Hu-mongous Victory

Take a bow, Jonathan Huberdeau.

The Flames forward had two goals and four points against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers Saturday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome, earning the game's first-star nod in a 6-3 victory.

Nazem Kadri also had a pair and MacKenzie Weegar and Mikael Backlund added singles as the Flames won their home-opener, never trailing in the contest as they improved to 2-0 on the season.

Andrei Kuzmenko had three helpers, while Martin Pospisil had a pair.

Calgary, of course, opened the season with a 6-5 OT comeback victory over the Canucks Wednesday night in Vancouver as Huberdeau scored in that outing, too.

Up 3-2 in the third period, Backlund notched his first of the campaign at 14:26 and then Huberdeau tallied less than a minute later to ice the game.

Dustin Wolf got his first start of the season and was excellent, named the game's second star after finishing with 37 saves and holding the fort when the Flyers outshot the Flames heavily through the first 40 minutes of the tilt.

Kuzmenko found linemate Kadri right in the slot less than two minutes in for the first 10-bell chance for the Flames, but Ivan Fedotov made the stop.

At the other end of the ice, Wolf robbed Bobby Brink’s backhand all alone on the doorstep, one of 19 saves he made in the opening frame.

Huberdeau scored on Calgary’s ‘second shot’ of the game, Pospisil throwing a puck out front and the biscuit going off No. 10’s shoulder and past Fedotov at 5:37.

The Flyers challenged but after review, the goal stood.

Just over two minutes later, Weegar made it 2-zip when he stepped into a howitzer on a 4-on-3 powerplay, Huberdeau and Kuzmenko getting the helpers.

Rookie Sam Honzek – whose parents flew in from Slovakia to watch him play his second NHL tilt after suiting up against Vancouver – had a glorious look with less than five to play, firing a puck from the high slot as he dropped to one knee but not able to find twine.

The visitors got on the board at 7:05 of the middle stanza thanks to a Travis Konecny 2-on-1 shorthanded marker.

Later in the frame, Pospisil flattened Jamie Drysdale as the Flyers defenceman tried to knock a puck out of the air with his hand on a clean hit, leading to Tyson Foerster jumping the Flames forward for a short tussle that Pospisil got the best of and, when the dust settled, Calgary ended up with a powerplay thanks to the Philly player instigating the dustup.

With 43 seconds left on that advantage, Calgary went up 5-on-3 after another Philly penalty and Kadri set up shop in the slot and took a pass from Kuzmenko, snapping it farside at 14:41 to restore the two-goal lead.

With 1:49 to play, Joel Farabee converted a cross-ice pass off a rush to trim the deficit to one again.

Honzek continued to create chances and put himself in positions to score, sweeping a backhand rebound just wide of the far post on a late shift and then moments after, taking a pass from Backlund in tight and being robbed again by Fedotov.

In the third, Wolf made a massive stop on Konecny's slot one-timer and later, swept a puck away from dribbling over the line after Brayden Pachal made a good play to tie up Konecny from an easy tap in.

Backlund - who set up Coleman on a 2-on-1 earlier in the period but Fedotov denied him - took his feed from Coleman and with Fedotov laid out belly down on the ice, put it high at 14:46.

Huberdeau then potted his second at 15:34, with Konecny putting a powerplay marker in at 17:11 before Kadri rounded things out with an empty-netter with 44 seconds left.

The team honoured Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau before the game. Watch below.

Three Stars:

The Lineup:

Forwards

Sam Honzek - Nazem Kadri - Andrei Kuzmenko

Jonathan Huberdeau - Martin Pospisil - Anthony Mantha

Connor Zary - Mikael Backlund - Blake Coleman

Ryan Lomberg - Kevin Rooney - Adam Klapka

Defence

MacKenzie Weegar - Daniil Miromanov

Kevin Bahl - Rasmus Andersson

Jake Bean - Brayden Pachal

Goaltenders

Dan Vladar (starter)

Dustin Wolf

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 33, PHI 40

Powerplay: CGY 2-5, PHI 1-4

Faceoffs: CGY 45.5% PHI 54.5%

Blocked Shots: CGY 15, PHI 17

Hits: CGY 26, PHI 27

Takeaways: CGY 5, PHI 3

*5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 39, PHI 32

*5-on-5 High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 20, PHI 14

*Courtesy of Natural Stat Trick

They Said It:

Up Next:

The Flames got on a plane after the game and flew to Edmonton, where they will face the Oilers Sunday night at 6 p.m. They return home to host Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks Tuesday at 7 p.m. CLICK FOR TICKETS