The Calgary Flames wrapped what was a phenomenal road trip with a 4-0 shutout over the injury plagued Pittsburgh Penguins last night as they climbed to the top of the Western Conference with a 5-1-1 record. Jacob Markstrom has an absolutely dominant performance as the Penguins attempted to rally in the 2nd and 3rd periods. He saved 106/107 shots against on this road trip allowing his one goal in a 5-1 victory over the Rangers.
Markstrom brought this level of play last year at this time of the season — the difference being that this time the Flames are playing well in front of him.
A few notes:
Waiting on Tkachuk Tkachuk made a sensational play to break the cycle and set up Johnny for a break up the left side. That break led to a high glove side goal to put the Flames ahead 1-0. While he has been very quiet over this five game road trip, his team is winning and he’s contributing to the defensive dominance of what is the Flames first line. An 8% shooting percentage won’t last.
A Penguins record Markstrom set a record for most shots faced by the Penguins while posting a shutout. Zero goals on 45 shots makes one greatful that the 31 year old goaltender is locked up long term.
Kylington shows up Oliver Kylington has been getting his confidence going since drawing back into the lineup. Yesterday he looked fantastic other than a few plays in his own zone. It’s nice to see him rewarded after getting the run-around for the last few years. Kylington led all Flames defencemen with 2:08 of powerplay time.
No Noah As the Calgary Flames took the ice for warmups, it was announced that first pairing defenseman Noah Hanifin is day-to-day with an upper body injury. He missed the end of last season opting to get shoulder surgery. Could spell bad news.
Winning without Lindholm or Mangiapane scoring It’s nice to see the Flames put the puck in the net without the help of these two. Their shooting percentages are still unsustainably high.
The Flames return to the Saddledome to play the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night at 8pm. If you’re in attendance be sure to show your appreciation for a perfect road trip.
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