Gaudreau feels weight lifted after scoring a goal
Winger seems to be having fun again while potting first marker since Nov. 7
Only Santa would have a list longer than the Calgary Flames’ problems this season.
Outside of goaltending, their struggles have been well-documented and, at the moment, they seem to be emerging from an early funk.
But top among them would have to be Johnny Gaudreau’s scoring woes.
To put it into perspective, at this time last year, the 26-yearold was on a seven game point streak and had 12 goals and 27 assists in 30 games for the Flames who were, on a tear in the Western Conference.
This year, the Carneys Point, N.J., native has six goals and 16 assists in 30 games.
He’s a minus-10.
Gaudreau is reserved, quiet and serious about the game. He’s like that when he’s on the bench. Listening to a drill. In the media.
Or, most recently, going through scoring issues which have been weighing on the playmaking whiz kid who stormed on the scene back in 2014 out of Boston College.
“When you’re a scorer and you don’t score, I think that’s the hardest job in all of hockey,” said Milan Lucic, weighing in on the expectations of Gaudreau, the second-highest paid forward on the team at Us$6.75-million per season. “Especially in a market like this where sometimes it gets dissected and all that type of stuff. Sometimes it’s hard to get through.
“Even the best players get cold at times.”
Temperatures can change. Rapidly. Anyone in Calgary knows that.
Ahead of Saturday’s game against the L.A. Kings (8 p.m.,
CBC, Sportsnet, Sportsnet 960 The Fan), there are signs of progress.
Since a closed-door meeting in St. Louis, the Flames have collected points in five consecutive contests and, since interim head coach Geoff Ward took over, the team has won three straight including Thursday’s 4-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.
There are signs Gaudreau is feeling more like himself.
Against the Sabres and starting on the team’s de facto third line with Lucic on the left side and Derek Ryan up the middle, Gaudreau snapped a 10-game goalless streak.
Split up with his normal trio — Elias Lindholm and Sean Monahan — Gaudreau had his best game in weeks. He went crossbar, glove-side on Buffalo netminder Linus Ullmark on a first-period man-advantage. It was his first goal since the Flames played host to Arizona on Nov. 7.
“Obviously, if I’m not playing well, I’m going to take it to heart,” Gaudreau said. “I’m very happy when our team wins a game, but you have to look at yourself in the mirror and if you’re not playing better, you have to get better. It’s hard to mix those feelings sometimes. But if you’re not playing at your best, you have to get through it.”
Criticism has come left, right and centre at Gaudreau this year. The offence runs through him and other teams know it.
But the constant line of questioning from the outside world, he said, does not get frustrating. He understands why people are hard on him.
“I’m an offensive guy,” he said. “I have to make sure I’m helping my team win games and I have to make sure I’m playing my role. It’s something I have to be better at.”
And according to Ward, there were signs early on in Thursday’s game.
“We started the game and he was having fun on the bench, he was smiling,” he said. “I think it carried over into his play. He was playing way freer than he has for a long time. He looked like there was a weight lifted off his shoulders.”
When Gaudreau scored on the power play, and was immediately embraced by Sean Monahan, he didn’t celebrate. He didn’t break
into a wide grin, although his teammates on the ice did along with the Scotiabank Saddledome when Gaudreau tied the game
1-1.
It was businesslike, which, contrary to misconception, isn’t indicative of how much he cares or not.
“It’s not the case at all,” Lucic said. “You can see it. He takes a lot of pride and a lot of joy in playing that scoring type of game. When you don’t get rewarded, you sometimes second guess yourself. You wonder why it’s not going in and all that type of stuff. When you finally get one, sometimes that’s all it takes and it’s like a flick of a switch and then it’s going your way again.”