Total humiliation for Jonathan Huberdeau in Calgary!

The Calgary Flames might have gotten the W against the visiting Nashville Predators last night, they did so without forward Jonathan Huberdeau. I am not saying that he got injured or was missing from the bench : actually he never left if in the third period!

Huberdeau failed to register a point or a shot on goal, but did have two giveaways. Head coach Ryan Huska glued him at the first right end of the players’ bench for the entire period while the rest of his teammates rallied with three goals to get the 4-2 win over the Preds.

After the game, in which Huberdeau played just over 14 minutes, Huska commented on his forward’s off night.

“I thought Huby had an off night,” Huska told reporters. “When we went into the third period, we wanted to try to get a little more flow and we went with the guys we felt were going.

“It’s not anything anybody wants to go through, ever, but at times it’s going to happen. You’re not going to have your A+ game every night.”

This was supposed to be an entirely different year for Huberdeau, who had even revealed that he felt his confidence had returned during the offseason and was looking to play up to the numbers on his eight-year, $84 million contract. He had explained how he believed the atmosphere was better in the dressing room with the entire team focused on reaching the postseason.

But so far in 12 games, Huberdeau has posted two goals and four assists and Calgary sits sixth in the Pacific division with a 4-7-1 record.

Last week, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Flames were committed to finding ways to help Huberdeau, though I’m not sure gluing him to the bench is a great solution.

It might however pressure Huberdeau into doing better and could lead to better results in coming games.

The Flames now head out on a three-game road trip to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs next on Friday.

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