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Five notes from Calgary vs Washington:

1) It was nice to see Mike Smith get back on track with a solid 29-save performance against the Capitals. The Flames did a pretty nice job in front of him but there were a couple times where he needed to make a few quality stops in quick succession and he did just that. The goaltending had been very poor of late – prior to yesterday night, the Flames allowed 28 goals on the last 183 shots – so it was good to see Smith get back on track. Hopefully, he's back to 100% and can string together some quality starts. The Flames have some tough games coming up.

2) I'm running out of ways to describe Johnny Gaudreau. The guy is just incredible. Each and every night there are a couple plays, or sequences, where he wows you and for a second you're stunned, then you remember you're watching Johnny Gaudreau play hockey and it seems normal again. It took him five minutes to extend his point-streak to 10 games and he added an assist on the eventual game-winner just for good measure. The 24-year-old is up to 31 points in 20 games and is legitimately playing Hart Trophy-caliber hockey right now.

3) I thought the power play was terrific and not just because the Flames converted twice – although that certainly helps. They had no problem dissecting the defense with effortless puck movement and created a ton of great looks. In five power plays, they scored two goals and tallied 14 scoring chances. Pretty good, I'd say.

4) Mark Jankowski didn't get on the scoresheet, but I want to give him credit for another solid performance. The 3rd line as a whole looked good but Jankowski led the way with a game-high five scoring chances at 5v5 and continues to be really effective at generating quality looks. He didn't record one 5v5 chance in his first three games but has registered 29 in his last nine games (~3.2 per) and leads the Flames in chances per 60 minutes played. The goals are coming.

5) On top of entertaining us all with some excellent hockey, Mikael Backlund and Micheal Ferland are now livening up broadcasts by showcasing their DougieBomb skills.

Backlund and Ferland having some fun on the broadcast :)))) pic.twitter.com/ucVnnIC2kq

— Mike Pfeil (@mikeFAIL) November 21, 2017

Bless this team.

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