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When the Calgary Flames acquired Mike Smith from Arizona to be the team's new starter, I was admittedly skeptical.
It wasn't that I thought Smith was *bad*, but rather I didn't like the idea of trading a few assets – albeit nothing special – for a 35-year-old with an injury history and only one above average season to his name.
As time wore on, and I researched more,
I did back off my initial stance but I certainly didn't expect Smith to as good as he's been.
Through 38 starts, Smith owns a solid 20-13-3 record, a .924 save percentage, and a sparking .934 save percentage at 5v5 – good for 2nd among 29 eligible goaltenders (1,000+ minutes). Only Andrei Vasilevskiy of the league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning has fared better in that game state.
With Smith playing so well, and David Rittich stepping in admirably as the new backup, it should be no surprise the Flames rank near the top of the league in 5v5 save percentage, which hasn't been close to the case for a long, long time.
As you can see, the Flames haven't gotten above average goaltending from their tandem once since the last lockout. Barring a horrible collapse down the stretch, that five-year streak will end this season.
The Flames do have a strong defense core, and some fantastic two-way forwards, but Smith, and even Rittich, have been left on an island at times so it's not like it has been easy to post such strong numbers. They've been put to the test and, so far, they've passed with flying colors.
If that continues, the Flames seem like a good bet to get back in the playoffs.
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