Calgary Flames 7 Vegas Golden Knights 2

Complete Stats

Recap

That image pretty much sums it up. Calgary jumped on the Golden Knights early and often en route to a dominating 7-2 win.

We’re not going to go through every goal because this recap would take you 45 minutes to read. What we will say is Matthew Tkachuk’s PPG set the tone for the Flames and they never looked back. Tkachuk’s opening tally was his 10th goal of the season and his 25 points puts him 11th in the league in total points. The marker not only got the Flames on the board first, but it also answered any of the questions if Calgary would have an Edmonton hangover: no.

After Tkachuk found the back of the net, the flood gates opened. Johnny Gaudreau would follow Matthew Tkachuk with his 7th goal of the season. Then Sean Monahan. Then T.J. Brodie. Then Sean Monahan again. Then Matthew Tkachuk again. Then Sam Bennett. Seven goals in total for the Flames and as crazy as this sounds, Malcolm Subban actually kept it from being even worse. Despite surenduring 5 first period goals and 7 on 32 shots, he made some spectacular late game saves to keep the Flames at bay (we’re trying here).

At the other end of the ice David Rittich held his own, losing his shut out bid 47 seconds into the 3rd period and if you asked him, he’d probably lament the 2 goals he let in. Rittich made some spectacular saves as well, including another breakaway opportunity by the opposition that never found the back of the net. Rittich stopped 20 of the 22 shots he faced, earning his 7th victory of the season.

Scoring

Calgary Flames

1st: 2:36- PPG Tkachuk (10) (Gaudreau/Giordano), 6:49- Gaudreau (7) (Monahan/Lindholm), 10:59- Monahan (11) (Gaudreau), 13:52- Brodie (1) (Tkachuk/Giordano), 16:57- PPG Monahan (12) (Gaudreau/Tkachuk)

2nd: 00:24- Tkachuk (11) (Backlund), 4:22- PPG Bennett (3) (Ryan/Hanifin)

3rd: None

Vegas Golden Knights

1st: None

2nd: None

3rd: 00:47- Holden (3) (Reaves/Karlsson), 5:14- Pacioretty (4) (Smith/Marchessault)

Final Thoughts

The Flames owned this game from start to finish. Calgary’s top line manhandled the Golden Knights all night long, collecting 5 points when on the ice as a regular unit and Gaudreau and Monahan had 2 points each on the power play. Matthew Tkachuk’s strong play continued tonight as he had a 4 point effort (2G 2A), including his 4th PPG of the season.

These type of games will be few and far between, but it was nice to see the Flames pounce on a weaker opponent. Calgary hammered Malcolm Subban early and never took their foot off the gas and their 5 goals on 14 first period shots was clearly a back breaker.

The Flames also capitalized on their special teams opportunities. Calgary’s PP unit put 50% of their chances in the back of the net, going 3-6 on the night. The PK surrendered a PPG tonight, but it’s hard to pick on them for anything they did seeing they’ve played so well as of late.

Flame Of The Game

Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

Johnny Gaudreau: You could pick ANYONE on the Flames roster and not get an argument when it came to who could get this honor, but we’re going to go with Johnny Gaudreau. His 4 point effort tied his career high and he collected all 4 points in the first 20 minutes.