The 10 best single game performances of 2016-17 (so far)
By Ryan Pike
7 years ago
(Sergei Belski / USA Today Sports)
Last night, Calgary Flames defenseman T.J. Brodie put up four assists in Calgary’s 4-3 overtime victory over the New Jersey Devils. For those keeping track, that means he assisted on every single goal the Flames scored – an impressive feat, particularly for a guy playing on the second pairing and dragging Dennis Wideman around.
In an effort to put Brodie’s impressive performance in context, let’s dive into the best individual in-game performances by Flames players through 54 games.
TOP 10 GAME SCORES
- 3.900 – Chad Johnson, Nov. 30 vs. Toronto – 39 saves in a shutout
- 3.575 – T.J. Brodie, Feb. 3 vs. New Jersey – 4 assists
- 3.400 – Chad Johnson, Nov. 23 vs. Columbus – 34 saves in a shutout
- 3.325 – Dougie Hamilton, Dec. 10 vs. Winnipeg – 2 goals and 1 assist
- 3.170 – Johnny Gaudreau, Dec. 27 vs. Colorado – 2 goals and 1 assist
- 3.080 – Mikael Backlund, Dec. 10 vs. Winnipeg – 1 goal and 2 assists
- 2.925 – Dougie Hamilton, Nov. 20 vs. Detroit – 3 assists
- 2.750 – Johnny Gaudreau, Nov. 10 vs. Dallas – 2 goals
- 2.750 – Chad Johnson, Nov. 25 vs. Boston – 35 saves and 1 goal against
- 2.700 – Chad Johnson, Nov. 15 vs. Minnesota – 27 saves in a shutout
The Flames have three players making more than $6 million this season: Mark Giordano, Sean Monahan and Gaudreau. It’s a bit shocking to see them make so few appearances in this list. Instead, the listing is dominated by Calgary’s backup goalie (and his three big shutouts) and multi-point games from the checking line center and the team’s number two and three blueliners.
It’s been an odd season in that respect. That said, game scores take into account possession stats (among other factors) so a player who has a hot offensive game can get drowned out by having bad underlyings. So let’s take a look at just offensive performances.
MULTI-POINT GAMES
The Flames have had 74 multi-point performances so far this season. The distribution of these games is as follows:
2+ POINTS:
- 10 – Gaudreau
- 7 – Hamilton, Backlund, Monahan
- 6 – Tkachuk, Frolik
- 5 – Brodie, Bennett
- 4 – Giordano, Versteeg
- 3 – Chiasson, Brouwer
- 2 – Wideman, Engelland
- 1 – Stajan, Kulak, Hathaway
3+ POINTS:
- 4 – Backlund
- 3 – Hamilton
- 1 – Brodie, Gaudreau, Stajan, Tkachuk, Giordano, Bennett, Chiasson
Gaudreau and Monahan have had a ton of games where they got a pair of points, but just haven’t flipped the switch to being dominant at all. Giordano has had a handful of games with pairs of points but also hasn’t really dominated. Honestly, Backlund and Hamilton are the only Flames who have been able to flip that switch over.
On the other hand, has anybody seen much of Calgary’s third highest-paid forward? Brouwer has just a trio of multi-point games, as many as Alex Chiasson has put up (and Chiasson managed a three-pointer in that mix).
SUM IT UP
Brodie’s performance last night was probably the best by a Flames skater this season and is up there in terms of impressive games with several of Johnson’s big games from November. Relatively scarce on the list of the best Flames single-game game scores this season and the list of dominant multi-point games? The Flames’ highest paid players.
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