With several new faces making their debuts for the Calgary Flames on Thursday night (six of them, to be exact) and zero preseason games, there was much to discover in the first game of the season.
And those pregame questions have remained the same for the bulk of the offseason: Can Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan have comeback years? Will Matthew Tkachuk and Elias Lindholm take over top-line duties? Will Jacob Markstrom be the missing piece Calgary needed? Is the team actually better than last year?
As it turned out, the game touched on all of the pregame and preseason questions, and most of the answers were unsatisfactory in the Flames’ 4-3 overtime loss. It was a game distinctly split into two parts: a strong first period in which the Flames controlled play and got out to a 3-1 lead, and a final 40 minutes in which the Winnipeg Jets looked to be the better team.
To be fair, one game was never going to answer the questions. It’s going…
