Happy Saturday Calgary Flames fans! You know the drill, it’s time for us to look at news surrounding the Flames over the last 24 hours.
The Calgary Flames had an exciting win last night over the Florida Panthers. They’ve now increased the point-gap between them and the LA Kings who are right on their tails and they’ve closed that gap between them and the Nashville Predators.
The Flames allowed the Panthers to get that first goal, but the Flames came right back and scored three unanswered in the first period within a span of five minutes. The fact that the Flames were able to come back and be aggressive after allowing the first goal shows the true dedication of this team.
We also have goaltender Chad Johnson who was absolutely incredible last night. He allowed just two goals on 38 shots, earning him the first star of the game. He had some key, game-saving saves in the third period when the Panthers came out fighting.
For more about the post-game recap, go here.
Post-game comments
Now what’s a post-game recap without some post-game comments?
Via calgaryflames.com:
"Everyone’s starting to contribute on any given night and that builds confidence. That builds belief.“For us, I think we’re just finding our game,” Johnson said. “We want to be as consistent as possible. That’s what it comes down to. We’ve had our highs and our lows. That’s going to happen with a young group and a new coach. Now you’re seeing that consistency and trust in our system. I’m sure there will be some hiccups but I think we know how to regroup now and stay within our systems.”“It was big for us to give up the first goal and respond to that,” Johnson said. “It shows the growth in our group.”“I think that over the last little bit, our goalies have given us a lot of belief,” coach Glen Gulutzan said. “I think we’ve executed at a pretty good level, which has made guys feel pretty good. Everyone’s starting to contribute on any given night and that builds confidence. That builds belief.”"
Now let’s talk more about Chad Johnson.
The Chad
Johnson’s last game before this one was February 13th where the Calgary Flames were shutout 5-0 by the Arizona Coyotes. Johnson allowed four goals on 23 shots, which resulted in a goaltending change after the second period. The game before that was against the Pittsburgh Penguins where the Flames won 3-2 in an exciting shootout win.
Calgary Flames
But before that, he was in net against the Montreal Canadiens where he allowed five goals on just 20 shots.
Since the All-Star break, the Flames began a new method with the win-and-start method. Basically, if you win, you play the next game. Brian Elliott seemed to take that and it pushed him well. He was incredible since the All-Star break and even in the games where the Flames lost, he still had a great game.
Johnson however, not so much. He did only play in two games before last night’s game with this new method, and one was that shutout loss. Which left people slightly concerned and trades for goaltenders started circulating again.
But after last night’s game and how he, at the end of the day, was the ultimate game changer. If he continues performing this well, Elliott’s got some competition again and the Flames will feel much more confident in this last month and a half.
Some links surrounding the Flames to get you through your morning
Chad Johnson stonewalls Florida Panthers with 36 saves as Calgary Flames make it third straight victory away from friendly confines (National Post).
Flames skate past Panthers in South Florida to continue roll (Calgary Herald).
Five Canadian NHL teams are in the playoff chase but cling to berths (The Globe and Mail).
Tigers battle to down Hitmen for sixth time this season (Calgary Herald).
Some other links surrounding hockey and the NHL
NHL fights subpoena for records related to Reebok deal (TSN).
Four Canucks out with symptoms of mumps (NHL.com).
Ducks fill goal-scoring void with Eaves: NHL trade roundup (CBC Sports).
Next: Dennis Wideman is Willing to Waive No-Movement Clause
That’s all in this edition of Flames Daily! Happy Saturday and let’s hope the Flames come out strong tomorrow afternoon to have an extremely successful roadie.