Johnny Gaudreau reaches 99 points with two assists as Flames defeat Sharks

Calgary Flames forward @Johnny Gaudreau has tied his career-best scoring output with 99 points in the 2021–22 season, matching his production from the 2018–19 campaign in 11 fewer games.

Gaudreau, 28, picked up a pair of assists in the Flames’ 4–2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night, both times recording the secondary helper on goals by linemate @Elias Lindholm.

Lindholm’s first goal of Thursday’s contest came midway through the second period and gave the Flames a 3–1 lead. Gaudreau started the play with a nice saucer pass to find @Matthew Tkachuk streaking through the middle of the ice.

After entering the offensive zone, Tkachuk drew both Sharks defenders toward him before dropping the puck back to a trailing Lindholm. The Flames’ leading goal-scorer hesitated for a split second before firing a wrister past Sharks goaltender @James Reimer.

Lindholm’s 37th goal of the season came at the 13:28 mark of the middle frame.

Gaudreau’s second assist of the contest came in the final minute of regulation time, bringing him up to 99 points (34 goals, 65 assists) in just 71 games this season. He needs just one more point to become the first Flame to reach 100 in a season since Theoren Fleury in 1992–93.

The 5’9″ winger picked up the secondary helper on Lindholm’s empty-net goal, although Gaudreau’s linemates — particularly Tkachuk — did the majority of the work down low in the offensive zone on the play.

Gaudreau now has 204 goals and 593 points in 591 career games with the Flames dating back to 2014. He previously recorded 99 points in a full 82-game season with the Flames back in 2018–19, leading the team with 36 goals and 63 helpers.

The 2021–22 campaign has been a big step forward for Gaudreau after back-to-back years where he failed to score more than a point per game. Gaudreau played under multiple coaches with the Flames in both the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons.

@Matthew Tkachuk and @Trevor Lewis also scored for the Flames in Thursday’s game. Calgary improved to 43–19–9 with the victory and became the first NHL team to pick up points against all 31 of its possible opponents this season.

The Flames will return to action on Saturday evening when they take on the Seattle Kraken (23–42–6) at Climate Pledge Arena.

Looking to up your fantasy hockey game? DailyFaceoff has the tools you need for both daily and season-long fantasy leagues, including a lineup optimizer, daily projections, and a whole lot more. Sign up for the DailyFaceoff tools here.