'Do Something Special'

Getting the job done – and then some.

The Flames powerplay has been on a tear of late, with goals in four straight games and clipping along at an extremely impressive 50% success rate since Nov. 19.

Jonathan Huberdeau was the latest to light the lamp while a man-up, scoring in Calgary’s 4-3 loss to the Senators on Monday night in Ottawa to open up this four-game road trip which continues tonight in Detroit against the Red Wings (5:30 p.m. MT, Sportsnet 360).

Martin Pospisil and Yegor Sharangovich scored on the PP in the team’s win over the Wild on Nov. 23, while Sharangovich also scored on Nov. 21 against the Rangers, and Rasmus Andersson bulged the twine Nov. 19 versus the Isles.

The secret to the powerplay's resurgence is simple, said Huberdeau – keeping it simple.

“You got to be like predictable on the powerplay (among your teammates), and know where you're at on the ice,” he said Wednesday after the team’s optional morning skate at Little Caesars Arena. “And I think that's what we've been doing. The two (powerplay) units, we talked it out, and I think we try to keep things lmore simple, and we know where we're going to be on the ice and stuff like that in certain situations.

“I think on the powerplay you've got to trust the other guys to be in the right spot and I feel like that's what we've been doing lately; put some pucks on the net and have traffic, too, so it's hard for the goalie to see the puck. We’ve been capitalizing but we have to stay that way.

“And some games, it's not gonna (go) our way, but we still gotta find a way to do something special out there.”

With success comes confidence and right now the players are hitting the ice with swagger when they get advantages.

“I think when you get on the ice, you step over the boards and you're going on the powerplay, you just know something good is going to happen,” he explained. “And when it's struggling, you know, that confidence kind of goes away. And I think we got to take that confidence and keep building on it and keep it going.

"I think it’s never going to be pretty all year long and we had some struggles, changed some things, and now it's working well.”

Head coach Ryan Huska was asked what he attributes the renewed effectiveness of the team’s powerplay to.

“I think they're moving the puck quite a bit quicker than what they were earlier in the season,” he answered. “So now it's not sitting on one person’s stick for long periods of time. It's moving quick, so we're not giving the kill time to set up like we were earlier on in the year and once some of those guys start feeling it, like pucks are starting to go in for them, the plays that they're attempting to make or making are more confident plays.

“So we'd like to see it stay hot for us, because we've talked lots about it - it's going to be a difference maker for us.”

The Flames will look to start a new winning streak tonight and improve their 3-4-3 road record following the loss to the Sens.

They face a Red Wings team that has won two of three after some struggles and look to build on their 9-10-2 mark to start this campaign.

“If you look at their record, it's a way better team that it shows in the record,” said Huberdeau. “They’re young, they’re fast and they're a hard team to play against, especially in their own rink. So we got to come out and play the same. I think we've been playing well lately so I think, keep that same intensity and be better on the forecheck stuff like that and we should come out with that win.”