Calgary Flames Daily: Back-to-back games, climbing back up

It’s game day (again)! The Calgary Flames will be at MSG tonight to play the New York Rangers in the hopes to improve their road record.

The Calgary Flames season, since the start of 2018, has been quite the rollercoaster. They won seven in a row, then lost six straight, and are now on a three-game win streak. They also continue to improve their road record. With the win last night, they’re 15-5-5 on the road which is the second-best road record in the NHL at .700.

With the win last night and a loss to the San Jose Sharks, the Flames have now climbed their way up to the second Pacific Division standing spot. Just two days ago, they were out of a playoff spot. That’s how tight the race is, specifically the Pacific Divison. It changes multiple times a day.

Not only have the Flames climbed their way back up the standings after losing six in a row, but so has Johnny Gaudreau. At one point, he was third in the points race and seemed like a legitimate contender for the Art Ross Trophy. But then he went through somewhat of a slump in December and fell out of the race. Now he has sneakily climbed his way back and he’s third in the race again with 64 points in 54 games. He’s also just four points back from that top spot and he’s already surpassed his point total from last season, 61 points in 72 games.

Related Story: Johnny Gaudreau could win Art Ross this season

Sean Monahan has also been on fire lately. He’s on a four-game goal streak with five goals and one assist in his last four games. He got his tenth game-winning goal of the season last night which continues to lead the league this season. The second highest is seven. His 10 GWG this season also now ties him for third for the most in one season in Calgary Flames franchise history. And he’s up there with some big names.

Via CBC Sports:

"“We’re good friends off the ice and we’ve been playing together for four years now,” Gaudreau said of Monahan after the Flames improved to 15-5-5 on the road. “The chemistry keeps building and building, and it’s a lot of fun to play with him. He’s a leader and we’ve been fortunate because there’s been less than 20 to 30 games in my career where I haven’t played with him.”"

David Rittich got his fifth win of the season last night. He’s now 5-0-2 in just seven starts and is proving to be more deserving than just back-to-back starts.

The Flames will be at MSG tonight to play the New York Rangers. Yesterday, the Rangers released statements on their social media accounts basically calling off the rest of the season and letting their fans know that they’re in a rebuild and the rebuild is coming. For the most part, the response was positive. No team had ever released a statement like that midway through the season saying “bear with us, we’re rebuilding”. So it was quite a refresher.

Let’s hope this means a win for the Flames tonight while the Rangers are on a four-game losing streak.

Flames Tweet of the day

Hockey Tweet of the day

Some links surrounding the Flames

Francis: Eddie Lack says Flames didn’t give him enough of a chance (Calgary Sun).

Monahan scores twice to lift Flames over Devils (CBC Sports).

Flames prospect Gawdin nears 100-point plateau in WHL (Calgary Sun).

Some links surrounding hockey and the NHL

New York Rangers send letter to fans signifying a rebuild is imminent (FanSided).

3 Things we learned in the NHL: Life on the road can be pretty good (Sportsnet).

Poile on prowl for Predators (NHL.com).

Next: Flames win third in a row, beat Devils 3-2

That’s all in today’s Calgary Flames Daily!