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What Calgary Flames had to say about Pelletier's outstanding performance

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
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Jan 24 2025, 1:00 pm
What Calgary Flames had to say about Pelletier's outstanding performance
Sergei Belski/Imagn Images

There was no question for Calgary Flames fans as to who was going to be named the first star of last night’s game.

Despite a slow start, the Flames were able to rally and walk away with a big 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres. Their struggling penalty kill was outstanding, killing off all six opportunities handed to the Sabres, but the big story of the night was the play of Jakob Pelletier.

Pelletier began the game on the fourth line with Clark Bishop and Ryan Lomberg, but was promoted to the top line alongside Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau in the second period. That turned out to be a great decision from Ryan Huska, as the trio combined for eight points.

Picking up two of those points was Pelletier, who assisted on a second-period tally from Kadri and put home the game-winner early in the third period. His head coach had extremely high praise for him afterward.

“He was skating. He was harder on the puck … We want him to be a guy that’s competitive on the puck and at the puck, and then use his speed to his advantage. I thought he did that for his linemates, and I thought he did that for himself. That’s the best game I’ve seen him play in the NHL.”

Since first joining the Flames late in the 2022-23 season, Pelletier and Huberdeau have formed a close bond. It was clear afterward how proud the 32-year-old veteran was of Pelletier’s performance.

“He brings so much energy, he’s [such] a happy guy out there,” Huberdeau said. “It’s great. He’s been playing well since he came up again. Obviously, he came up on our line, and I thought we had a lot of looks. I thought he was great.”

Kadri mentioned how that is the exact type of game the 23-year-old needs to continue to play moving forward.

“Pelts brought great energy tonight, he played well,” Kadri said. “He was a threat on the offensive and defensive side. Laying out to block some shots, doing a little bit of everything. That’s what we want to see out of him. I really liked his game tonight.”

Offence wasn’t all Pelletier brought in this one, either. He had a huge shot block on the penalty kill in the second period, and even threw his weight around, catching Tyler Kozak with a big check in the final frame that nearly sent the Blues forward into the Flames bench.

“I thought about it,” the 5-foot-9 Pelletier joked when asked if he thought about throwing Kozak into the bench. “It’s rare I get a chance to hit a guy close to the bench like that.”

It’s been a whirlwind of a season for Pelletier, who went unclaimed on waivers in October. He is now up to four goals and 11 points in 20 games since being recalled in early December, and doesn’t look like a player who’s going to be spending any more time in the AHL moving forward.

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