Ilya Bryzgalov made his first start of the season, Patrik Elias proved he still has some magic left, and reality has truly set in for the Calgary Flames.
Here are three things we learned in the NHL on Friday.
This was not Ilya Bryzgalov’s night
Ilya Bryzgalov made his first start of the season and his first start for the Anaheim Ducks since 2007 when he took to the net against the Ottawa Senators on Friday night.
It would not be a night Bryzgalov is likely to reflect upon fondly.
The 34-year-old surrendered six goals on 31 shots. If there’s a silver lining here it’s that Bryzgalov actually raised his season save percentage from .714 to .769.
Bryzgalov might not be the answer the Ducks are looking for to alleviate their goaltending woes. The veteran’s disappointment in his own performance was palpable in the post-game media scrum.
The Senators, meanwhile, improved to 3-1-1 under new head coach Dave Cameron with Friday’s 6-2 drubbing of the league-leading Ducks.
Patrik Elias is a backhand wizard
How does 38-year-old Patrik Elias pull off a spin-o-rama and backhand a floating puck by Evgeni Nabokov? Wizardry, that’s how.
Elias’ backhand got the better of Nabokov once more in the shootout to lead the Devils to a 3-2 win.
Flames run losing streak to seven games
Just a few weeks ago the Calgary Flames were burning bright and landing in the win column against some of the league’s best competition. Hope has rapidly been extinguished in Calgary.
The analytics community will say they told you so, and oh boy were they on point with regard to the Flames’ great start to the season. The Flames dropped their seventh consecutive decision on Friday night in a 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars.
They were outscored, outplayed, and outCorsi’d.
There is a lot to like about the Calgary Flames, a team many pegged to reside near the bottom of the standings coming into the season. They have one of the best defencemen in the world in Mark Giordano and a great crop of young players to build upon for the future.
It’s just not happening right now.
The Flames’ rebuild looks like it’s working, but it’s most certainly still in process.