5 THINGS - FLAMES @ MAPLE LEAFS

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GAME DAY VIDEO
Game Day with Brendan Parker
Pre-Game Interviews
GAME DAY FEATURES
Projected Lineup
Honouring A Legend
STAT PACK
Head-to-Head Stats
Media Game Notes
Scoring Leaders
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Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Johnny Gaudreau (18)
Goals - Gaudreau (9)
Maple Leafs:
Points - Mitch Marner (30)
Goals - Auston Matthews (18)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 21.6% (15th) / PK - 79.4% (16th)
Maple Leafs:
PP - 33.3% (1st) / PK - 78.8% (19th)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 51.37% (8th)
High-Danger Chances: 52.53% (9th)
Maple Leafs:
Shot Attempts: 48.82% (22nd)
High-Danger Chances: 51.31 (14th)

1. LAST TIME OUT

Now that's more like it.
The Flames put together a strong 60 minutes in a 3-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs Monday evening to open the quick two-game set.
With goals from Sam Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk and Sean Monahan, the Flames snapped a three-game losing streak to get back to .500 with a 9-9-1 mark.
Special teams were a major factor as the Flames finished 2/5 with the man-advantage while shutting down the top powerplay unit in the NHL - killing all seven penalties which included a lengthy five-on-three kill in the second frame.
Everything was clicking with timely goals and winning the special teams battle, but the real hero of the day was netminder David Rittich - who made 34 saves to pick up his first shutout of the season and first win.
When they needed him most, Big Save Dave was there to answer the call.
Again and again.
"He was outstanding, but that's not surprising," Flames head coach Geoff Ward said. "We've seen it from him before, it's not like it was a one-time thing - he's been doing this throughout his career. He played a really solid hockey game for us."
"Unreal - he was feeling it there," Tkachuk added. "He was confident, he was calm, just everything you want to see from a goalie. We can't say enough great things about him and his play all year. We wanted to battle hard for him because we knew he was battling really hard for us."
In what was considered a must-win game, and the Flames did just that as they are right back in the thick of things in the crazy North Division. With a one-point cushion over the Vancouver Canucks with three games in hand, and three points back of Montreal for fourth, they'll look to now build off the momentum tonight.
"At the end of the day, in the standings, it was two points," Tkachuk said. "It's not like we got 10 from the game. We still have some ground to make up. We know they're going to come hard next game. No one likes getting shut out, especially in their own building."

2. BACK ON TRACK

While Monday's win was a team effort, a trio of Flames - Tkachuk, Monahan and Rittich - stood out for their individual peformances.
Monahan saw his 12-game goalless drought come to an end with his third-period powerplay marker. His last goal came against the same Maple Leafs squad, back on Jan. 24 when the Flames held on for a 3-2 win at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Tkachuk scored for the first time in nine games, his first tally since a two-goal performance helped lead the Flames to a 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Feb. 2. It was a historic goal - his 100th career marker.
Rittich, meanwhile, picked up his first win since Feb. 25, 2020 when he made 28 saves in a 5-2 victory over the Boston Bruins. Of note, the netminder has had no troubles with the Leafs in his past three starts, winning all three while making a combined 104 saves in the process.

3. THIS, THAT & THE OTHER

This: Rasmus Andersson recorded his second multi-point game in the last five outings, and now has 12 points (3G,9A) on the year to lead all Flames defenders. He's also already just 10 points away from matching his career-high of 22 set last season ... That: Matthew Tkachuk's 100th career NHL goal Monday evening saw him become the fifth youngest Flames to reach the milestone at 23 years and 73 days. He is also the fastest Tkachuk to reach the century goal mark, beating out dad Keith who scored his at the age of 23 years and 213 days. … The Other:Rittich's shutout performance was the first ever by a Calgary goaltender on the road in Toronto. The last time the Flames blanked the Leafs as the visitors was when they were the Atlanta Flames in 1986, Yves Belanger earned the shutout on Dec.31,1977.

4. PLAYERS TO WATCH

Flames - Sean Monahan
There was no easing back into things in the centreman's first game back after missing the two prior with an injury, as Monahan had two-points and 18:25 of ice time. It was his fourth multi-point game this season, improving his point total to 14 (3G, 11A) on the campaign, good for third in team scoring. In three games against the Leafs this season, Monahan has recorded five points (2G, 3A) with both tallies coming on the powerplay.
"I felt great and it's nice to get back in the lineup," Monahan said. "It's even better when you get the win and now we need to start rolling, get back to our game and do that night in and night out."
Maple Leafs - William Nylander
It's been a struggle of late for the 24-year-old, being held off the scoresheet in eight of the last nine games. With that said, it's only a matter of time until the winger breaks out of this cold spell. With the Leafs hit with the injury bug up front, they'll need Nylander to get going and add to his 14 points he has compiled in 20 games.

5. QUOTABLE

"We're not reading too much into it. It's one game and we've got to get ourselves moving forward here and springboard it into something else. We're happy with the game we had, but we've still got a lot of work to do. It's an opportunity for a good starting point, and let's hope that's how it goes."
- Head coach Geoff Ward on staying focused after Monday's win