5 THINGS - FLAMES VS. AVALANCHE

FLAMES (0-0-0) vs. AVALANCHE (1-0-0)

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GAME DAY VIDEO
The Journey Starts Now
Pregame Interviews
GAME DAY FEATURES
Family Matters for Huberdeaus
Say What - 'Excited To Get Going'
STAT PACK
Media Game Notes
Scoring Leaders
2021-22 Head-to-Head Stats
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Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - None
Goals - None
Avalanche:
Points - Mikko Rantanen (4)
Goals - Arturri Lehkonen, Valeri Nichushkin (2)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - N/A / PK - N/A
Avalanche:
PP - 66.6% (1st) / PK - 33.3% (13th)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: N/A
High-Danger Chances: N/A
Avalanche:
Shot Attempts: 64.10% (2nd)
High-Danger Chances: 46.15% (12th)

1. DAY ONE

And so it begins.
Game 1 of the road to Lord Stanley's chalice.
Let's go.
The Flames welcome the defending Cup champion Avalanche to the Scotiabank Saddledome for a 7:30 pm puck drop to kick off their regular season.
A new season with new faces but the same goal: a championship banner for the rafters.
"You think like the players. They just want to get going now," Flames Head Coach Darryl Sutter said. "They've been through the 60-player training camp, split-squad, and all the practices. They just want to get going.
"Now you can start. You can call it a race, you can call it a marathon, you can call it whatever you want. But it is a start.
"We've been really good, really sharp. They're anxious for it."
It was quite the eventful off-season with Jonathan Huberdeau, Mackenzie Weegar, Nazem Kadri and Kevin Rooney joining the club for a new-look lineup.
For Kadri, what better way to debut with his new side then up against the former team that he played an instrumental role in helping win the Cup last season.
Funny how things work out.
"Very interesting," Kadri said Wednesday. "It feels like the story just keeps getting better and better. Somehow it just works itself out that way. Obviously didn't plan that, I looked at the schedule after I signed with Calgary and saw that first matchup. It's a bit ironic but at the end of the day it's nice to get it over and done with and try to get two points.
"Just excitement (with the season starting). Obviously I've been skating with these guys the last few weeks, a month now. Gotten to know everyone pretty well, they've made me feel right at home, I feel very comfortable. Darryl has done a great job catching me up on systems and what not. I can't wait to get started."
The match-up is the first of three between the two clubs this campaign, and presents an excellent test for the group facing off against one of the league's best.
As the 'ol Rick Flair saying goes: 'To be the man, you gotta beat the man.'
"They've won the Stanley Cup because they've been knocking at the door for two or three years," Sutter said. "The star factor, meaning the position factor that's really important. All that combined, I think they've got 17 players that are still on their team that won it.
"That tells you that they are capable of doing that again. And it's not cause we're playing them, they should be the favourites. It's yours, until someone takes it, it's yours."

2. KNOW YOUR ENEMY

The Avs come in fresh off their banner raising night, with a 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks Wednesday night in Denver.
Mikko Rantanen (34A) led the charge with a four-point night while Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin both tallied twice for Colorado. Andrew Cogliano provided the other marker.
The Avs powerplay picked up where they left off from a season ago, scoring four power play goals on six chances with two coming in the middle stanza.
New netminder Alexandar Georgiev got his first start and first win with the Avs, a quiet night only needing 15 saves.
The Avalanche will enjoy a few days off after tonight's battle, returning to action on Oct. 17 when they host the Minnesota Wild.
Game 2 of the three-game season set vs. the Flames will be Jan. 18 in Calgary.

3. FAST FACTS

OUR COACH: Heading into the new season, bench boss Darryl Sutter is one win away from 700 in his coaching career. With the next W, Sutter will join an exclusive club that has only seen 10 others reach the 700 mark. Sutter is also three games away from hitting 1,400 games coached, which will have him tied for 10th all-time.
BACKS AT IT: Mikael Backlund is set to skate in his 15th season with the Flames, which will tie Mark Giordano (15) for the second most among skaters behind Jarome Iginla (16). Backlund (826) needs one game to surpass Robyn Regehr (826) for sole possession of third place in franchise history, only behind Iginla (1,219) and Giordano (949).
ADDED FIRE POWER: The addition of Huberdeau and Kadri marks just the second time in the last 70 years of NHL history where a team has added two players in the off-season that finished in the top-20 in scoring the season prior (ANA: Sergei Fedorov and Vinny Prospal in 2003-04). Huberdeau finished tied for second with 115 points while Kadri placed 19th with 87.

4. PLAYERS TO WATCH

Flames - MacKenzie Weegar
First official game in the Flaming C.
After coming over to Calgary via trade from Florida and then signing an eight-year extension last Friday, there's a lot of buzz for his Flames debut. The rearguard will look to build off a career year last campaign which saw him post 44 points (8G, 44A) in 80 games.
Avalanche - Cale Makar
The Calgary kid returns home. The reigning Norris Trophy winner posted an eye-popping 86 points (28G, 58A) in 77 games and 29 points in 21 playoff games in route to hoisting the Stanley Cup last season.
Wednesday night saw him collect two assists and four shots in the victory over Chicago.

5. QUOTABLE

Noah Hanifin on building off last season and taking the next step
"When Darryl came in, that was one of the things we touched on right away. Being a team that, when the Calgary Flames are in the building they (teams) know that it's going to be a real game. It takes time to do that but I think we're getting to that point where we know we're a legit team and we need to carry ourselves that way and have that swagger and belief in the group. We're very excited to try and take that next step this year."