The Calgary Flames hit the ice Thursday night in a season opener at home against the defending Stanley cup champions, the Colorado Avalanche. The Flames finished last season in first place of the Pacific division with a record of 50-21-11. Calgary advanced to the Western Conference playoffs, only to be knocked out in the 2nd round by the Edmonton Oilers. The Flames made a big move in the off-season, trading star Matthew Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers for Jonathan Huberdeau.
Huberdeau joins the Flames with 30 goals and 85 assists in his 80 games played with the Panthers.
Calgary finished the preseason with a 4-4 record and are coming off a 5-3 lose to the Winnipeg Jets in their final preseason game. The Flames could not stop the puck defensively, as Jacob Markstrom allowed five goals on sixteen shots, giving him a .688% save percentage for the game. Offensively, Calgary outpaced the Jets with 38 shots, winning 55.6% of faceoffs and 4 power play opportunities. Tyler Toffoli ended the game as the Flames star of the night with 1 goal and 1 assist.
The Colorado Avalanche are coming off a 56-19-7 first place finish in the Central Division and are the defending Stanley Cup Champions after beating Tampa Bay last season in the Stanley Cup finals. The Avalanche bring back top scorers from last season in Mikko Rantanen (36 goals) and Nathan Mackinnon (32 goals). Colorado also named Gabriel Landeskog as team captain for the 11th season in a row.