NEWARK, N.J. — The Flames began the second period of their matchup Wednesday vs. the Devils sporting a two-man advantage, a seemingly unfair upper hand considering the best team in the Western Conference was facing a Devils team rife with injuries and hovering around last place in the East.
One minute and seven seconds later, just as New Jersey regained one of its penalized players, a pass from Calgary's Elias Lindholm ricocheted off the skate of Devils defenseman Sami Vatanen and sneaked past goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood to give Calgary a 1–0 lead.
"A lucky one," Lindholm said later in describing the score. "I was trying to go back door and hit the defenseman’s skate and it went in. It wasn’t pretty but it went in and that’s all that matters."
The goal was Lindholm's 72nd point and 26th goal this season, both career highs. Stats like those do not come from luck alone. The 24-year-old Swede is in the midst of his first 20-goal season, and his 46 assists alone exceed his career-best point total.
ELIAS LINDHOLM TALLIES THE OPENER FOR CALGARY!#Flames pic.twitter.com/6m1ZyUQHes
— Hockey Daily (@HockeyDaily365) February 28, 2019
While he said he has not changed anything about the way he practices or trains, Lindholm believes a change in scenery has boosted his play. Carolina traded the center and Noah Hanifin to Calgary in the offseason. The Hurricanes drafted Lindholm in 2013 with the fifth overall selection.
“Coming to a new team, I think it was good for me," Lindholm said. "You look at Vegas [last season], pretty much everyone there got a jump up from coming to a new team, and I think the same thing happened to me. I'm obviously playing with a lot of good players on this team and I’m having a lot of fun, so those two things have helped a lot."
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Calgary put Lindholm on a line with five-time All-Star Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan, who have 82 and 69 points, respectively, this season. Gaudreau said the line's chemistry developed naturally.
"We kind of clicked right away," Gaudreau said. "A couple of practices and a couple of games in China and the season got going there. When you put three smart players together, you're going to find success, and it has worked out. [Lindholm is] a smart player, he's a great shot and a playmaker. It's been really fun and he's fit in well with our line."
The trade also allowed Lindholm to keep Bill Peters as his coach. Peters left the Carolina bench after the end of the 2017-18 season and signed to coach the Flames just days later.
"Lindy is a really good player and he's been a good player for a long time," Peters told Sporting News Canada. "He got drafted early for a reason and he's a very versatile player. He can play center, he can play wing, he's on both the power play and penalty kill for us and he knows how to play. He's very responsible defensively and that leads to a lot of his offensive opportunities."
"It takes time to learn a new system and I felt comfortable right away," Lindholm said. "I knew what [Peters] wanted to do and what he expected of me, so obviously that helps."
Lindholm's best season in Carolina was 2016-17 when he had 45 points (11 goals, 34 assists) and was minus-2. The team never finished higher than sixth in the Metropolitan Division during his time there and never reached the playoffs. Now a member of a team with a seven-point lead atop its conference, Lindholm has his first experience with playoff hockey in his sights.