Calgary Herald

Ferland impresses, while Tkachuk tries to stick with big club

- KRISTEN ODLAND

Glen Gulutzan was line-juggling on Tuesday night against the Buffalo Sabres, trying to find something that clicked.

In the Calgary Flames’ 4-3 overtime win, he eventually settled on four trios that seemed to feed off each other. His first line? Instead of Kris Versteeg, he placed Alex Chiasson with Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan.

He maintained the line of Lance Bouma, Mikael Backlund and Michael Frolik.

Then he mixed up the second line, putting Micheal Ferland in Matthew Tkachuk’s spot with Sam Bennett and Troy Brouwer.

That left a fourth line of Tkachuk, Matt Stajan and Versteeg.

Got it? Good, because it’ll probably stay that way — at least to start Thursday’s clash against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes.

“I was experiment­ing a little bit,” he said.

“We may utilize a couple, for sure. We didn’t do a lot of line work, but I wanted to put it out there. That’s the way we finished (Tuesday) when we made some changes.”

His gut instinct was bang-on as Ferland’s and Tkachuk’s markers both came in the third period and wound up being difference­makers. “I thought it worked out,” he said. “We scored a couple goals and we created a little more.”

ICE-TIME UPTICK

Speaking of Ferland, he logged 11:54 in ice time, which was the most he’s skated in the team’s first four games of the season.

The physical left-winger was effective, too. In addition to his goal, he played 1:11 of power-play time, led the team with five shots on net and had three hits (and all of his hits came in the first period).

“He was going, wasn’t he?” Gulutzan said.

“His game is coming. He’s skating so well and is playing with lots of energy and passion. I’m glad he got rewarded. He made a great play when he got in tight there.

“He’s just gotta keep going.”

LOFTY TERRITORY

With Monahan’s overtime winner on Tuesday, he tied Flames legend Jarome Iginla for the most regular-season overtime goals in Flames history. The 22-year-old centre now has six OT markers in 241 NHL games played.

CONFIDENCE BOOST

Tkachuk’s bid to crack the Flames roster for the rest of the season continued on Tuesday, as he scored his first NHL goal.

And, as Gulutzan pointed out, it wasn’t his first scoring opportunit­y of the evening. “He’s hit the post,” he said. “He had a couple chances. To have it to go in, especially for a young guy, it’s confidence. It’s, ‘OK, I can get past a goalie in the NHL.’ And he did.”

The 18-year-old is approachin­g his fifth game and is still rolling.

It’s also an indicator that the rookie is likely to stick around for the entire 2016-17 season, as the Flames have nine games to decide to keep him or send him back to the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League.

Tkachuk, who logged 10:39 on Tuesday (his lowest amount of ice time in four games), is enjoying the ride — however long it lasts.

“It’s definitely pretty crazy to think about how it’s all kind of happening right now,” Tkachuk said.

“But I’m excited to get back at it (Thursday).

“You have to realize what your strengths are and kind of go from there.”

EXTRA EFFORT

Gulutzan weighed in the Vancouver Canucks’ strange start to the year.

After three games, they are unbeaten (3-0-0) and have, somehow, managed to stay that way despite never leading in regulation.

In fact, they’re the first NHL team in history to do so.

“Most of the oddities in this league happen within the first 15 games,” said Gulutzan, a former assistant coach with the Canucks.

“When we went in there, they played hard. It was a good game. Sometimes those happen. They’re showing some resolve over there. But it’s early. We’ll see what happens.” Is it sustainabl­e? Probably not. “We know and they know, in this league, it’s hard to not have the lead going into the third,” Gulutzan said. “The winning percentage­s of the teams that are not leading going into the third is very low. Obviously, they’re finding a way now with their character.”

I was experiment­ing a little bit ... I thought it worked out. We scored a couple goals and we created a little more.

 ?? LEAH HENNEL ?? Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk celebrates on Tuesday after scoring his first NHL goal on Buffalo Sabres goalie Robin Lehner.
LEAH HENNEL Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk celebrates on Tuesday after scoring his first NHL goal on Buffalo Sabres goalie Robin Lehner.

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