Calgary Flames win season opener in comeback win against the Edmonton Oilers – The Win Column

For the second year in a row, the Calgary Flames erased a three-goal deficit in the first game of the season, this time to defeat the Edmonton 4-3 in a shootout.

There wasn’t much to love about this match, but like many of the matches we saw last season, Dustin Wolf closed the door and gave his team a chance to get the win. It wasn’t ideal, but the Flames got the job done.

Wolf picked up where he left off

Wolf was fantastic in the first game of the season. After conceding three goals in the first half of the game that weren’t his fault, Wolf slammed the door shut, making 32 saves on 35 shots. The Oilers had many dangerous looks late in the game and in overtime, but Wof made all the saves. He then made seven saves on eight shootout attempts to eventually allow the Flames to beat Stuart Skinner and take the win.

It’s only one game, but it’s crystal clear that last season was no joke and Wolf is just as good, if not better, than we thought. The contract extension he just signed already looks fantastic and hasn’t even come into effect yet.

He is the most important player on this team, and if the Flames are going to do any damage this season, it will be on the back of Wolf.

Matvei Gridin impressive in first NHL game

After making the team out of training camp, Matvei Gridin was perhaps the best skater for the Flames tonight. He was all over it, using his skill and speed to get around defenders and create chances for himself. Oh yeah, did I mention he also scored his first NHL goal tonight? His goal in the second period was lucky, but it put the Flames right back into the game that many thought was already over.

If he continues to play like this, he will make the decision very difficult for the Flames brass to send him to the AHL once Jonathan Huberdeau and Martin Pospisil are ready to return to action. It was great to see Gridin perform like this tonight, and I’m very excited to see how he looks tomorrow in Vancouver.

The match was not all positive

Let’s put it all together, the Flames didn’t deserve to win tonight. They were crushed at even strength and were outplayed at every turn. They had three pretty lucky bounces going their way, and again, without Wolf’s play it probably would have been a blowout.

Jake Bean in particular was terrible tonight. He was a turnover machine, he killed every play when the puck hit his stick, and he was outplayed every shift he played. While the Flames as a whole weren’t good, Bean stood out for all the wrong reasons. There’s no reason Zayne Parekh shouldn’t be in the lineup tomorrow, and Parekh shouldn’t play another game in Bean’s favor for the rest of this season.

There wasn’t much to like tonight, but it’s the first game of the year and there’s a lot of time to iron out the kinks. However, this was similar to many of the games we saw last season and the Flames won’t have this luck all year, they need to be better as a group, and that starts tomorrow in Vancouver.

Related