The breakaway move was brilliant, but it was the reaction from Mikael Backlund and his sister that stole the show.
Six minutes into a tied hockey game in Chicago, the Calgary Flames captain made a great steal in the neutral zone for a short-handed breakaway he topped with a deke that froze Spencer Knight and allowed Backlund to finish in style.
No sooner had he roofed his wrister into an open net than he turned to the stands to make eye contact with two special visitors who flew from Sweden to see him play.
“I knew they were sitting up there, I was super excited to see them quickly and celebrate with them,” Backlund told Sportsnet host Brendan Parker at the conclusion of the broadcast when shown a replay of his sister and young nephew, complete with tears of pride in his sibling’s eyes.
“My dad gets so emotional, always. I do too. So that was a very nice moment, obviously. Great seeing that.”
His teammates loved it almost as much, responding with a gritty team effort that ensured Backlund’s first shorty of the year stood as the game winner.
“Great individual effort by Backs,” said Matt Coronato, who added an empty netter for a 3-1 win at United Center on Thursday.
“We definitely felt some good energy after that and felt we played a pretty good hockey game after that.”
It was indeed a night to celebrate for Backlund, who also won a key draw and made a good play that led to Yegor Sharangovich’s power-play goal early in the first period.
It marked his second consecutive game with a goal and an assist, despite playing without injured linemate Blake Coleman by his side.
Backlund now has seven goals and 15 points in his last 13 games, spearheading what has been the team’s top line for months, and demonstrating he’s worthy of being summoned by Sweden’s Olympic squad should an injury require them to add another forward.
He has points in all but three of those games, and continues to be the team’s best penalty killer on a squad that blanked Chicago on all four power-play opportunities.
Coleman’s replacement, Sharangovich, has been shockingly effective in a role that demands he up his legendarily suspect compete level. At both ends of the ice, he’s stepped up and answered the call, which has included posting consecutive two-point outings himself.
Sharangovich, Backlund, Connor Zary and Morgan Frost have all been part of the Flames’ second power-play unit, which has come alive the last two games with four extra-man markers. They seem to have done it largely with an increased work ethic that has seen Zary stand out plenty of late.
More takeaways from a night in which Devin Cooley made 22 saves, MacKenzie Weegar made painfully inspiring blocks, Kevin Bahl registered his biggest hit of the year and Joel Farabee dropped the mitts, allowing the Flames to salvage a 2-3 record on a roadie that allows them to head home for a five-game homestand feeling better about themselves.
Hit Parade
Things started heating up in the final two minutes of the second period when a pair of huge hits prompted immediate responses from the opposition.
The first was a Connor Murphy blast on Joel Farabee, delivered at centre ice as an unsuspecting Farabee looked backward to try collecting a pass.
Farabee’s immediate request to fight Murphy was stymied by Murphy’s suggestion he was winded by the collision. However, right after Farabee bent over to pick up his stick, Murphy apparently found his breath and prompted both to drop everything for a quick fight.
“I thought the hit on Beezer could have maybe swung the momentum their way, but he stood up for himself,” said Weegar.
“And then Bahler responded well with a big hit.”
Indeed, moments after the Farabee fight, Kevin Bahl stepped up with an open-ice blast on Oliver Moore that prompted Ryan Donato to tackle Bahl while the United Center crowd sprang to its feet.
Huska said afterward that with Bahl’s increasing comfort with being a shutdown defenceman, he understands that being more physical, as he has been of late, can serve him well.
It certainly served the Flames well, as Donato’s retaliation gave the Flames a four-minute power play.
Weegar paying price
Weegar has taken plenty of heat of late for a pair of late giveaways that cost the Flames points, so he deserves plenty of support for the trio of painful blocks he made in the latter half of a game the Flames held on to win.
First came a point blast to the chest, then a stinger off the knee, finishing with a shot off the inside of his left ankle that sent him down the tunnel for a few minutes before he returned.
“When you look at MacKenzie, he probably isn’t having the year he’d like points-wise or offensive-wise, but there are so many things he does that probably go unnoticed a lot of nights with the shot blocks and most nights he’s our most physical defenceman,” said Ryan Huska of Weegar, who leads the league in combined blocks/hits.
“So there are a lot of things he’s doing well. He’s typically key in a lot of our wins this year.”
Asked how he was feeling after the game, the win clearly did well to mask the pain.
“I’m good, that’s just how I’m contributing right now,” he smiled.
“So be it. I’ll eat it.’
The Lines
Hunter Brzustewicz and Dryden Hunt drew in, replacing Brayden Pachal and William Stromgren.
Oh, and yes, Rasmus Andersson was in the lineup despite the fact that the Flames appear close to trading the pending UFA.
Frostabee was reunited as part of more line changes:
Zary-Kadri-Klapka
Huberdeau-Frost-Farabee
Sharangovich-Backlund-Coronato
Lomberg-Kirkland-Hunt
Bahl-Andersson
Kuznetsov-Weegar
Hanley-Brzustewicz
Cooley (Starter)
Wolf
