Calgary Flames Are The Best Western Team In December So Far

The Calgary Flames started their season losing 11 of the first 16 games. They’ve now climbed their way up the standings to a playoff spot and they’re perfect in December.

The Calgary Flames started the season being one of the worst teams in the league. After going 5-10-1 through their first 16 games, it’s hard not to be one of the worst. However, they’ve completely turned their season around and they’re now in a playoff spot. They’re also perfect in December, being 5-0-0. They’re the only Western conference team to have perfect December stats and only one of four teams in the league.

So what are some of the factors for their recent success? Let’s find out!

They’re Scoring More

From the start of their season until the end of November, the Calgary Flames could not find the back of the net that easily. They had a goal differential of -17 and had just 59 goals in 26 games, averaging just 2.27 g/gp. I will say that the second half of November looked much better, but based on how their season started, it wasn’t good enough.

Now in December, they have a goal differential of +11 and have 20 goals in five games, averaging 4.0 g/gp. They do still have a goal differential of -5, but if they keep up the way they’ve been playing, they’ll get those numbers up in no time.

Special Teams

I think I mention the Calgary Flames’ special teams at least once a day in my day-to-day life. Again in December, it’s looking much better. From the start of the season until the end of November, they were dead last in the league on the power-play with 10.1%. They only had eight PPG on 79 PP opportunities. Now in December, they’re second in the league with 38.9% and have seven PPG on just 18 PP opportunities. They’ve also scored at least one PPG in their last four straight games.

Now on the year, I mean it’s not incredible by any means, but they’re now 21st on the PP with 15.5%. Last season, it was at 17.0% meaning if they keep this up, they’ll beat that in no time.

Their penalty kill also has a similar look to it. From the start of the season until the end of November, their PK was third last in the league with 77.3%. They allowed 22 PPGA on 97 times short-handed.

Now in December, they’re seventh with 87.5% PK. They’ve allowed just two goals on 16 times short-handed. Now on the year, they’re 25th on the PK and have 78.8%, compared to last year where they had 75.5% and were last in the league. I’d also like to note that they’re leading the league in short-handed goals with six of them.

Oct 10, 2015; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Calgary Flames forward Sean Monahan (23) celebrates his goal with defenseman Mark Giordano (5) and forward Johnny Gaudreau (13) against Vancouver Canucks goaltender Ryan Miller (30) (not pictured) during the third period at Rogers Arena. The Calgary Flames won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

The Top Guys Are Finally Performing

When the season started, some of the Calgary Flames weren’t performing up to their expectations or their paychecks. A couple of the highest paid players on the team, Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan, were not playing like they’re worth $6 million.

But lately, they have been some of the key players contributing to the Flames recent success. I will say though, Gaudreau did start to get his game back in November, but he unfortunately got injured and missed ten games. However in December, they are definitely stepping up.

Let’s look at Sean Monahan first. He had just 10 points goals in 26 games, only one power play point, and a +/- of -8. Now in December, he has seven points in five games, four PPP, and a +/- of 1. He’s also on a seven-game point streak where he has four goals and five assists through that span. This is after going pointless in eight of his previous nine games.

Now let’s look at Mr. Johnny Hockey™ (I don’t want to get sued). He did start to get his game up the few games leading up to his injury. But of course, he gets injured and missed the entire second half of November. Nonetheless, since the start of the season until his injury on November 15th, he had 11 points in 17 games, two PPP, and a -10 rating. Since he came back from his injury on December fourth, he’s played four games and has multi-point games in each game. He has eight points in four games, a +5 rating, and three PPP. He’s also leading the team in points with 19, even with missing ten games.

I’d like to also give an honorary mention to Dougie Hamilton who, from the start of the season until end of November, had just 12 points in 26 games. And only two of those points were goals. He also had a -2 rating. Now in December, he has five points in five games and four of those are goals. Two of those goals were game-winning goals as well and one came in OT. He’s also now tied in second for points on the Flames. In the league, he’s tied for 12th for points among defensemen and tied for seventh in goals with six of them. Definitely a contributing factor for the Flames success as of late.

Goaltending

I will say that the goaltending through most of November was pretty solid. When the season started, both Brian Elliott and Chad Johnson struggled to find their games. However, thankfully Johnson picked his game up fairly quickly. Meanwhile, Elliott has been decent, but the Calgary Flames still seem to turn to Johnson almost every night.

But how could you not? He has now won six consecutive starts. Where the last Calgary goaltender to pull that off was Miikka Kiprusoff in 2008. On the year, he has three shutouts which all came in an eight-game span.

Since his first shutout of the season on November 15th, he has the best sv% (0.946) and the second best GAA (1.61) of goalies who have played at least eight games. He also has the most amount of shutouts (3), has the most amount of wins (11), and has spent the second most amount of time on ice. Even though he’s playing a lot of games, he’s doing a damn good job at keeping up the pace.

The Calgary Flames may be in a playoff position right now. But they could easily fall out. As long as they stay consistent with how this month has been, they will go into the New Year feeling as confident as ever.