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1) I've already used this space a ton this season to talk about Matthew Tkachuk and I'm going to do so again because he's playing incredibly well.
While his counting totals (five points and 19 shots in six games) do stand out, the underlying numbers may paint an even brighter picture of the sophomore winger.
He is tied for 5th in the NHL in 5v5 scoring chances and has generated them at a higher clip than the likes of Tyler Seguin, Steven Stamkos, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, among others. On top of that, he leads all Flames regulars with a 55.7 Corsi For% and he has drawn a league-leading eight penalties at 5v5 (Kyle Palmieri is second with five).
A good case could be made he's been the Flames' best player thus far, which seems crazy to say with Johnny Gaudreau having eight points in six games and Mike Smith owning a .929 save percentage while starting every game.
Tkachuk is going to get *paid* next summer.
2) The scheduling works out in Calgary's favor if they want to continue riding Smith, but I think the Flames should give Eddie Lack the start on Thursday or Saturday.
If they don't, his first start of the season will almost certainly be in Nashville next Tuesday or in St. Louis vs a rested Blues team on Wednesday. Those are tough playing circumstances for anyone, let alone a rusty backup, so I think it'd be good to give him a game this week so he can settle in while playing behind a rested team at home.
3) Glen Gulutzan was smart to sit Tanner Glass on Saturday night and I think that should happen with more regularity moving forward.
I get wanting physicality in the lineup but it can't come at the cost of making the team worse, and there's no denying Glass does that. In 38 minutes of 5v5 play, the Flames have been out-chanced 28-12 with Glass on the ice. He is a huge liability, even when utilized mostly against opposing team's worst players (there is a reason he spent much of 2016-17 in the AHL). If he's going to play at all, it should be at home when Glen Gulutzan can control the matchups and put him on the ice in the most favorable situations possible.
Recent posts:
Five takeaways from Calgary's bounce-back win over Vancouver
Five takeaways from Calgary's overtime win over Los Angeles
Five takeaways from Calgary's streak-snapping win in Anaheim
Five takeaways from Calgary's convincing win over Winnipeg
Predicting the Pacific Division standings
Flames sign Tanner Glass to one-year deal
Flames sign Jaromir Jagr to one-year deal
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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