Huberdeau scores twice, Wolf has 37 saves in Flames’ 6-3 win over Flyers

Jonathan Huberdeau had two goals and two assists for the Calgary Flames in a 6-3 win in their home opener over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

Nazem Kadri scored twice, including an empty-netter with MacKenzie Weegar and Mikael Backlund each contributing a goal for Calgary (2-0-0).

Flames goalie Dustin Wolf stopped 37 of 40 shots in his season debut.

Travis Konecny scored twice, including one short-handed, and Joel Farabee also had a goal for Philadelphia (1-1-0).

Flyers starter Ivan Fedotov made 27 saves in his first start of the season.

The Flyers played their second road game in as many nights to start their season after a 3-2 shootout win over the Canucks in Vancouver.

The Flames overcame a three-goal deficit to beat the Canucks 6-5 in overtime to start their season Wednesday.

Gaudreau honoured in home-opener

Saturday’s pre-game Johnny Gaudreau video montage of his electrifying moments during his eight years as a Flame drew a standing ovation and chants of “John-ny” at the Saddledome.

The Calgary Flames with a beautiful tribute to Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau. pic.twitter.com/y3FslJGkyv

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 13, 2024

Gaudreau, who went on to play for the Columbus Blue Jackets, and his brother Matthew were cycling on Aug. 29 when they were struck and killed by a vehicle.

The Flames held a candlelight vigil five days later at the Saddledome, where people left flowers and team memorabilia in tribute to Gaudreau.

NHL players are wearing helmet decals with the brothers’ numbers 13 and 21 this season, and Wolf has taken that a step further.

His mask’s backplate bears an image of Gaudreau in Flames colours wearing his No. 13 and saluting the crowd.

“Everyone knows it’s just awful. You know, in the summer after it happened, I was able to go out to the memorial for a bit, kind of share my piece,” Wolf said. “I only knew him very little, was only around him very little, but being an American … thought it was really important to honour him and his family and his kids.”

Huberdeau off to strong start for Flames

Huberdeau did mental and physical work in the off-season in an effort to make his third season as a Calgary Flame his best one yet.

His four-point outing followed his goal in Calgary’s season-opening 6-5 overtime road win over the Vancouver Canucks, for a total of five points in his first two games of 2024-25.

Traded to the Flames in the summer of 2022 and signed then to an eight-year, US$84-million contract, Huberdeau famously said after his first season in Calgary “I completely lost my swagger.”

The left-winger totalled 107 points over his first two seasons in Calgary after a single-season 115 with the Florida Panthers before his trade to Calgary.

Huberdeau says he hit the gym hard and sought guidance from psychologists to arrive at September’s training camp confident and optimistic.

“That’s the best I’ve felt the past two years,” Huberdeau said. “It’s early, but I was feeling good to come into training camp and worked really hard this summer to be able to be at my best.

“Working mentally with psychologists, stuff like that, to kind of get my confidence back, that’s what I did throughout the summer. Feeling good physically too is important. There’s no excuses out there.”

Huberdeau of Saint-Jerome, Que., has been under pressure to live up to a contract that’s worth US$10.5 million per year.

There were signs of an upward trend in the second half of last season when his average points-per-game increased from .5 to .8.

“He wants to be a difference maker every night and it hasn’t gone the way he’d like to see it go over the last couple years,” Flames head coach Ryan Huska said Saturday. “But he’s doing a lot of things, and he did prior years too, well without the puck.

“He’s killing penalties now and I’m probably more excited about that stuff than the points that he put on the board tonight, because, I don’t know, I feel like he’s engaged even in the penalty kill. That’s something that’s good for us. We need him right now.”

Martin Pospisil was shifted from the wing to become Huberdeau’s centre, with newcomer Anthony Mantha playing on their right side.

The trio combined on an interesting first goal by Huberdeau that gave Calgary a 1-0 lead.

Pospisil flipped the puck to the front of Philadelphia’s net where it deflected off Huberdeau’s shoulder and over Philadelphia’s Ivan Fedotov.

“I don’t think I’ve ever scored a goal on my shoulder,” Huberdeau said.

He set up MacKenzie Weegar’s one-timer for a 2-0 Flames lead heading into the second period, and generated Calgary’s fifth goal of the game in the third period to help seal the victory.

“It’s one game. There’s 80 more,” Huberdeau said. “It’s a long season. Having these kinds of nights help build the confidence.”

Calgary’s first victory this season in the Saddledome was triumphant for another Flame in front of an announced sellout of 19,289.

Goaltender Dustin Wolf was the difference early by stopping all 18 shots he faced in the first period and repelling 37 overall in his first start this season.

“It’s fantastic,” said the 23-year-old. “That’s the goal. You want to get in the net, especially the homer-opener is pretty special.”

Wolf and Dan Vladar, who was in net for the OT in Vancouver, will vie for starts this season. Wolf’s rebound control was airtight Saturday.

“When he’s not letting out rebounds, things are kind of sticking to him, and he seems like he knows where the puck is,” Huska said. “He’s tracking it well.”

Takeaways

Flyers: Slow start after beating Vancouver in a shootout 24 hours earlier, but scored twice in the second period and trailed by a goal heading into the third.

Flames: Wolf was the difference early stopping all 18 shots he faced in the first period and 37 overall. Calgary’s first goal that deflected off Huberdeau’s shoulder was lucky, but the winger set up Weegar perfectly for a one-timer and a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes, assisted on a pair of power-play goals and generated the Flames’ fifth goal.

Key moment

The Flames converted a five-on-three in the second period into Kadri’s power-play goal and a two-goal lead. Wolf reached back into his crease during a scramble to clear the puck and deny Konecny a potential equalizing goal midway through the third period.

Key stat

Philadelphia’s power play, which was the worst in the NHL last season, was 1-for-4 on Saturday and 2-for-8 after two games. Calgary’s went 2-for-5 to be 4-for-9 after two games.

Up next

Flames: Finish a back-to-back weekend on Sunday in Edmonton against the Oilers.

Flyers: Follow the Flames into Edmonton on Tuesday.