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Tough debuts for Elliott and Andersen, two goalies who were supposed to fix things

elliott

Six goals on just 27 shots was the final tally for Brian Elliott.

He allowed three of the first five Calgary shots to get past him.

And the sixth goal, by Edmonton rookie Jesse Puljujarvi, was a particularly bad one.

For Elliott, it was not the Flames debut he was hoping for. The Oilers would go on to win, 7-4, thanks to an empty netter by Jordan Eberle.

“It’s kind of one of those things — what could go wrong did go wrong,” Elliott said, per the Calgary Herald. “That’s not the way you want to start the season. New team, new coaches, doesn’t matter. You don’t want to start a new season like that. The good thing is we get these guys back at home (Friday). We’ll get back to the drawing board and we’ll get a win at home.”

The Flames get a rematch with the Oilers on Friday in Calgary, then it’s off to Vancouver for another game Saturday. Elliott will likely start one of those, with new backup Chad Johnson getting the other.

Elliott wasn’t the only goalie last night to struggle in his debut for a Canadian team. Toronto’s Frederik Andersen allowed five goals on 30 shots in a 5-4 overtime loss to Ottawa.

“[Andersen] was not good enough, but he’d be the first one to tell you that,” Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said, per TSN.ca. “Thing about goaltending is, they pick you up lots of nights and some nights you’ve got to pick them up, that’s the way it is. That might be the most comfortable position on our team if you’re me. So I’m not going to spend any time worrying about that.”

Andersen signed a five-year, $25 million extension upon being traded to Toronto from Anaheim, so there’s no going back for the Leafs.

Elliott, meanwhile, remains a pending unrestricted free agent, though there has been talk of an extension.