CALGARY — Opening the evening with a goal and a fight in one shift, Ryan Lomberg admitted that Gordie Howe's hat-trick soon came to mind.
“Probably right when I took off my gloves,” he laughed. Calgary Flames forward in Saturday's first-period game against Vegas that sent the Saddledome into a frenzy.
“Ask your colleagues on the line. I told them, “If I give him to you in the o-zone, I don't want him back, shoot him.”
Although the fan-favorite fourth line failed to register an assist, he still earned the team's MVP jacket. Hockey Night in Canada towel, as well as the growing admiration of teammates and fans who cherish this ever-shining mighty mite.
With the Flames leading 2-1 against a Vegas team they rarely beat, the elated Christmas crowd got an extra boost when Connor Zary sent Lomberg in alone to fire a shot, which he sent straight through Akira Schmid for his second time of the season.
Momentarily distracted by the ensuing hilarity, Lomberg went straight back to business, arranging a fight with Golden Knights defenseman Jeremy Lauzon as the puck was dumped at center.
“He hit Matty (Coronato) pretty good a couple shifts ago and I was planning on going and asking him (to fight), but it just happened that I scored before I even had a chance to ask him,” said Lomberg, whose first match of the season took place two nights earlier in front of his father.
“Right after that I asked him and he said yes. Obviously in his position they are losing 3-1, it was a good opportunity for them and for me I was just protecting our guys.”
Despite being off-balance early, Lomberg fought his way back up and continued an entertaining battle with the 6-foot-3, 225-pounder who brought the visitors to their feet, highlighting the team's 3-1 advantage with another crowd-pleasing shot.
“He's a big boy, he kind of pushed me and I lost my balance,” said Lomberg, who had dried blood visible on the bridge of his nose after several stitches.
“I asked him to let me go and he did. Nobody wants to see that, so he was more than happy to let me get up and continue the fight.”
Asked if he had ever scored or fought in the same shift, Lomberg smiled.
“I don't remember one, but it's a great statistic, I'll take it,” he said.
“It was a real play by Zar. At first I put on all my speed to block the defender so he couldn't catch him, but it looked like Zar was at the end of his shift, so he headed the puck in and I almost lost it. I don't know if he would have looked at me the same way if I had lost it. But luckily I put it in and I definitely owe him something.”
Lomberg's energy was infectious, and it spurred the team, which saw Mikael Backlund score twice, Devin Cooley try to score into an empty net, Zari and Mackenzie Weegar each pick up three helpers, and Jonathan Huberdeau score into an empty net while sliding on his pants.
But it was “The Shift” that got everyone talking.
“This is what we call the Shift,” Weegar smiled as he picked up his 200cc pipe.th career assistance.
“Zar made a good play to put the puck on the right guy's stick in that situation. Lombo did the right thing.
“I thought Lauzon and Clapper (Adam Klapka) talked all night and I think Lombo was delighted after that. He's great for the locker room and for life in general – he's a real man.
“I'd like to see him come back and get an assist and then we could call it a Gordie Howe change.”
