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You may’t rating an empty-netter if you happen to’re sitting on the bench in these essential defensive moments.
That’s essential to recollect as Calgary Flames ahead Blake Coleman threatens the NHL’s single-season document for many targets right into a vacated cage.
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As he informed Postmedia: “In the end, you’re placing a recreation away. And that’s all the time good.”
Certainly, it’s.
The 32-year-old Coleman put one other recreation away Thursday, sealing a 4-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights. Adin Hill had been pulled for an additional attacker.
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Coleman, who is likely one of the most revered leaders within the Flames’ locker-room and has been steadily sporting an ‘A’ as proof of it, has now registered seven empty-netters throughout the 2023-24 marketing campaign.
“The boys, they only comprehend it’s fairly automated if I get the puck on my stick late in a recreation,” Coleman stated with a large smile, a touch that he has been getting an earful from his buddies for sinking so many gimmes. “They name it custom now.”
This custom has changed into a document quest, though Coleman insists it’s the furthest factor from his thoughts.
The mark for many empty-net notches in a single winter is 9, which is shared by Pavel Bure (1999-00) and Alex Ovechkin (2021-22). With 16 regular-season dates remaining, beginning with Saturday’s showdown towards the Montreal Canadiens (5 p.m. MT, CBC/Sportsnet 960 The Fan), Coleman must tuck two extra to match these legendary lamp-lighters.
“It’s good firm,” he stated. “It’s not the fellows that you simply essentially consider which can be on the market to kill the sport, nevertheless it reveals clearly these guys have been trusted in that state of affairs. I’d think about Bure’s have been extra breakaways, and Ovi was most likely simply sniping from wherever. Nevertheless it’s a powerful record of gamers.”
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‘Belief’ is the important thing phrase.
When Flames bench boss Ryan Huska sends out his shutdown line — captain Mikael Backlund between Coleman and Andrew Mangiapane — within the late levels, twine-tickling is just not the highest precedence.
‘I’m fairly good when the goalie is out’
On Thursday’s empty-net sequence, Backlund disrupted a scoring probability with a savvy stick-play, calmly collected the puck and spied Coleman as he hustled up the left wing. Not desirous to threat an icing name that will power a defensive-zone draw, he crossed centre earlier than lofting a 90-footer that was proper heading in the right direction.
“I’m fairly good when the goalie is out,” he quipped afterward.
Give him credit score, he’s darn good when the goalie is in, too.
Take note, Coleman has additionally slipped 21 pucks previous the opposing backstop, included the tiebreaking bury halfway by way of Thursday’s third interval towards the defending champion Golden Knights.
Coleman’s season complete of 28 is a brand new career-high. He’s tied with Yegor Sharangovich for the crew lead in tallies.
This heart-and-soul kind can also be a plus-23, the most effective ranking of any dude on a squad that sits outdoors of the playoff image.
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“These are guys that sometimes do issues the precise means,” Huska stated of Backlund-Coleman-Mangiapane trio. “And in Blake’s case, he understands the way to win and I feel when video games are on the road, he is aware of that typically meaning you’re going to have to dam a shot. It means you’re going to must be positionally sound.
“On the identical time, whenever you’re taking part in with a goalie out on the different finish of the ice, you’ve gotten a possibility there. I do know his teammates give him a tough time as a result of he all the time appears to be the man that’s getting them this 12 months, however he deserves to be on the market due to the way in which he performs the sport.”
There’s little doubt that No. 20 will proceed to be tapped in these pressure-packed, clinging-to-a-lead eventualities.
Query is, can he capitalize with a pair extra empty-netters and add his identify to the NHL historical past books?
“I don’t put an excessive amount of thought into it,” Coleman protested after Friday’s off-ice exercise on the Saddledome. “To me, it’s simply you’re put out in that state of affairs to place the sport away, and we’ve been ready to do this fairly steadily.”
ICE CHIPS: Requested Friday for an replace on beginning netminder Jacob Markstrom, who has missed consecutive contests attributable to a lower-body damage, Huska replied: “He’s day-to-day for us and we’re doing our greatest to get him able to come back again and play video games actually quickly.” Whereas Markstrom hasn’t been noticed on the ice since Tuesday, it’s price noting he was one in every of seven veterans summoned for a management assembly previous to that bounce-back towards the Golden Knights.
wgilbertson@postmedia.com
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