The 7 Best Calgary Flames Stats From Round 1

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Saturday night the Calgary Flames bested the Vancouver Canucks for the final time this season, clinching their opening round series and setting up a second round battle against the Anaheim Ducks. Here are the six best stats from the Calgary Flames opening round series against the Canucks.

1. Stajan’s Clincher

Matt Stajan‘s scored the series clinching goal in Game 6. The 31-year-old center is the first player in franchise history to have his first career playoff goal be a series clincher.

Prior to this series, Stajan has only appeared one playoff series in his 12-year career. That series was in his 2003-04 rookie campaign, playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He only played three games in that series.

2. Clinching Game Rally

The Flames’ clincher was an impressive 7-4 win. They rallied from a three-goal deficit and a separate one-goal deficit to win the game. According to Elias Sports Bureau, the franchise has never won a playoff game this way.

In addition, that was the first time the franchise scored seven or more goals in a playoff game since May 11, 1995 when they beat the San Jose Sharks 9-2.

3. Spreading the Wealth

In that seven-goal outburst in Game 6, Calgary’s top line of Jiri Hudler (4), Sean Monahan (3), and Johnny Gaudreau (3) combined for 10 points.

Overall, six players scored at least three points in the game for the Flames. Matt Stajan (3), David Jones (3), and Michael Ferland (3) also grabbed three. That ties a NHL record for most players on a team to hit at least three points in a playoff game. The mark was set by the Montreal Canadiens in an 11-0 rout of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1944. The 1985 and 1987 Edmonton Oilers also tied that mark with an 11-2 win over Chicago and a 13-3 win over Los Angeles, respectively.

4. A Late Game-Winner

Defenseman Kris Russell scored a go-ahead goal with just 29.6 seconds remaining in Game 1, completing the first Flames comeback of the series. This was the latest go-ahead playoff goal scored in franchise history.

5. Sam Bennett Sets a Record

Sam Bennett had an impressive series, made that much more impressive by the fact that he’d played just one NHL game prior to the start of the postseason and will be a rookie next year.

As the above tweet says, at 18 years, 303 days, Bennett became the second youngest player to score a postseason goal for the franchise. Flames legend Jarome Iginla holds the record there (in addition to many other Flames records).

Bennet’s game-winning goal in Game 3 made him the youngest player to score a postseason game-winner in franchise history. According to Elias, that also made Bennett the youngest player to score a postseason game-winner in regulation ever.

However, three younger players have scored postseason game-winners in overtime. Those players are the Bruins’ Don Gallinger in 1943 (17 years, 339 days), Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon in 2014 (18 years, 237 days), and Patrice Bergeron in 2004 (18 years, 260 days).

6. A 3-1 Series Lead

Bennett scored again in Game 4, helping the Flames grab a 3-1 series lead. That was the first time the franchise has had a 3-1 lead in a series dating back to 1994 in another series against the Vancouver Canucks. Vancouver wound up taking that series after they won three straight overtime matches in Games 5-7.

7. How’s Your Bracket?

More From This Series

  • The 6 Best Minnesota Wild Stats From Round 1
  • The 8 Best Montreal Canadiens Stats From Round 1
  • The 8 Best Chicago Blackhawks Stats From Round 1
  • The 6 Best Anaheim Ducks Stats From Round 1
  • The 7 Best New York Rangers Stats From Round 1



    • Thanks to the NHL and team PR Twitter accounts, as well as Elias Sports Bureau for some of the statistics.