Calgary Flames trio strike out at NHL skills competition

The Calgary Flames sent two players to the NHL all-star game this weekend in David Rittich, Mark Giordano, and Matthew Tkachuk — each of whom saw some time in the skills competition Friday night.

David Rittich saw himself in the save streak competition in which nine different skaters came down the ice shooting on respective goalies to see who could stop the most in a row. With the bar set at 10 saves by St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington, Rittich was only able to save four.

Mark Giordano took place in the NHL’s hardest shot competition firing two very respectable shots. His first slapshot came in at 100.8 mph with his second reaching 102.1, but it was no match for the hardest shot king Shea Weber, who blasted a 106.5 mph shot to win.

Matthew Tkachuk found himself in the new shooting stars competition, that saw him firing seven pucks from the stands 30 feet above the ice at targets on the ice. Each target was given certain values, and Tkachuk was able to total 20.

A three-way tie at 22 saw Mitch Marner, Ryan O’Rielly and Patrick Kane get extra shots, with Kane hitting a two-pointer to take the win.

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