Five observations from Calgary's win over New Jersey in the Todd Cordell Bowlâ„¢:
1. David Rittich did it again With Mike Smith's workload reaching ridiculous heights, and the Flames entering a back-to-back, Glen Gulutzan elected to give Smith an extra rest day and start Rittich against the better of the two opponents. His faith was rewarded.
Rittich looked sharp throughout but especially so in the 3rd period when the rest of the Flames no-showed. He was peppered with quality looks – Natural Stat Trick credited the Devils with 13 chances (five high-danger) in the final frame – and he came up with save after save to ensure the Flames picked up another two big points.
Rittich is now 5-0-2 in seven career starts, all of which have been on the road, and owns a remarkable .938 save percentage in those games. He's been awesome.
2. The top line came up big The Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Micheal Ferland line was spectacular once again.
They didn't dominate in possession but they generated their fair share of chances and seemingly made the Devils pay for every mistake they made.
Keith Kinkaid coughed out a massive rebound and Monahan, as always, was there to collect the garbage.
Ferland fought through contact to spring Gaudreau on a breakaway and what happened is what should happen when No. 13 gets a breakaway.
On the eventual-winner, Sami Vatanen and Andy Greene were caught puck watching Gaudreau, and he found the open man. Monahan didn't convert on the initial shot but the Devils were to slow to react and once again he was there to bang in the rebound.
This trio has so much talent and they work extremely well together. If you make mistakes, you're going to pay the price and that's what we saw last night. As a whole, the Flames didn't play all that well but this line carried them to victory.
3. Dougie Hamilton had an off night I'm a big fan of Hamilton, as you all know, but we saw the worst of him at times vs New Jersey.
I'll let him off the hook for the penalty because that was questionable, especially in a game where a lot was let go, but he was hemmed in the defensive zone much more often than usual and the pizza he tossed up the middle to Taylor Hall, a scorching hot player and potential Hart Trophy candidate, was inexcusable.
Though the good far outweighs the bad with Hamilton, the occasional boneheaded play like that is probably what keeps Glen Gulutzan from giving him added responsibility.
4. The 3rd line struggled Mark Jankowski and Sam Bennett – the headliners on the 3rd line – logged more than 13 minutes of ice during 5v5 play. The Flames generated two scoring chances, zero of which were considered high-danger, in that time.
Garnet Hathaway has come back down to earth and Troy Brouwer is still Troy Brouwer so the Flames could really use another winger who can score and help drive play. Those are costly, I know, but the Flames aren't going anywhere in the playoffs if they don't get one. The top-6 can only do so much.
5. The Flames sat back As per usual, the Flames had a lifeless period and, as per usual, it came in the 3rd while defending the lead.
It's difficult to hold onto leads when you sit back and let opposing teams come at you over and over. There has to be some pushback. Until the Flames drop the conservative nonsense and play to win – like the Eagles in the Super Bowl – there are going to be a lot of uneasy nights.