It was a bittersweet evening at the Saddledome tonight, as the Calgary Flames played three pretty composed, smart periods of ice hockey en route to a 4-1 victory over the visiting Carolina Hurricanes to kick off the home-stretch of the 2015-16 season.
Of course, the win was overshadowed somewhat by the loss of defender T.J. Brodie with a lower-body injury. Despite having to play the bulk of the game with five defenders - including seventh defender Ladislav Smid - the Flames never let the Hurricanes creep back into this one and coasted to the finish.
THE RUNDOWN
The Flames had an uncharacteristically good first period.