'PLEASURE TO PLAY BIG MINUTES'

PHILADELPHIA - Darryl Sutter didn't ponder the question long.
When asked what he thought of Nikita Zadorov's recent play following the team's pregame skate at Wells Fargo Center Monday morning, he responded quickly.
"He's been our best player - in the physical part of the game and the execution part of the game, been our best defenceman, clearly," said Sutter.

"Probably because... not having partners, right, that I can say that," he added. "Whoever he's played with, he's carried them. That's a real positive in saying that about Z, but that's also saying that there's other guys that have to be better players for us."
The hulking blueliner is chewing up minutes, playing his bruising, physical style, and chipping in on offence, all while being a calming and steady influence for a Flames defence corps that has already dealt with a handful of key injuries at times this season.
He scored a goal and added a helper in the team's 5-4 shootout win over the Panthers in Florida on Saturday, logging 26:24 of ice time, his second-highest total of the season.
Sutter expanded on how Zadorov's game was blossomed and improved since joining the Flames last season.
"Energy, maturity in his game, from the start of the season last year to now in terms of knowing what the score is, knowing who's on the ice, things like that that you talk to him about; using his stick properly, being a better penalty-killer," said Sutter. "Still maintaining a physical presence without the penalties."
Earning such high praise from your coach is obviously something every player wants to hear.
"You can see when he trusts me on the ice," said the veteran defenceman. "It's a pleasure to play big minutes. It's great to hear it. All I'm trying to do is play my best hockey so we can win some hockey games."
Being called the best defenceman does come with some lofty expectations, of course, though Zadorov tried to take it in stride.
"It's a tricky one, too," he said with a smile. "I've got to respond tonight."
Speaking of, the Flames will take on the Flyers this evening in the third game of this six-game U.S. swing, looking to improve in their 1-1 record after splitting their first two tilts in Florida.
Though the D pairings have varied at times this season due to the aforementioned injuries, Zadorov has played most often with newcomer MacKenzie Weegar and credited him for helping him excel this season.
"I'm playing with a really good partner - probably one of the best partners I've ever had in my life, so he helps a lot," he said. "You can lean on him, you know he's going to be supporting you in all the situations on the ice, he's moving the puck super well. It's a big credit to Weegsy to step in and find some chemistry with me, definitely."

He also praised Sutter for improving him as a player since arriving in Calgary, where he said it took him sometime to adjust his game to the expectations here.
"When you get the coach for two years who's winning Jack Adams, he knows from making decent players into good players, I think that definitely helps," he said. "It didn't start well because I just wasn't that player for him (that I am) now. It took me a little bit of time to figure out how to work with him, how to play his system, what he wants to see on the ice from me. That's definitely the case. It takes time, how you respond to what the coach wants you to see, and that was a big thing for me."
And along the way, he said he embraced the challenge to elevate his performance and become better at his craft.
"I'm not a person who's crying and bitching," he explained. "I've always been a guy, if there are some challenges, I'd love to face them. You need to just go through it.
"Nobody's going to feel sorry for you at the end of the day. There are so many young kids coming in that are stealing jobs, there's so much competition in this league, there's just no time for all that B.S. You just have to tough it up, man up and just go play hockey."
With four goals already on the season, he has matched his total from last season and is just three shy of the career-high of seven he has put up twice before (2017-18 and 2018-19 in Colorado).
"The forwards, our system, our style of play," he said. "When you try to play with the puck and you have the puck most of the night and you put some shots on net - we're a high shot volume team if you look at the shots for around the league and everything - so we generate those chances from the hard work of the forwards, hard work as the five. I think it's just a pleasure to play with the great players on this team right now.
"Last year was the same thing. Guys are making great plays and all I had to do was get the shot through last night. When Rosey made the great delay play on me and gave me that pass, I've pretty much walking (down) Broadway and shooting. Just some great plays by our forwards.
That possession structure fits perfectly with the way he learned the game growing up back home in Russia.
"The thing with us was like, we were growing on the Soviet-Russian hockey," he said. "The pass first, the guy in front of you, you have to pass to him. When I was getting to like 14, if you dump the puck in, you're getting benched. So you have to turn back, find a partner and re-group again. Never dump the puck in or anything. It was different. The Soviet hockey, right? In every Russian defenceman's genes, we have that."