CALGARY — With a goal and an assist eight minutes into his team’s home opener, inquiring minds wanted to know if Jonathan Huberdeau contemplated the possibility of attempting his first Gordie Howe hat trick.
“No, no, no, I can’t do that,” laughed the Flames playmaker, who has just three big-league dustups on his resume.
“Look at me.”
Oh, Flames fans have been looking at him, alright, wondering for two years when or if he’ll return to the form that made him a record-setting 115-point player in Florida.
In Saturday’s home opener, the locals got their first hint of the production that earned him a $10.5-million salary.
Two goals and two assists in a 6-3 win over Philadelphia marked the first time he’s had a four-point outing as a Flame.
His last time doing so was April 5, 2022, as a Panther.
And while the alternate captain was quick to point out what mattered more was the team’s second straight win to open the season, these outings put an extra pep in one’s step.
“You just build from that,” said Huberdeau, who assisted on both of the Flames’ power-play goals.
“Having these kind of nights helps the confidence, and I just want to go up from there.”
Three nights after opening the season with a greasy goal in Vancouver, he opened the scoring Saturday with a fortuitous bounce off his shoulder and past Ivan Fedotov.
“You didn’t see that — it was on purpose, then I pretended I didn’t know where it was,” chuckled the 31-year-old of a goal that had to be video-reviewed as he yukked it up on the bench.
“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever scored a goal with my shoulders, so that’s a great bounce. And to start the game like that was huge.”
After two nightmarish seasons as a Flame, there’s a guy who needn’t apologize for a rare good bounce.
There are early signs his chemistry with linemates Martin Pospisil and Anthony Mantha is building. But coach Ryan Huska said he’s even more excited to see Huberdeau killing penalties like he did for almost three minutes Saturday.
With the Flames clinging to a one-goal lead in the first 15 minutes of the third, the defensive play of lads like Huberdeau helped make the difference.
So too did the play of netminder Dustin Wolf, who made a whopping 37 saves to open his season.
Had Huberdeau not had his breakthrough evening, the 23-year-old goalie would have been the story.
Not only was he a steadying factor all night, but he did so with the backplate of his new mask depicting Johnny Gaudreau with an arm raised in triumph.
Particularly poignant, given that the evening opened with a four-minute tribute and celebration of Gaudreau’s best moments in Calgary, it spoke to just how in tune the young goalie is with this market.
“Obviously, everyone knows it’s just awful,” said Wolf of the tragic circumstances surrounding the death of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau.
“In the summer, when it just happened, I was able to go out to the memorial and share my piece.
“I was only around him very little, but being an American and an old teammate I thought it was really important to honour him and his family and his kids.
“If I can do that in such minor fashion it goes a long way.”
Classy touch.
Two games in, the Flames have 12 goals, which includes contributions up and down the lineup. On Saturday, Nazem Kadri scored twice, Mikael Backlund scored a beauty and MacKenzie Weegar scored for the second game in a row.
Pospisil assisted on both Huberdeau goals and Andrei Kuzmenko picked up two of his three helpers with the man advantage, his specialty.
Rookie Sam Honzek made his home debut in front of his parents, Martin and Monika, who made the trip from Slovakia to see their 19-year-old son come oh-so-close to scoring his first NHL goal on several occasions.
“It’s good to see everybody getting involved and getting some points — that’s how we’re going to win some games,” said Huberdeau, who credits his time in the gym and with a sports psychologist this summer for his reinvigorated approach.
“It’s important to get a good start. Last year we dug ourselves a big hole, so I think coming in and getting some good wins and feeling good about ourselves is what we needed.”