Don’t underestimate the magnitude of a win like the one the Calgary Flames pieced together in Madison Square Garden Sunday.
A milestone and several significant developments played roles in the Flames’ first win at MSG since the iPhone was unveiled 10 years ago.
A 4-1 victory over the Rangers to kick-start a two-game jaunt through New York and Montreal saw Johnny Gaudreau score twice, including his 300th point.
However, it was the promotion of Rasmus Andersson, the brilliance of backup David Rittich and significant contributions from the fourth line that will have Flames fans buzzing Monday morning.
Some takeaways from the win:
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RITTICH RIDDING CRITICS
Say that five times quickly.
Flames backup netminder David Rittich got a great opportunity to start against a weak team on a night his team wasn’t coming off a game – a chance to continue proving he is the man to get the job done.
A poor second half last season followed by a shaky pre-season had plenty folks scared he wouldn’t be reliable enough to spell off Mike Smith with the regularity the 36-year-old will need this year.
So far, Rittich has been every bit as good as he was during the first few months after he made his jump to the big leagues last November.
All told, he made a remarkable 44 saves in the 4-1 win including several key stops early in the night, as well as a stretch early in the second frame when the Flames were outshot 9-1.
Beloved in the room for his whimsical nature and struggles with English, the undrafted 26-year-old Czech gave the team exactly what it needed to kick-start a two-game roadie against relatively inferior opposition.
The Rangers’ lone goal was a power-play roof job by Mika Zibanejad no one could have blamed the netminder on.
Minutes later, Rittich pieced together a series of spectacular saves to ensure the Flames kept the game out of reach. The steady barrage in the third period included 20 shots coming his way.
That’s two wins in two starts, with a goals-against-average of 1.31.
Heck, with a Murderers Row of opponents slated to play the Flames starting Thursday, perhaps coach Bill Peters would consider the possibility of a second consecutive start for Rittich in Montreal Tuesday.
Probably not, though.
JOHNNY BE GREAT
The Flames’ top line continues to dominate as Johnny Gaudreau picked up career point No. 299 and 300 with nifty goals in this one.
The first came late in the opening frame when Sean Monahan made a beauty setup for Gaudreau to convert with a spin-o-rama.
The second was simply a world-class snipe that put the Flames up 3-0 late in the second period.
With some friends and family on hand from his native New Jersey, Gaudreau almost completed the hat trick with a backhander in alone, which Henrik Lundqvist turned aside.
Say all you want about the importance of getting secondary scoring in Calgary, but when Gaudreau and Monahan (and now Elias Lindholm) are scoring at the clip they’re on, the Flames can ride their coattails often.
Gaudreau was the sixth-fastest in franchise history to hit the 300-point mark, doing it in his 320th game.
Kent Nilsson set the standard in 215 outings, followed by Joe Nieuwendyk (260), Theo Fleury (291), Tom Lysiak (312) and Gary Suter (319).
RASMUS RISING
Rasmus Andersson’s meteoric rise up the Flames depth charts hit new heights in the city. His father, Peter, played parts of two seasons in the early 90’s. Incidentally, his brother Calle was a Rangers draft pick in 2012.
Midway through the first period, Andersson was promoted from the second pairing to the top duo and didn’t look out of place at all alongside captain Mark Giordano.
It was only a few weeks ago when he started the season with a demotion to Stockton before a quick recall saw him go from being a scratch to the third pairing.
After a rough outing alongside fellow rookie Juuso Valimaki in St. Louis, Andersson was paired with Noah Hanifin on the second unit before Sunday’s swap with T.J. Brodie, who had a rough go Friday against Nashville.
Pushing the play, pinching with confidence and looking like he’d played there all along, Andersson ended the night with three shots on goal, was plus-3 and was one of the standout players all night long. He played almost 20 minutes – a season high.
He looked comfortable mucking it up after the whistle with Rangers tough guy Cody McLeod and had the hit of the night late when he stepped into Mats Zuccarello with a clean shot at centre as well.
Brady Skjei immediately jumped Andersson, who watched up ice during the confrontation as Garnet Hathaway converted a breakaway to seal a 4-1 win.
A heck of a development for the 21-year-old second rounder from 2015.
FOURTH LINE
Replaced on the third line by Derek Ryan one period into Friday’s loss, Mark Jankowski responded brilliantly Sunday by spearheading a fourth line that gave the Flames half their scoring.
Jankowski’s work along the boards led to him drawing a penalty as he drove towards the high slot and slid the puck to Garnet Hathaway at the top of the crease for a redirect that put the Flames up 2-0.
He also set Dillon Dube up on a breakaway that the youngster couldn’t convert for his first NHL goal. It’s coming.
The fourth unit was the first one Peters turned to seven minutes into the third when the Rangers made it a 3-1 game, deploying the checkers to try winning back momentum for the visitors.
With two minutes left Hathaway completed his first career two-goal game with a snipe on a breakaway you would have thought was Monahan.
Play like this from the fourth line is a development the Flames haven’t seen in over a year.
Up next: The Flames play in Montreal on Tuesday.
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