'Waiting For This Moment'

The Flames identified a core of six veterans when naming their leadership group last month.

And a pair of defencemen are rising to the occasion, as Calgary prepares to put its six-game season-opening point streak on the line Thursday on home ice against Carolina. GET TICKETS

MacKenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson aren’t just talking the talk.

They’re walking the walk, combining for six goals and a mittful of blocked shots in what’s amounted to a memorable month of October in the C of Red.

Both Weegar and Andersson scored in Tuesday’s win over the Penguins, even if the former admits their offensive stylings aren’t exactly similar.

“Ras and I are a little bit different in scoring our goals, he obviously gets up in the rush a bit more,” Weegar explained Wednesday morning. “I just like shooting the puck, and I like getting my bounces and my muffins in the net.

“We’ve got to keep that thing going.”

Andersson, especially, has been producing at a stellar clip.

Only one NHL blueliner - Calgarian Cale Makar - has a higher point total than the eight Andersson has collected to start the season, and the Swedish blueliner’s +7 rating is tied for third among League defenders.

It speaks to a level of confidence, a level of swagger, that has manifested itself in spades over the first half-dozen games of the campaign.

“It’s an elite level right now, you can see it, he’s playing with a lot of pace, too,” Weegar said of Andersson’s hot start. “I think he’s done a great job leading the way back there, every single night.

“When we’ve needed him to step up, score a big goal or make a big play or block a big shot, he’s done that for us right now.”

Then, there are the goal celebrations.

The ice-cold stare into the hearts of opposing fans - including a paying customer at the Scotiabank Saddledome Tuesday night.

“Lombo (Ryan Lomberg) came up to me, he said, ‘Let’s score a goal and stare someone down,’” Andersson said of his trademarked celly. “I said, ‘I can’t stare anyone down on home ice.’

“As soon as I scored, I saw something yellow. He was in my way, that’s about it.”

Andersson’s teammates have taken notice, too.

“I don’t know if I liked it at first, but I’m starting to like it now,” Weegar said with a chuckle when asked about his colleague’s propensity to glare. “I thought he wouldn’t be able to do it at our home rink, but he found that one fan.

“It was great, and those two fans were hilarious, rubbin’ each other’s hats afterwards.”

There’s an underlying tone to Weegar and Andersson’s play, though. It’s not just about goal celebrations and hockey hugs.

The pair are seizing an opportunity to lead, an opportunity that’s come their way in the wake of a blueline transformation here over the last seven months.

Both Weegar and Andersson are running with it.

“For Ras and I, we’ve been waiting for this moment for a while, to kind of be the leaders back there,” Weegar said. “We want that role and I think we’ve done a great job so far with the D-core. Everybody’s been great, from all six to eight of us back there, every night.

“I think Ras has done a great job of leading, I think he wants that role. He’s waited a long time to have that letter and to contribute like this. We like the opportunity we’re getting with that role.”

Weegar learned under the likes of Aaron Ekblad as a young player in Florida, while Andersson alluded to tutors like Mark Giordano, Dougie Hamilton and T.J. Brodie Wednesday, all instrumental during his formative years as a Flame.

Now it’s their turn.

“Both me and (Weegar) try to set a good example,” Andersson said. “If we block shots, or if we join the rush, if we hit someone - Weegsy’s more of a hitter than I am - we’re both pretty good at eating pucks.

“It’s a long season, it starts with the two of us on the back end. If we’re not doing the job, we can’t demand anyone else to do the job either. It falls back on us.”

The early returns are promising, though there are no shortage of challenges on the horizon, including home dates against the Hurricanes - who came back to win in overtime in Edmonton Tuesday night - and the 6-0-0 Winnipeg Jets, who visit town Saturday.

But part of success is having the belief in oneself to achieve a goal.

And so far, that self-belief is showing in this new-look Flames defence corps, from Andersson on down.

“I think he’s got a lot of confidence right now in himself, and that’s what we need from him,” Weegar said of his veteran teammate.

“We need him to be our best defenceman every night, and he’s shown that.”