The Daily Scan: Flames feeling the fun, Sabres building new culture

The Calgary Flames beat the New York Rangers in convincing fashion on Saturday night with a 6-0 shutout. The top line was dialed in after having an off night in a loss to the Dallas Stars a couple of nights earlier. It was led by none other than Matthew Tkachuk, who we predicted was due to have an offensive explosion based on his underlying numbers coming into the night. (Use code Flames to get a discount on a CHN+ annual subscription to read our exclusive content). Meanwhile, the Buffalo Sabres are trying to build a new culture after the Jack Eichel trade.

The Flames are feeling good. And they should be after securing a seventh win on the season and extending their streak to 10 games with at least a point. It’s their best start in years and they are getting great numbers from their stars, support from the depth players and solid, sometimes spectacular, goaltending.

The most entertaining exchange after the game last night focused on Tkachuk’s incredible between-the-legs goal. He shrugged it off because it was essentially meaningless as the sixth goal (he checked the scoresheet) but goalie Jacob Markstrom poked some fun while sitting beside him.

“I mean he does all that kind of stuff in practice as well,” Markstrom said. “Never works in practice though. It’s fun to see.”

Tkachuk’s response: “It’s true, it doesn’t”

I guess Markstrom is just that good all the time.

NHL trade chatter & National Hockey Now

NHL.com: After the Jack Eichel trade saga that has exhausted the Calgary Flames by now, the Sabres are looking to the future and hoping to build a better culture.

Vegas: Marc-Andre Fleury is taking a beating with the Blackhawks but it’s not much better in Vegas. The Golden Knights relied heavily on Robin Lehner last night, almost too much. How much longer can the team continue to leave their goaltender out to dry?

Montreal: The flip side to last night’s Golden Knights game, the Montreal Canadiens couldn’t stop the bleeding after the Golden Knight’s second-period comeback. And another hilarious angry empty-net reaction gives us joy.

Lol wtf Is Mike Hoffman playing drunk? 😂 pic.twitter.com/fc0fi7g4qO

— Tyler Kasch (@TheTylerKasch) November 7, 2021

Pittsburgh: Kasperi Kapanen entered Saturday night with zero goals on the season and left PPG Paints Arena with his first career hat-trick. 

Florida: The two remaining undefeated teams in the National Hockey League played each other Saturday with and the Florida Panthers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes to remain perfect.

Detroit: With Tyler Bertuzzi scoring twice in the third period and Moritz Seider potting his first NHL goal in OT, the Red Wings came back from a 3-1 deficit for a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres. The result was that they ended their four-game losing skid.