A few Calgary Flames notes on this off-day:
1) I've talked about Sam Bennett's improved play a lot in this space but it really is amazing how far he's come in such a short period of time.
Bennett didn't register a point in his first 15 games. Part of that was luck driven, but a bigger part of it was that he simply wasn't playing well. He had the occasional chance but looked completely out of sync and was playing nowhere close to the level he's at now – and that shows in the numbers.
He averaged 1.2 shots and 1.26 chances per game in the first 15. Since then, he's averaged 2.36 shots and 2.42 chances. That's a big difference so it's no coincidence he's finding his way onto the scoresheet pretty frequently these days.
Thanks to Bennett's recent production, almost all of which has come at 5v5, he ranks 3rd on the team in points and 4th in chances at full-strength.
He's been a difference maker and, alongside Mark Jankowski and Jaromir Jagr/Garnet Hathaway, has made the Flames a much tougher team to match up against.
2) I think Glen Gulutzan really needs to make a concentrated effort to trim down Mike Smith's workload moving forward. He's been given nights off a little more often of late, but he's still on pace to start 70 games. That's an insane amount for any goaltender in today's NHL, let alone a 35-year-old with a long history of injuries. I'm not suggesting a platoon system but David Rittich has played well, and the Flames have really improved defensively, so I think it makes sense to give him some more responsibility. I doubt Smith would hold up over 70 games and, if he did, he'd be completely worn down come playoff time.
3) Through 25 games the Flames ranked 29th in goals against/60 and 26th in chances against/60 on the penalty kill. Simply put, their penalty kill was a complete disaster. It's still not at the level it was a season ago but it has improved of late as they rank 13th in goal suppression and 20th in chance suppression over the last nine games. Baby steps, baby steps.