On the eve of training camp, Michael Cammalleri promised to show off his gap-toothed grin all season long in goal celebrations for the Calgary Flames.

Minus his front teeth top and bottom — thanks to a Steven Stamkos shot to the mouth in a lockout training session — Cammalleri looks every bit the part of a cast member for Miracle or Youngblood.

Only through five games, the diminutive sniper has precious little to smile about — from a personal or collective perspective.

Counted on as a pure goal scorer, Cammalleri has yet to turn on the red light once. Hard to believe, but he has two assists and just five (!) shots.

Something is definitely amiss with the one-time 39-goal scorer, just like his team.

The 1-3-1 Flames languish in the Western Conference basement with the mighty Chicago Blackhawks coming to town tonight for a Hockey Night in Canada clash at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

“If you’re winning games and the puck is not going in, you can sleep at night,” Cammalleri said Friday, as he politely fielded questions from reporters camped at his locker stall. “But when you’re one of the guys who part of his responsibility is to contribute offensively and the puck is not going in during games, it definitely weighs on you, for sure.

“For me, it’s a matter of scoring goals. So just get out there and score some goals.”

If only it were that simple.

In an effort to perhaps tap into some old chemistry, head coach Bob Hartley reunited Cammalleri at Friday’s practice with his old buddy Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguay.

Why not? Back in 2008-09, Cammalleri registered a career high of 82 points on a line with the captain. As for Iginla, he cruised to an 89-point season with Cammalleri on his opposite wing.

Iginla too is in need of spark, at least in the goal department. Dating back to last season, the face of the franchise has one goal in his last 16 games to mark the third worst slump of his career.

He went 19 games with just one goal from March 11, 2010 to Oct. 14, 2010 and 29 games with just one snipe from Jan. 5, 1998 to Oct. 10, 1998.

“We’ve got to provide more offence here,” Cammalleri said of the new No. 1 line. “We’ve got some good offence through the lineup from different guys, but some of us definitely need to contribute and in a timely fashion here to make a difference in games.”

On the surface, the season is just five games old for the Flames. So any sense of panic is premature, to say the least.

But in a 48-game campaign, the impact of every loss is magnified, especially defeats like the 6-3 debacle Thursday against the tired, injury-plagued Colorado Avalanche.

“Not acceptable,” said Tanguay, who shares the team scoring lead with Curtis Glencross and Lee Stempniak with five points. “Over the course of the last two or three years, we’ve been known to have slow starts. We really can’t afford any more (losses) right now.

“We’ve got to come out firing on all cylinders and make sure we get two points.”

A voice of reason even in the worst of times, Tanguay preaches calm through this early-season turbulence.

“Obviously, some teams have played eight games,” Tanguay said. “So we just go about our business and win the next couple, and we’re right back in the middle of things.

“Usually, we’ve played three more games than anybody else. Now we’re trailing back. But I certainly believe we’ve got a lot better to offer.”

In terms of scoring by committee, Stempniak, Glencross, Jiri Hudler and Mikael Backlund are certainly doing their bit.

It’s cliché, but true: the best players on any team after to be the best players more than often than not for a chance at any kind of success.

“I will sleep better if we win,” Cammalleri said, smiling ever so slightly. “That’s for sure.”

vhall@calgaryherald.com