Playing in their second game in as many nights, albeit with minimal travel, the Calgary Flames’ outing on Tuesday evening against the New Jersey Devils was very much a microcosm of their season so far. They scored early, played smart structural hockey, and ultimately skated to a somewhat leisurely 5-3 victory over the Devils.
The rundown
The Flames had a few decent chances early, but they opened the scoring six minutes into the opening period. Erik Gudbranson found a seam in the neutral zone and sprung Milan Lucic on a breakaway. Lucic’s low shot beat Nico Daws five-hole and gave the Flames a 1-0 lead.