3 Things From Week 13

It’s time for the Week 13 edition of 3 Things. This week we look at Matthew Tkachuk, Brian Elliott and the bizarro almost fight between Jarome Iginla and Mark Giordano.

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Matthew Tkachuk Points Streak

To say the Flames should be happy with that they gotten so far from Matthew Tkachuk is an understatement. Since finishing his 9 game tryout, Tkachuk has been nothing more than brilliant for the Flames. He’s third on the Flames in points with 25 (behind Gaudreau and Backlund with 27 each) and he by far leads the team in PIM with 74. So he’s doing exactly what the Flames were hoping he would do: score, assist and annoy the heck out of the entire league. Lately though, Tkachuk has been piling up the points. With his assist on Michael Frolik’s goal on Saturday night, he became the first rookie this season to collect a point in 9 straight games. In 3 games this week he’s had an assist in each game and has only collected 4 PIM. What he also does well is draw penalties.

Matthew Tkachuk has probably done more than the Flames could ever have imagined in his first NHL season and he still has over a half a season to go. And to think, there was actually a debate at the start of the season as to whether Tkachuk should have stayed with the Flames or been sent back to play with the London Knights.

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Will The Real Brian Elliott Please Stand Up

Up until his clunker against the Canucks on Friday night (4 goals on 13 shots) Brian Elliott had been playing very well. He strung together a 5 game winning streak, but was 1-1-0 this past week. It looked like Elliott was turning the corner and becoming the keeper the Flames thought they were getting when they traded for him on draft day. And that was a good thing too as Chad Johnson had started to show signs of wear and tear in his last 4 games, all losses where he looked shaky. Elliott took over and was making big save after big save getting the Flames victories. He was solid against the Avs on Wednesday stopping 17 of 18 shots, but looked very bad on Friday night only stopping 9 of the 13 shots he faced. The Flames didn’t do him any favors by turning the puck over or not getting the puck out of their own end, but Elliott let in some bad goals, looking much like the goalie who started the season losing 4 games in October and every game he played in November (6). This week was a small sample size, but Elliott didn’t have a ton of heavy lifting to do and looked good and bad in both games he started. So it begs the question: is Brian Elliott the goalie we saw over the last 5 games or is he the guy who looked terrible against Vancouver? Vote in our poll.

Who Is Brian Elliott?

He's the goalie who had the 5 game winning streak.

He's the goalie we saw against the Canucks Friday.

Iggy and Gio Drop The Gloves......Sort Of

What the.....? This was another bizarre incident in the growing weirdness that is the Flames and Avalanche. Iginla is clearly irritated by the situation in Colorado and Wednesday night it boiled over as he and former teammate Mark Giordano got in a little tussle and they both dropped the gloves. While the Saddledome exploded with excitement at the prospect of this happening, the linesmen stepped in and broke up the two friends and it probably worked out for the best. While we all love Mark Giordano, I don’t think a fight with Jarome Iginla would end well for Gio. Giordano has 12 career fights compared to Jarome Iginla’s 69 career regular season fights. Yes, Iginla has a much longer career and is a different player than Giordano, but if anyone has seen Iginla in a fight, the linesmen may have Mark Giordano’s face from being smashed in.