It’s been a while since the Flames won in a shoot out. They have all the talent but their record on breakaways is pretty dismal.

With the puck on his stick, Johnny Gaudreau made it count, thinking shot first, but ultimately dekeing the pants off of Ben Bishop.

Full shoot out here:

The Flames are still trying to find their game early, which is to be expected. What many are pleasantly surprised with is the play of David Rittich, who’s been stalwart in the first 4 games. He’s already looking like a goalie in mid-season form.

Of course, the talk of the town is how James Neal is leading the league in goals. I think that says more about his character than anything else (and the lack of production when he was with the Flames.) Saw his shift in OT and it was bad. So the tables will even out eventually. Not saying that the Oilers won this trade outright, but he definitely found an opportunity he wasn’t going to here.

Calgary still can’t seem to get their secondary scoring going. Particularly, lines 3-4. There’s some deadweight with players playing for a spot on the roster. I would suspect another dozen games before we swap out the likes of Bennett and Jankowski. Both are underperforming.

Back to back games on the weekend with Vegas and SJ on tap. Look to see Cam Talbot get into his first game for one of them.