'KILLER' PERFORMANCE

There was plenty of praise for Tobias Rieder Sunday.
And deservedly so.
Mark Giordano summed it up best when asked about the performance of the speedy forward in Calgary's Game 1 victory over Winnipeg Saturday night at Rogers Place in the opener of their qualifying series.
"He was awesome yesterday," said the Flames captain.
Indeed he was.

Rieder made it on the scoresheet with a short-handed breakaway goal in the second period that gave his team the lead en route to a 4-1 victory.
He won a footrace for a loose puck in the Flames zone and took off like a flash, putting a beautiful backhand past Vezina Trophy candidate Connor Hellebuyck.

His goal was a major shot in the arm for his team just six minutes after Johnny Gaudreau had tied the game, infusing the Flames bench with more confidence and increasing the wave of momentum that was building.
He used his much-ballyhooed speed, combined with dog-on-a-bone tenacity, to make life difficult all night for the Jets powerplay, playing a significant role in Calgary blanking Winnipeg on their seven man-up chances.
His 6:44 on the PK was just six seconds shy of Derek Ryan for tops among the club's forwards.
More often than not, after the Flames cleared the puck down the ice when on the kill, there was Rieder tormenting the Jets defencemen, badgering them and delaying their breakout passes as valuable time clicked off the clock.
"I try to get it in (the zone) as much as I can because on the powerplay they are looking for an easy breakout," said Rieder. "If there's somebody chasing them and making it harder for you to make the simple play out of your own zone it gets teams frustrated and that's what I'm trying to do with my tenacity as much as I can."
Giordano recalls being on the other end of that dance.
"I've played against Rieds for a lot of years and he was always one of the guys I hated to play against most, especially on the powerplay," said Giordano. "He's fast, first of all - one of the fastest guys in the league.
"His ability to read plays and pick off passes is so underrated and I thought yesterday he was a big part of our win, if not the biggest with that short-handed goal and getting all that momentum for us. Even after that, I don't think they had a clean break-in there and a lot of it had to do with Rieds."

Head coach Geoff Ward concurred.
"He's a good penalty-killer," he explained. "I've been fortunate enough to be around Tobi a lot with World Championships with Team Germany and this year coaching him in the NHL. The one thing that makes him really dangerous is his speed. He's able to close places quickly. He's intelligent on the penalty kill. And he's all in. You need that on the penalty-kill."
Rieder and his PK cohorts stymied a Jets attack that was missing powerplay stalwart Mark Scheifele for much of the game, who had left in the first period with an injury.
They were simply relentless throughout the contest.
"We did pretty well, you know," said Rieder. "Everything we wanted to do worked out for us. Obviously they have a lot of firepower, they have a dangerous powerplay but our defenceman were blocking shots, Talbs was great in net, and us forwards, we pressured at the right times to make it hard on them and towards the end you could see they were getting frustrated and that played into our hands as well."
The PK group got into a 'zone' thanks to their hard work and diligent attention at their craft since training camp started, he said.
"For a penalty-kill, it's the same as a powerplay," explained Rieder. "You have good chances or score a goal and you're feeling it and the next time you go out there you're feeling loose and tend to make the right play. That's how it is on the penalty-kill, too. We didn't give up a lot so that boosted our confidence."

Newcomer Derek Forbort also shone on the PK, filling in a spot that Travis Hamonic - who opted out of the post-season - usually patrols.
"Forbs is another one of those guys who does all the little things defensively," said Giordano. "He knows his role on the team and stepped into that defensive, penalty-killing role without a hiccup.
"The one thing he does well is communicates well and makes those little area plays. ... Another guy, you're not going to see him on the scoresheet, offensively, that much, but defensively he's a huge part of our team."
Of course, if Ward and his staff had their way they wouldn't be heaping as many accolades on their penalty-killers - 'cause they wouldn't be skating to the box nearly as often.
That's a big message ahead of Game 2.
"They did a real good job with it," said Ward. " Obviously we don't want to have to kill seven penalties again (today) ... but I liked the way we were able to make a stand at the blueline, pressure when we needed to, take seams away through the box.
"There were things that we were able to do to keep the puck on the outside a little more. The guys, they're full marks for it. In saying that, it's only one game. ... Now it goes back and forth like a chess game. As good as it was (Saturday), it doesn't really matter now. What matters is how good it is (today)."