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Johnny Gaudreau unleashed a shot. A second later, the Saddledome crowd erupted.  

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It was … nothing like outdated instances.  

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Gaudreau obtained an earful in Monday’s return with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Whereas he was handled to a standing ovation after an early video tribute, he was booed relentlessly for the remainder of the night time.   

The celebrity left-winger shrugged off a near-miss on a penalty-shot and picked up a few assists on the power-play, however his outdated buddies in the end prevailed in time beyond regulation. The Calgary Flames earned a 4-3 victory within the bonus session.  

“It in-built our favour,” mentioned Flames speedster Dillon Dube, the time beyond regulation hero on this emotional night. “Our followers are very passionate. They care quite a bit about our workforce, and that’s what they confirmed tonight. They care quite a bit about us, and we admire that. It felt actually good to win for them tonight.”  

The loudest response of the night, at the least till Dube’s sudden-death snipe, got here after Gaudreau was awarded a first-period penalty-shot. The departed fan-favourite — he skedaddled as an unrestricted free-agent in July, a last-minute determination that brought on loads of consternation in Cowtown — was jeered from the second he picked up the puck at centre, however the C of Crimson roared when he wired a wrister simply vast of the submit on Dan Vladar’s glove-side. No purpose.   

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Only a few minutes later, a lot of the 17,697 people in attendance have been rising from their seats for the warm-and-fuzzy half — a stirring salute after a thank-you video that included an assortment of dazzling dekes, top-shelf photographs and even a classic wraparound.  

“It felt good to see everybody standing up and clapping their palms and cheering for me, then 5 seconds after begin to boo once more,” mentioned the 29-year-old Gaudreau, who was feted as second star. “It’s what I anticipated coming right here.  

“I used to be sitting subsequent to Eric Robinson, he’s a longtime pal. He was like, ‘Man, they’re actually giving it to you on the market.’ I mentioned, ‘It’s only a nice fanbase.’ It was quite a lot of enjoyable. I’m glad I received to return again and play. It was a cool night time.”  

For Johnny, it will have been even cooler if he hadn’t plunked the submit with a third-period redirect. He was that near hoisting the basement-dwelling Blue Jackets to a comeback triumph.   

“It will have been higher if we received it in 60, however it was good to get the win,” Dube mentioned, providing the view from the opposite facet. “We actually wanted that.”  

The Flames have struggled in time beyond regulation with out You-Know-Who — their document past 60 minutes is now 4-9 — however Monday’s profitable sequence really began when defenceman Noah Hanifin stripped the puck from his outdated buddy Gaudreau.   

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The locals raced the wrong way on a two-on-one rush and Andrew Mangiapane capped a three-point night time by teeing up Dube for a one-timer.   

“Extra time is about puck possession,” Mangiapane reminded. “I feel the strains that have been on the market earlier than us did an excellent job of hemming them in and never forcing performs and once they did shoot it, they received it again, got here out and reloaded once more. That’s the important thing in time beyond regulation is simply puck administration, holding onto the puck and never forcing any performs the place they will quick-counter and return the opposite means.”    

Walker Duehr, Nazem Kadri and Mangiapane tallied in regulation for the house workforce.  

Gaudreau assisted on a pair of man-advantage markers in a 49-second span within the center body. Kirill Marchenko and Patrik Laine each benefited from his excellent setups.   

Gaudreau has now totalled 339 factors on Saddledome ice — 337 of these within the Flaming C, and two on behalf of the Blue Jackets.  

“It’ll most likely be simpler subsequent time,” he mentioned, waiting for a go to to the Saddledome in 2023-24. “However I’m certain I’ll nonetheless get booed.”   

AROUND THE BOARDS  

Vladar delivered 22 saves in Calgary’s crease. The workforce has picked up at the least a degree in his previous dozen selections, the second-longest such spree in franchise historical past and only one shy of a membership document that’s shared by Mike Vernon and Brian Elliott. Vladar is 9-0-3 throughout this excellent stretch. Gaudreau’s ultimate stat-line: Two assists, 5 photographs on internet and a minus-2 ranking in 22:54 of ice time … Flames alternate captain and shutdown specialist Chris Tanev headed to the locker-room after a neutral-zone collision within the first interval and didn’t return. The 33-year-old defenceman has already had a few damage absences this season and when he’s not out there, they actually miss his calming presence and fearless shot-blocking … Flames head coach Darryl Sutter’s post-game evaluation? “I assumed it was an excellent effort by our membership proper via,” he praised. “I assumed, five-on-five, we have been the higher workforce.” … Duehr’s second NHL purpose was a doozy. The 25-year-old smoked a one-timer with a lot oomph that no person appeared to comprehend it had sizzled via Joonas Korpisalo’s five-hole and was behind the online. “I used to be sitting on the bench and I didn’t know what was occurring, and the horn went off,” Mangiapane grinned. “I assumed somebody could have slipped their finger and pressed the button by chance. After which hastily, the fellows began taking place the road cheering and I used to be like, ‘Oh, okay.’ It was an excellent shot by him.” … Final month, when the Flames made a visit to Columbus, Gaudreau hosted a number of of his former teammates for dinner. It’s possible you’ll recall that after the Blue Jackets bagged a 3-1 victory, Sutter seethed: “We had some guys got here for a go to, to not attempt to win the hockey sport.” Johnny, it appears, caught wind of that remark. “I received to see some outdated associates (Sunday), who weren’t on the workforce for the Flames, by the best way,” Gaudreau cracked after morning skate. “Simply so Darryl is aware of.”   

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OFF THE GLASS  

Flames bruiser Milan Lucic has now scrapped in back-to-back video games and there’s little question he’s nonetheless one of many NHL’s hardest prospects. Simply ask Mathieu Olivier. “I feel we let our foot off the fuel a bit and within the second
then Looch fired up the constructing, for certain,” Dube mentioned post-game … There was widespread criticism of how Sutter dealt with Saturday’s post-game questions on rookie ahead Jakob Pelletier, who had simply logged his NHL debut. As he fished for his glasses, the skipper requested reporters what quantity Pelletier was sporting after which proceeded to learn his stats in what many considered as a disrespectful show. Sutter appeared eager to elucidate himself previous to Monday’s matchup with the Blue Jackets. “Someone requested after the sport the opposite night time about Jakob Pelletier,” he mentioned, elevating the topic on his personal. “Nicely, you couldn’t consider it as a result of the child performed 420 seconds.” … This speaks volumes — the 21-year-old Pelletier was within the lineup Monday for his second big-league look. Darn close to scored on the man-advantage, too, however he did not raise a rebound over Korpisalo’s outstretched pad … The Flames will wrap this four-game homestand with Thursday’s battle in opposition to the Chicago Blackhawks (7 p.m. MT, Sportsnet West/Sportsnet 960 The Fan).   

wgilbertson@postmedia.com 

Twitter.com/WesGilbertson 

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