With Jarnkrok Incoming, Bottom 6 Steps Up Big In Win Over Devils

Calgary Flames 6 vs. New Jersey Devils 3

Recap

Official Stats

Scoring

First Period

CGY [1] Ritchie (1) (Dube (10), Kylington (19)) 9:43

NJD [1] Mercer (15) (Tatar (14), Hischier (23)) 16:21

CGY [2] Mangiapane (30) (Tanev (17), Toffoli (23)) 18:22

Second Period

NJD [2] Subban (4) (Hischier (24)) 5:01

CGY [3] Dube (7) (Tkachuk (42), Hanifin (22)) 7:04

CGY [4] Tkachuk (28) (Gudbranson (10)) 9:31

CGY [5] Lucic (10) (Andersson (35)) 10:33

Third Period

NJD [3] Sharangovich (15) (Bratt (38), Hughes (28)) 3:51

CGY [6] Gaudreau (27) (Lindholm (33), Tkachuk (43)) 17:30 EN

Game Notes

-Ritchie Rich: When he ripped a shot under Braden Holtby’s arm in the Flames 2020-21 regular season’s finale, Brett Ritchien probably didn’t figure it would be close to a calendar year until his next goal, or even point. Tonight he fired a very similarly powered wrist shot through a perfect Milan Lucic screen to deservedly score his first of the season. With new Flame Calle Jarnkrok in town soon, one wonders whether this may be one of the final times Ritchie finds his way into this lineup, so it’s nice to see him potentially go out on a high note after such a miserable season.

-Playoff Dube: He looked fast, he made smart plays with the puck, and Dillon Dube looked every bit the best version of himself. He showed patience after a somewhat surprising pass from Oliver Kylington to find Ritchie for the game’s opening goal, and he never broke stride en route to taking Matthew Tkachuk’s deceptive pass in for a nifty goal past Nico Daws.

-Looooch: The hands and speed have been more than questionable the past few weeks after a hot start to the season, but Lucic put his stick exactly where it needed to be to deflect home a perfect Rasmus Andersson pass. Raz has massively taken the step he so needed to be more successful offensively, and could be on track for a 50 point season.

-1st Line Business: Amid the surprising scorers the usual suspects found themselves back on the scoresheet. Although he put up 7 assists over that span, Matthew Tkachuk had gone 7 games without scoring a goal. Thanks to a phenomenal pass from an elite Erik Gudbranson, Tkachuk used his usual shifty movement to get a slick shot under Daws’ arm. With 2 assists as well as the goal, Tkachuk moves within 6 points of his career-high 77 set in 2018-19, and ties his career high of 43 assists also set that same season.

-Dirty Thirty: Like Tkachuk, Mangiapane found himself only on the assist ledger for the past 6 games. He finally broke that slump tonight, and in doing so, became a 30 goal scorer for the first time in his career. Mang continues to show good chemistry with Tyler Toffoli, who recorded an assist on the play, but may benefit from a fresh face at center.

-Return of the Gillies: 2012 3rd rounder Jon Gillies was back in the Saddledome for the first time since April 2017, when he pulled off a rare feat in beating the Vegas Golden Knights as a starting goalie for the Flames. After just now resurfacing in the NHL 5 years later, Gillies made a respectable showing of himself by stopping 19 of 20 shots.

-All-time Leader: Mikael Backlund played in his 804th game with the Flames, and in doing so became the franchise’s all-time leader in games played by a drafted player. surpassing Al MacInnis.

by Gordie Taylor