Calgary Flames three stars of the week: December 10-16
Another successful week for the Calgary Flames is in the books! Some players stood out more than others. Let’s check out the stars of the week.
The Calgary Flames had yet another successful week in the NHL which put them up to second place in the standings (for a couple of hours). They’re still currently tied for second place with the Winnipeg Jets with 46 points, although the Jets have a game on hand. The Tampa Bay Lightning are the only team with more points at 52. The Flames also, obviously, continue to lead the Pacific Division.
This week, the Flames went 3-0-0. One of the best ones was seeing them come back against the Philadelphia Flyers, when they were down 5-3 with two minutes to go and managed to score two goals after pulling the goaltender, one coming with just seven seconds left in the game and then scoring the overtime winner. With two minutes to go, the Flyers had a 99.51% chance of winning the game. I guess all the Flames needed was that extra 0.49%.
While the teams the Flames faced aren’t exactly the best in the league, every point matters at this point. And while it seems highly likely that they’ll make the playoffs, anything is possible (like we saw with that Flyers game), so every point truly matters, especially against Western Conference teams.
So let’s get into the stars of last week.
It was actually quite difficult picking who the three stars were, but only because there were about six I wanted to pick. So I had to narrow it down, and this is the list I came with.
Third star
David Rittich
David Rittich, or Big Save Dave, has been incredible for the Calgary Flames this season and has been earning the starter role much more than Mike Smith has. This week, he had to relieve Smith in the game against the Flyers and while he let in one goal on just five shots all in the third period, it was a breakaway shot and it wasn’t necessarily his fault.
In the other two games, he really earned the win, especially against the Minnesota Wild, where he let in just one goal on 35 shots, earning the first star of that game. He went 3-0-0 and improved to a 0.925 sv% and has a 0.944 sv% at even-strength.
On the season, he’s 11-3-1 and is seventh in sv% among all goaltenders (min. 10 gp). Without him, the Flames probably wouldn’t be this high up in the standings. In fact, they probably could have had more points if he started in some games instead of Smith. Like that game against the Montreal Canadiens where Smith let in a weak goal late in the third in a tie game. The Flames could have had at least an extra point from that game, maybe two.
Must Read. To nobody's surprise, Mike Smith is terrible again. light
And while the argument that can be made is that the Flames haven’t played all the well in front of Smith, especially in the first month, they’ve played the same in front of Rittich as well and have allowed many high-danger shots on Rittich too. But he’s stopping those.
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make this a bashing Mike Smith section. Let’s get back to Rittich.
He also played in back-to-back games this weekend, where normally the goaltenders would split it since Smith was injured. While the team could have gone with Jon Gillies in net against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday, Rittich stepped up to the plate and proved why he deserves more starts than he’s getting. And that’s why he’s our third star of the week.
Second Star
Mark Giordano
Oh, captain my captain. Mark Giordano came off from a two-game suspension and didn’t miss a single beat. He had six points in three games this past week and has 11 points in his last five. He reached 35 points against the Blues on Sunday to become the fifth Flame to reach that 35 point mark.
The Flames are the only team with five players with 35+ points. No other team even has more than four players with 30+. Gio also had two multi-point games this week and has recorded multi-point games in four of his last five games. His 35 points put him in a first-place tie for most points among defencemen this season.
Also. Making the Norris case for Mark Giordano. light
He’s currently on pace to beat his career-high of 56 points. And while his offence is through the roof this season, he’s also one of the best defencemen. He’s extremely fast, especially for someone who’s 35 years old, and when he makes mistakes, he battles hard to race back and take away any potential scoring chance by another team.
This week, he was on the ice for ten goals scored and only two against. This season so far, he’s currently rocking a 56.42 CF% and is definitely making his case to win the Norris Trophy (although he probably won’t even be considered since he hasn’t really been talked about this season).
For all these reasons, he earned the second star of the week.
First Star
Matthew Tkachuk
Matthew Tkachuk was another player who had a great week and continues to improve. He’s really solidified his game and has matured immensely since his rookie season. This past week, he led the Calgary Flames with two goals and seven points.
But not only were his points impressive, but he also did it all without his number one centreman: Mikael Backlund. In two of the games this week, Backlund was out due to a concussion, but Tkachuk still impressed on that second line with, not trying to be harsh, but with mediocre linemates.
In fact, in the game against the Flyers, he had four assists. That was the second time he’s reached four assists in a game and, according to hockey reference, he became only the sixth player since 1987 to reach four assists in a game multiple times through the age of 21 years old, and only the fourth active player.
He also finally scored against the Blues on Sunday which was his first time getting a goal against his hometown team. With 40 points on the year so far, he’s only nine points away from reaching a career-high — and it’s not even halfway through the season yet. He’s well on pace to beat his records. Also, fun fact: In his dad’s third full season, he averaged 1.06 pts/gp. Matthew right now is averaging 1.18 pts/gp. In his rookie season, Matthew averaged 0.63 pts/gp. His dad averaged 0.61. Nothing to do with this week, just thought it was neat to note.
But for all the reasons considered, Tkachuk earned our first start of the week.
This next week will be tough for the Flames. They’ll play the Dallas Stars who are currently on a four-game losing streak and are desperate for a win. The Stars also beat the Flames in OT about three weeks ago. The Flames will also battle the league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning who were on an eight-game win streak before their OT loss to the Winnipeg Jets.
Next. Trade of the off-season - Six months later. dark
Some big, important games coming up and more reasons for players to shine and earn stars of the week.