Flames' Huberdeau appears lost after Tuesday night's benching
The Calgary Flames were able to pull out a 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night, but the two points weren’t what was being talked about postgame.
Fans and media alike quickly noticed that Jonathan Huberdeau was sitting by himself at the end of the bench for the entirety of the third period. The 30-year-old had struggled up until that point, failing to shoot the puck in high-danger chances by instead opting to look for passes that simply weren’t there. Afterward, Ryan Huska explained the benching by saying the 30-year-old just wasn’t at his best.
“I thought Huby had an off night, and when we went into the third period, we wanted to try to get a little bit more flow and we went with the guys we felt were going. That’s pretty much all it came down to.
“He’s fine. It’s not anything anybody wants to go through, ever, but hey, at times it’s going to happen. You’re not going to have your A+ game every night. As I said, we were trying to find a little bit of a rhythm and flow to our game. At that point, we went with the guys we thought were going the best.”
The bounce-back season many were hoping to see from Huberdeau hasn’t happened, as he has just six points through 12 games along with a plus/minus of -12. While fans are frustrated with his play, it was hard not to feel bad watching him from the bench in the third period, as he looked like a player who was doing some serious searching for answers.
Jonathan Huberdeau has yet to see the ice in the 3rd period. pic.twitter.com/peHqapqFh4
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 8, 2023
While fans are perplexed at Huberdeau’s fall off since arriving in Calgary, there is likely no one more surprised by his play than himself. Prior to joining the Flames, he was considered one of the game’s most offensively elite forwards. Whatever has happened since is hard to fathom, but perhaps this benching by Huska will be what it takes to finally get him going.
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