KADRI ENJOYING THE BUZZ AFTER A BEAUTY GOAL
Nazem Kadri's jaw-dropping, momentum-turning tally Saturday had the hockey world buzzing.
And his phone buzzing, too. “Definitely a lot of compliments, which is always nice to hear, being acknowledged for some hard work,” Kadri beamed after Sunday's off-ice workout at the Saddledome. “A lot of socials, for sure. There's been a lot of tags. I'm not even sure if I've had a chance to even see 'em all, there's so many. And definitely a lot of friends and family reaching out, and former teammates of mine, too. So it's always good to hear from them.”
The attention is absolutely deserved.
Kadri sparked Saturday's dramatic third-period comeback against the Pittsburgh Penguins with a filthy bit of business.
Gathering speed inside his own blueline, he slipped the puck through the legs of Penguins centre Noel Acciari.
As he entered enemy territory, he convinced Kris Letang — boy, did he ever have a rough night — to bite on a deke and then zoomed wide on the veteran rearguard.
Jonathan Huberdeau helped out with a sneaky smart play, lifting Marcus Pettersson's stick so he couldn't attempt a poke check as Kadri powered toward the net, and his pal completed an eye-popping sequence by tucking a forehand around a sprawling Tristan Jarry.
Sportsnet's broadcast immediately cut to franchise icon Jarome Iginla, now on the hockey operations staff at the Saddledome, who was obviously impressed.
He wasn't the only one.
Blake Coleman, who buried the equalizer just 32 seconds later, setting the table for Yegor Sharangovich to cap the comeback with a wicked wrister in the final minute, described Kadri's snipe as “a Sportscentre top 10 goal” and “something that electrified the building”
“That was cool. That was awesome,” Huberdeau agreed Sunday, downplaying his own contribution. “He deked Acciari in the neutral zone and then he just got going. I was going to the net and watching him and I was thinking, `He's feeling it. There's no way he's passing it to me.'
“And that was a huge goal, too. It was highlight reel, and it was a big goal for us. I could just feel we were going to come back in that game after that goal.”
Perhaps the biggest compliment came from P.K. Subban, who provided plenty of Youtube-worthy replays during his career as an offensive-minded blueliner and now works as an analyst for ESPN.
“OMG NASTY NAZ!!!” Subban wrote on social media. “GOAL OF THE YEAR ALERT!?”
“Yeah, I liked that one,” grinned Kadri, confirming he was aware of that shout-out from Subban. “It was the nutmeg in the neutral zone that did it for me. It's certainly up there as one of the nicer goals that I've scored and it's something that I'm going to remember.”
It made a memorable night at the Saddledome — highlighted by a pre-game ceremony to raise Miikka Kiprusoff's No. 34 to the rafters — even more special.
The Flames have now strung together five straight victories as they turn their focus to Monday's matchup with the Seattle Kraken (7:30 p.m., Sportsnet West/ Sportsnet 960 The Fan).
The 33-year-old Kadri, operating as Calgary's top-line centre ever since Elias Lindholm was traded, has notched a teamhigh five goals and seven points during this win spree.
It wasn't a surprise to anybody that No. 91 came up clutch against the Penguins, who had been in control of the game for close to 50 minutes but ultimately couldn't close out a plucky opponent.
Kadri has made a habit of this throughout his career and has certainly been a driving force this season for the Flames' forward cast, leading his crew with 52 points so far.
As head coach Ryan Huska summed up recently: “We're really pleased with what he's been able to do for our team, both on and off the ice.”
Saturday's comeback-starter was just another example.
A really, really, really nice example.
If you missed it, you can find the replay ... well ... just about everywhere.
“I feel like I always want to try to be the hero,” Kadri said with a shrug. “I think that's really what it comes down to. I know obviously that every single time it can't work out that way, but I think the more times you get into those opportunities, you keep giving yourself some positive reinforcement and really wanting to make a difference and wanting to change the game, then I think it will happen more times than not.
“And obviously there's that trust factor with my teammates and my coaches, just allowing me to try to be myself. I'm thankful I'm put in that position to try to help the team win and make a