Last night’s game versus the New York Islanders was far from pretty, but the Calgary Flames won’t complain, as they were able to pick up two points in a come-from-behind win. It was once again a resilient night from a group who seems to never count themselves out of any given game.
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With the win, the Flames see their record improve to 10-6-3, which is good enough for third in the Pacific Division. As mentioned, it wasn’t pretty, but that was to be expected after three nights off. With that said, here are the three main takeaways from this gritty outing.
Special Teams Come Through
What’s been quite surprising about the Flames’ start to the season is that their special teams have been rather horrendous. Their penalty kill sits at just 73.6%, while their power play is a putrid 13.5%. For anyone watching that wasn’t aware of that, however, you would have believed they have some of the best special teams groups in the league.
Not only did the Flames kill off all three of their penalties, including a massive one in overtime, but they were able to convert on their only power play early in the third on a bomb from Rasmus Andersson to tie things up at one apiece. It’s only one goal, but will hopefully get things going for a power play unit that needs all the help they can get.
Wolf Outstanding Once Again
It’s early into the season, but Dustin Wolf is quietly building himself a very solid case for the Calder Trophy. The 23-year-old, who came into this game fresh off a shutout on Friday versus the LA Kings, kicked aside 28 of the 29 shots he faced in this one.
Wolf’s best work came early in the third period, where he made a few highlight reel saves with his team trailing 1-0. He also stopped both shots he saw in the shootout, another area in which he’s looked very solid this season. He has now allowed just two goals in his last three starts and may be slowly taking over as the number-one goaltender in Calgary.
Through 10 starts, he now owns a 2.36 goals-against average (GAA) and a blistering .925 save percentage (SV%). While those stats seem to be surprising to many on the outside, those who have followed Wolf throughout his junior and American Hockey League (AHL) career have seen him do this time and time again.
Kirkland Plays Hero Once Again
It’s been mentioned over and over, but Justin Kirkland continues to be the best story in what has been a very fun season thus far for the Flames. He has overcome a ton of adversity in his playing career, and now, at 28 years old, appears to finally have found an NHL home in Calgary.
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For the second time this season, Kirkland was able to get the shootout winner on what is now becoming a patented move. He by no means is the most skilled player on the Flames, but the fact that head coach Ryan Huska keeps turning to him so early in the shootout shows just how much confidence this entire group has in him. Furthermore, their reaction after he scored it shows that they are loving his story just as much as everybody else.
Looking Ahead for the Flames
The Flames will have a day off tomorrow before getting back into action in what will be a very difficult test against one of the league’s best in the New York Rangers. Following the Rangers outing, they will face off against the Minnesota Wild in an afternoon affair on Saturday. Both games are ones that would seemingly be difficult to grab wins in, but it’s become quite apparent that you can never count this Flames team out.
