Huberdeau scores first goal with Flames in win against Penguins

CALGARY -- Jonathan Huberdeau scored his first goal with the Calgary Flames in a 4-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday.

Nazem Kadri had two goals and an assist, and Jacob Markstrom made 32 saves for the Flames (5-1-0), who have won three of four to open a season-long eight-game homestand.
"We want to get better," Huberdeau said. "But I think if we play like this a lot of games, we're going to be in a good position. We've got to work on some things, obviously, but overall, that's the start we want. Every game take a lead and after that, if we can play well defensively, and it's going to work out good for us."
Evgeni Malkin scored, and Casey DeSmith made 32 saves for the Penguins (4-2-1), who have lost two in a row, including 6-3 at the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
"If we look at our season to date, we were on a pretty good roll there," Pittsburgh forward Jeff Carter said. "Offensively we were having our way for the most part. Sometimes when that happens early, you kind of get in that mindset that everything's going to continue going that way. I think maybe we got caught in that a little bit here. The way that we win is by sticking to our game plan, sticking to our details, and we just haven't had that the last couple nights."

Kadri gave Calgary a 1-0 lead at 14:11 of the first period off a setup from Andrew Mangiapane from below the goal line, and extended it to 2-0 at 17:41 when he shot over DeSmith's blocker on a 2-on-1.
"You always want to start off strong," Kadri said. "Getting the first goal, I think your percentages go up automatically if you score the first goal. We always try to get off to a good start and establish home ice. We want this to be a hard place to come into and get a win."
Kadri, who signed a seven-year, $49 million contract ($7 million average annual value) with Calgary on Aug. 18, has nine points (four goals, five assists) in a six-game point streak to start the season.
"It's been good, for sure," Kadri said. "I've fit in nicely. Credit to the guys, they've made me feel pretty welcomed, and the staff and, everybody in the city of Calgary. It's always nice getting wins."

Huberdeau extended the lead to 3-0 at 3:00 of the second period with a wrist shot from the top of the left face-off circle on a power play. The forward, who also has four assists this season, was acquired from the Florida Panthers with defenseman MacKenzie Weegar for Matthew Tkachuk on July 22.
"It feels good, obviously, to get the first one out of the way," Huberdeau said.
"I got it up top and I had a really nice screen in front, so I just had to kind of pick that corner and it worked out. I've just got to shoot a little bit more and it's going to go in."

Malkin cut it to 3-1 at 4:32 when he scored on Carter's rebound on a power play, but Michael Stone scored on a slap shot at 11:20 for the 4-1 final.
Calgary outshot Pittsburgh 20-6 in the first but was then outshot 21-4 in the second.
"That's a little battle we can take from this game," Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin said regarding changing the momentum in the second period. "I'm a positive guy and we need to take some positives right now, and that's definitely one of them. Going forward now, we still have two important games for this road trip and we can still come out with a winning record here, so that's our focus."
NOTES: Kadri's six-game point streak to start his tenure with the Flames trails Mel Bridgman (eight games in 1981-82), Phil Housley (seven games in 1994-95) and Sergei Makarov (seven games in 1989-90). ... Pittsburgh forward Sam Poulin, the No. 21 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, had an assist, two shots on goal and one blocked shot in 12:17 of ice time in his NHL debut. ... Penguins forward Jason Zucker did not play and is day to day with an undisclosed injury sustained in the third period at Edmonton ... Calgary defenseman Rasmus Andersson has five assists in a four-game assist streak. ... The Flames reached five wins in their sixth game, the fewest needed in franchise history. The previous mark was seven, which was reached seven times, most recently last season.