3 Things From Week 3

3 Things From Week 3

The Flames maintained their hold on second place in the Pacific Division with a 2-1-0 week against some pretty stiff competition. The Flames won two of their games this week by beating Boston and NY by a combined score of 9-3. The team’s only loss came at the hands of the Nashville Predators who beat Calgary 5-3. There’s a few things to highlight from this week, so let’s jump right in to the 3 Things from Week 3!

Johnny’s Milestone Breaks A Drought

Johnny Gaudreau collected his 300th point in the NHL when he scored his second goal of the game last night against the NY Rangers. Gaudreau now has 300 points in 320 career games, not bad for a 4th round pick who is “too small.” But that’s not the surprising fact. Would you believe me if I told you Gaudreau’s multi goal game was his first since……..November of 2017? Yup, you read correctly. Gaudreau’s 2 goal night was his first since he pocketed 2 against the Detroit Red Wings on November 9th in a 6-3 Flames win. He’s also 8th in the league in points with 12, only 4 behind league leader Auston Matthews.

Verdict Still Out

It’s tough to tell just how good the Flames special teams are going to be and this week was a prime example of how maddening it may be. The PK was on point this week killing 7 of the 9 man down situations they encountered. Not bad at all. The PP on the other hand was bad. Calgary had 8 opportunities with the man advantage and only scored once, including an 0-4 in a 5-2 victory over the Bruins.

Gettin’ Nashville Out Of The Way

The Flames dropped their game to Nashville this week by a score of 5-3. They battled back and forth all game, but Nashville had the answer (twice) for these pesky Flames in the 3rd period and didn’t allow Calgary to take a 2-0 lead in the season series. The good news? The Flames are done with the Preds for a bit and they’ll enjoy a New Year free of Nashville. Calgary’s 3rd and final game with the Predators takes place on December 8th. With all that said the Flames have held their own against the NHL’s best team (7-1-1, 14 points) AND they handed Nashville their only loss so far this season.

NHL Standings

by Mark Parkinson