Andersson said when asked about the power play goal building confidence. “That, along with the penalty kill. We kill one with a minute left in the game. Before that, we have two really good kills too. Now we’ve just got to stick with it, know what we did well, and keep building on it.”

Speaking of building confidence moving forward, Andrei Kuzmenko, who hasn’t found the back of the net since the fourth game of the season, was able to score one of two goals in the shootout for the Flames tonight.

Getting Kuzmenko back on track would be massive for this Flames group who, despite finding ways to win, haven’t scored a ton of goals this season.

“My hope is [that it builds] a lot,” Huska said. “He’s a good player, he does a lot of things really well, especially when he’s feeling it with the puck. He’s able to cut back like nobody else on our team. Sometimes when you get a situation like that and he is able to do something he feels is helping the team win, it can kind of catapult him to other things.”

One Flame who isn’t lacking confidence is Dustin Wolf, who made his second-consecutive start tonight after his first career shutout against the LA Kings on Friday. He was spectacular once again in last night’s outing, stopping 28 of the 29 shots he faced.

“It’s a little bit of everything, you’re reading plays well, you’re kind of envisioning what’s going to happen next,” Wolf said when asked about the zone he’s in right now. “You’re seeing through bodies, you’re just connected. It’s a good feeling to have, and one you certainly have to work your way to keep.”

With the win, the Flames have now improved to 10-6-3 on the season. They’ll look to improve on that further on Thursday night in a tilt versus the New York Rangers.

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