Post-Game Wrap-Up: Grand Theft Rittich
By Ryan Pike
4 years agoOn Monday in Montreal, David Rittich was superb but the rest of his team was sub-standard. On Thursday in Toronto, Rittich stood on his head (again) but the rest of the Calgary Flames showed up to make a game out of it. The Flames grinded out a 2-1 shootout win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on the road.
The Rundown
The Flames took awhile to get going in the first, down 6-0 in shots at one point. Neither team scored, but the Flames rallied back to make a game of it. Shots were 10-9 Leafs and scoring chances 10-9 Flames.
The visitors got on the board first, as Derek Ryan redirected a Travis Hamonic point shot past Freddie Andersen to make it 1-0. The Flames made a nice play on the goal, as Ryan’s initial rush was disrupted and he and Dillon Dube had to battle for the puck along the boards.
Shots were 14-12 Leafs and chances 12-11 Leafs in the second.
Toronto tied things up during a third period power play. With Tobias Rieder in the box, William Nylander deflected a John Tavares slap-pass past David Rittich to make it 1-1.
Shots were 9-7 Leafs and chances 4-4 in the third period.
Neither team scored in a back-and-forth overtime period. Matthew Tkachuk scored in the shootout and Rittich stopped all three Leafs he faced to pick up a narrow 2-1 win.
Why the Flames Won
Rittich was superb once again, but give the Flames credit: they held their own against a very talented Leafs team (holding them to just nine high-danger chances) and if not for Andersen this game could’ve gotten away from Toronto.
Life would’ve been easier had the Flames stayed out of the box, though.
Red Warrior
Rittich. 35 saves, plus three more big ones in the shootout.
The Turning Point
Take your pick of any number of big saves Rittich made in the latter stages of the third period with the game tied. He was dialed in.
The Numbers
Data via Natural Stat Trick. Percentage stats are 5v5.
| Corsi For% | O-Zone Face-Off% | Game Score | |
| Backlund | 60.0 | 50.0 | 0.445 |
| Monahan | 59.3 | 50.0 | 0.270 |
| Gaudreau | 54.8 | 50.0 | 0.600 |
| Hanifin | 53.3 | 46.2 | 0.675 |
| Brodie | 50.0 | 50.0 | 0.125 |
| Mangiapane | 48.4 | 42.9 | 0.240 |
| Giordano | 47.1 | 60.0 | 0.175 |
| Lindholm | 44.1 | 42.9 | -0.025 |
| Tkachuk | 44.1 | 42.9 | 0.000 |
| Hamonic | 42.1 | 42.9 | 0.950 |
| Andersson | 41.7 | 60.0 | -0.050 |
| Dube | 38.9 | 42.9 | 0.625 |
| Ryan | 37.5 | 42.9 | 0.880 |
| Lucic | 33.3 | 42.9 | -0.120 |
| Kylington | 26.9 | 60.0 | -0.625 |
| Jankowski | 25.0 | 75.0 | -0.115 |
| Bennett | 25.0 | 75.0 | -0.540 |
| Rieder | 25.0 | 75.0 | -0.300 |
| Rittich | — | — | 2.750 |
| Talbot | — | — | — |
This and That
The Flames are now 14-1-1 when leading after two periods and 13-3-3 when scoring first.
Up Next
The Flames (26-18-5) are back in action on Saturday afternoon when they face the Ottawa Senators in their final game prior to the All-Star Break.
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