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After their first loss of the season Thursday (6-3 against the Buffalo Sabres), the Calgary Flames got back to work Friday morning with a structured practice aimed at consolidating the team’s play without the puck.
Buffalo took a 3-1 lead in the first period, chasing Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom after allowing three goals on 12 shots. The Sabers seemed to be the fastest team throughout the night, constantly circling Calgary in their defensive zone and using their lateral speed with the puck.
“We had another start s— [to] the game,” Flames defenseman Nikita Zadorov said of the team’s effort. “Too many turnovers. Too many odd rushes. We weren’t winning any battles down there. We knew what Buffalo was going to bring and they did, but we weren’t ready for it. It’s totally on us, totally unacceptable.
Friday’s practice focused on covering the defensive zone and stopping plays in transition.
After putting his lines through a mixer on Thursday night, head coach Darryl Sutter released his usual defensive duos and forward trios on Friday. Jonathan Huberdeau, Elias Lindholm and Tyler Toffoli, who have yet to score at even strength this season, remain Calgary’s top line. Noah Hanifin, who missed Thursday’s game and practice earlier in the week, was on the ice.
After the loss, Sutter said he needed more of his young defenders. Connor Mackey made it into the lineup, but he looked outplayed in his first game of the season and had just one shift in the third period. Zadorov – paired with regular Hanifin partner Rasmus Andersson – scored, but also picked up two penalties.
“You have an opportunity, you have to take advantage of it,” Sutter said Thursday night.
Calgary is already missing defenseman Oliver Kylington, who is absent from the team due to family issues. Veteran Michael Stone was brought back to a pro trial and then signed a one-year contract.
“Everybody talked about our depth…this summer, well, it got a bit disrupted with Oliver’s situation and then nobody came in to training camp other than Stoney,” Sutter said. .
Second-row winger Andrew Mangiapane, who was 3-under on Thursday, stressed the need to reduce scoring chances.
“We had to do a better job of tucking the guys into the D-zone and getting out together at five,” he said.
Calgary hosts the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.
Lines of flames in training
Huberdeau-Lindholm-Toffoli
Dube-Kadri-Mangiapane
Coleman-Backlund-Lewis
Lucic-Rooney-Ritchie
Ružicka
Weegar-Tanev
Hanifin-Andersson
Zadorov-Peter
mackey
markstrom
Vladar
Vladar re-signs
Calgary’s goaltending roster looks to stay the same for the next two seasons. Dan Vladar re-signed with the team this week, signing a two-year deal at $2.2 million per season, nearly tripling his current salary.
Vladar, who backed the Flames to a win in Edmonton a week ago, is well regarded by the organization for his attitude, work ethic and professionalism.
The Flames goaltending department, led by manager Jordan Sigalet, had been keeping tabs on Vladar after he was drafted by Boston in the third round in 2015. Sigalet received a positive scouting report from the former Flames goaltender. Bruins Tuukka Rask, and in the summer of 2021 the Flames sent a third-round pick to Boston for him.
In his first season in Calgary, Vladar went 13-6-2 with a .906 save percentage and a 2.75 goals-against average. The 25-year-old Czech Republic native joked that it took him around six seconds to sign the new contract. The process was quick and simple.
“When I look at my game last year and when I look at it now, I see a huge improvement,” he said. “I know I am improving here. I know I can trust Marky. I know I can trust Siggy. I know I can trust Barbs [goalie coach Jason LaBarbera]. We have a small team within a team.
Markstrom was also happy that Vladar was back.
“Last year he did an amazing job every time he came,” he said. “You see it on a daily basis, the work he does. I was super excited that he got a two-year contract – for him but also for me to have a partner like that, and then for our team…we push each other. He wants to play. I want to play… obviously I’ve been in this league for a long time now and I try to help him as much as possible to slow down the game and make the game easier.
Re-signing Vladar means the Flames can continue to be patient with top prospect Dustin Wolf, the 21-year-old who was named the American Hockey League’s Most Outstanding Goaltender last season as a rookie. He still doesn’t need to clear waivers for three more seasons so the Flames can continue their development in the AHL.
Lewis a valuable teammate off the ice
Several Flames players have alluded to Trevor Lewis over the past year as someone who has quietly contributed to an altered locker room culture. He won the Stanley Cup with Darryl Sutter in Los Angeles in 2012 and 2014. In the summer of 2021, Sutter called Lewis to gauge his interest in joining the Flames.
“He’s just as important off the ice as he is on the ice for our group,” Sutter said. “He is committed to being a very good pro. He’s been like this for quite a long time now… in some ways he’s a better player now than he was 10 years ago. First, understand your role. The roles change. These guys who have won championships, their roles change as they get older… Lewy is one of those guys who sticks to the program and managed to keep it going.
Lewis had to adapt his game shortly after being drafted in the first round in 2006 by the Kings.
“I was playing in the minors and things weren’t going so well,” the 35-year-old said.
“I thought it was going to be like junior where I would go up, play power play, get points. The development guys sent me over and said if I wanted to take it to the next level I had to be that guy the coach could trust, work on [penalty killing]work on face-offs.
Fifteen years after those conversations, Lewis is a Stanley Cup champion and trusted veteran whose attention to detail has rubbed off on his teammates.
“Where are we going to get out of this faceoff, how do the other team check in, even in your structure or your routine, just making sure your body is ready to go and you’re not there -down pulling a muscle,” he said, about how he tries to help the other Flames.
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