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ST. LOUIS - It was a heckuva debut for the Flames new line of Jakob Pelletier, rookie Rory Kerins and Yegor Sharangovich on Monday night.

The trio combined for seven points in a 5-2 victory over the Blackhawks in Chicago to kick off a four-game road trip, with Pelletier scoring a pair in the first period and Kerins getting helpers on both in his first NHL tilt after a Friday recall from the Wranglers.

Pelletier finished the night with three points, while Sharangovich – playing at centre on the line - had a goal and an assist, his shorthanded marker coming at a key junction in the second period with Chicago on a five-minute advantage that Connor Bedard had scored on early.

The three dominated the game and created a handful of other scoring chances, a trend they hope carries over to tonight’s tilt in St Louis against the Blues (6 p.m. MT, Sportsnet).

“I think we played well,” said Pelletier Tuesday morning after team meetings at the hotel. “We played simple. If we play simple and you’re hard, I think good things happen. I remember also in the first, you know, we created a turnover and I passed to Sharky, Sharky to Ror and almost a back door open (goal).

“So we could have had more goals,” he added with a smile. “But we saved them for tonight’s game.”

It was the first multi-goal game of Pelletier’s NHL career, the two tallies his second and third of the campaign after being recalled himself from the Wranglers on Dec. 3.

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There’s no doubt a game like that will give a young player – or any player – a real boost in confidence.

“Of course, of course,” agreed Pelletier. “You know, I’ve always been, since I was young, a passer first, then a shooter. But at one point, you gotta score, too, you know what I mean.

“So, yeah, I think I gotta shoot more and if you shoot more, you create more; you can create rebounds, or you can score.”

The Flames are a team that needs offence by committee this season, so that outlook is imperative.

And it paid off in Chicago, where they scored three goals in the opening frame, something they’ve struggled with this season, to seize control of the contest right off the hop.

“If you have an opportunity to shoot, shoot it,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska Tuesday. “Especially we’ve talked a little bit over the last little while about our first periods - we want to generate a little bit more in the first periods - well some of that comes down to just shooting the puck and going to the net hard, and trying to find those rebounds.

“Jakob is one of those players where - I think when you look at the game last night - we haven’t had a game where, let’s call it, our third line last night was a difference offensively for us.

“So, for me, maybe the biggest positive sign was we had a trio of guys that I thought were dangerous when they were on the ice. That was a good sign for us.”

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Pelletier, specifically, had been snakebitten of late, generating a lot of good looks with 20 high-danger chances since his recall. However, he only had one goal coming into the tilt with Chicago, coincidentally enough, coming Dec. 5 against the Blues in his second tilt up with the big club.

“Ya, it gives you a small boost,” agreed Pelletier of a night like Monday. “Especially when like in the last like 10 games I had some chances but didn’t score. It’s encouraging.”

But while he may be looking to get more shots off his stick now, Huska was also quick to point out Pelletier brings much more to the table that just the potential of additional offence.

“When you think of players, no matter who they are, if they’re able to generate or help on the scoresheet, they always feel better about themselves,” Huska explained. “Like, they always look at points as - that’s how you create value for a team. For us, he brings a lot more to our team with regard to the pace he plays at, and the details that he brings to a game.

“It’s a good thing for him personally, I think it will help him confidence-wise. But the key thing for us tonight is to make sure we see that pace and that competitive nature against a bigger hockey club."

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