Johnny Gaudreau came very close to spoiling the party on his long-awaited return to Calgary.
The former Flames superstar set up two goals, earned a penalty and deflected a puck off the post in the third period, but the Columbus Blue Jackets were ultimately defeated 4-3 in overtime. Monday evening.
Dillon Dube hit the target with 2:35 left in overtime to settle the dispute.
Noah Hanifin took the puck from Gaudreau, and the latter fell. Andrew Mangiapane took the opportunity to decamp two against one, before finding Dube’s stick blade.
Dube’s one-timer left no chance for Joonas Korpisalo, who was bombarded with 49 shots, compared to 24 for his opposite Daniel Vladar.
From the warm-up period, the former supporters of ” Johnny Hockey gave him a representative taste of the treatment he would receive at the Scotiabank Saddledome for the next three hours.
As proof, Gaudreau was booed during all of his appearances on the ice, and each of his failed maneuvers was applauded by the Alberta crowd, who clearly still have not digested the American winger’s decision to leave. the ship last summer when he exercised his free range rights to sign with Columbus (14-30-3).
Only a montage of his best moments with the Flames (23-16-9), presented on the giant screen during a commercial break, allowed the nostalgic to bury the boos, the space of a few moments.
“The editing was moving and afterwards it came back to what I expected. That’s what I liked when I played here, the fans are passionate and they love their team,” he said of the reception given by the fans.
After nine seasons with the club that selected him in the fourth round of the 2011 draft, he accepted a seven-year, $68.25 million offer to play in the Metropolitan Division.
“It took me until the start of the second to adjust,” he agreed after the game. It’s not an ending we like, but I’m proud of the effort the guys put in tonight. ”
“I expect it to be a lot easier next time (in Calgary). There’s something about a first game after many seasons with the same team. Emotions were at their peak,” admitted Gaudreau.
There was no sign that the Jackets were going to make the game interesting when the Flames took a 2-0 lead, thanks to goals from Walker Duehr and Nazem Kadri late in the first period and early in the second.
Calgary’s indiscipline halfway through the evening, however, opened the door to the visitors, and they took the opportunity to spice up an already emotional duel.
Gaudreau first set up Kirill Marchenko’s 10th goal of the campaign, with a skillful back pass, at 9:04 of the second period.
Four nine seconds later, still on the power play, the No. 13 of the Jackets was at the origin of the equalizing goal, that of Patrik Laine.
Gaudreau sent a high pass that went through the Flames’ defensive box, and even if Laine couldn’t put all the rubber on his shot, goalkeeper Vladar took it upon himself to give him a gift by misjudging his movement.
Andrew Mangiapane then restored the lead to the Flames before the second intermission, but Boone Jenner scored early in the third period, once again bringing the clubs back to square one, at 3-3.
“It was a completely crazy start to the match, I didn’t expect it. I wanted to score by throwing over his glove, but I missed. I would have liked to have had another chance”, mentioned Gaudreau about his penalty shot during the first intermission.
Gaudreau had already faced the Flames for the first time on December 9, in Ohio. The Blue Jackets then won 3-1, in particular due to a net from Laine on the first pitch of the match.
