The rollercoaster ride that is Andrei Kuzmenko’s season continued in last night’s 3-1 loss to the Nashville Predators.
After sitting the past two games as a healthy scratch, Kuzmenko played like a man with something to prove early on. The 28-year-old was the Flames’ best forward in the opening period, creating several scoring chances and just narrowly missing one chance late in the frame to give his team the lead.
Andrei Kuzmenko has created more offence in the last 2 minutes than he has in his last 7 games combined. Hopefully he can keep it going.
If Kuzmenko can get going it makes the Flames a completely different team.
🎥: Sportsnet | NHL#Flames #Smashville pic.twitter.com/ZY17k6I9Vy
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) January 5, 2025
Things went downhill from there for the struggling winger. Very, very downhill.
Early into the second, Kuzmenko took a slashing penalty in the offensive zone. The Preds made him pay, as Ryan O’Reilly scored on the power play.
Later on in the period, Kuzmenko, who was given time on the power play following a Luke Schenn penalty, went to throw a puck on net from the point. His stick wound up breaking on the shot, and wound up resulting in a penalty you don’t see very often, if at all.
Andrei Kuzmenko makes a play while holding his broken stick. You don’t see that call very often in the NHL.
🎥: Sportsnet | NHL#Flames #Smashville pic.twitter.com/ejHy0Yvh8y
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) January 5, 2025
Once again, O’Reilly made him pay, scoring his second of three on the night.
“Two offensive penalties,” head coach Ryan Huska said bluntly when asked to assess Kuzmenko’s performance. “The one thing I would say is a positive thing for him is that he had a lot of shot attempts tonight.”
When Huska was asked if it was possible Kuzmenko simply didn’t know the rule on what was a strange second penalty, the Flames head coach was blunt once again in his response.
“I’m sure he knows the rule. He’s played in the NHL for a few years now,” Huska said.
Kuzmenko contradicted that comment from his head coach, admitting afterward that he was not aware that play would be called if he kicked the puck.
“Emotional moment,” Kuzmenko began. “I see the puck a couple metres from me. My right hand, the stick went out, but it was an emotional moment … stupid moment. I made a mistake, [took a] penalty. Next time I’ll understand [that] rule.”
Asked for further clarification on whether he knew the rule or learned it tonight, he responded with a simple, “Learned.”
It was evident that the Russian winger took this loss hard. He didn’t seem to want to talk much about what most agreed was a solid start to the game, making it clear he didn’t think it mattered much since he was unable to convert for his team.
“A lot of chances [came] today, probably five or six,” Kuzmenko said. “Difficult moment, but try to stay positive. I understand [I] had a lot of chances. [The first] 10 minutes was very good, but it doesn’t matter if you don’t score.”
It goes without saying, but this certainly wasn’t the game Kuzmenko needed to have in hopes of impressing his coaching staff. Based on Huska’s clear frustration, he may find himself in the press box once again next Tuesday versus the Anaheim Ducks.
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