In a league where you live and die by special teams, the Flames were impeccable.
The powerplay stepped up and supplied all three goals, while the PK did the rest - killing four Vancouver advantages, including a lengthy 5-on-3 - as the Flames took down the Canucks 3-0 on Saturday.
Sean Monahan, Dillon Dube and Matthew Tkachuk had the tallies, while ex-Canuck Jacob Markstrom blanked his old team with 32 saves.
While we're only two games into the new season, the Flames are off to a hot start with the advantage, potting four goals on only nine opportunities.
So, whaddya say, coach?
Is a 44.4% powerplay good enough to make bank in this league?
"Well, we'll take 44% all year long if we can do it!" Geoff Ward laughed during Sunday's virtual press briefing. "You know, if we can be around the 25% or better in that area, we'll be really happy with it. But the biggest thing for us is, if it doesn't go in the net, we want to generate momentum and get the other team back on their heels. ... We don't want it to be the other way where you get a key powerplay in a game and it comes out flat, and the penalty-killing team comes up with a kill and gets a big flurry after that."
So far, so good.
Both powerplay units are clicking along nicely, while the team's marquee players are the ones finding the net early.
With Rasmus Andersson now quarterbacking the top grouping, and Andrew Mangiapane and Dube assuming bigger roles on the second, chemistry seems to be the "secret elixir" on special teams.
"Everybody's so well-scouted now, I think the opposition has a pretty good feel for what you want to do on the powerplay," Ward said. "But there are also the nuances of how the players can read off each other. When player X as the puck, player Y has a real comfort level of where they need to be to make that other play happen.
"Seeing that play before it needs to be made helps a great deal.
"Being predictable to each other helps make that happen."
