Three reasons why the Calgary Flames have a nine game win streak

   The Calgary Flames have gone undefeated in their last nine games, putting them second in a very close Pacific division. Calgary fans can thank their goaltending, their forward depth and the confidence that the players have in each other for the Flames success.

1: Goaltending

Brian Elliott has been phenomenal in his last 10 starts, going 9-0-1 with back to back shutouts against the Canadiens (5-0) and the Jets (3-0). In his last 5 games, Elliott has a .971% save percentage and 1.00 goals against average. It’s no wonder the Flames are on fire when their goalie is performing as brilliantly as he is. Surprisingly, Elliott has only played 38 games this season sharing with Chad Johnson the #1 spot. even with his latest performances, Elliott still has a 2.51 goals against average and a .910% save percentage on the year. Despite his latest success, he dug himself quite the hole at the beginning of the season.

2: Forward depth

The First line for the Flames is a huge attribute to their success with 13 points in 5 games and a plus/minus of +8. Matthew Tkachuk, Mikael Backlund and Michael Frolik have lead the Flames through nine straight wins. But, it’s not only the first line getting the job done; the second line has also been putting the puck in the net. Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Michael Ferland have been a huge threat to other teams. While the Flames opponents are working on shutting down the first line, which is a difficult task on its own, the second line have a lot of opportunities to score some goals.

3: Confidence

“It was a pathetic display. No bite back, no kick back. Our top guys didn’t do anything. We needed someone to step up.” -Glen Gulutzan on the Flames performance back in January. Since then, head Coach Gulutzan has had nothing but confidence in his team and how they’re playing. The Calgary Flames are a very energetic group who are very difficult to play against when they score first, since the All-Star break, the Flames are 7-2 when they score first and have averaged about 4 goals a game in their last 9 games. It’s very clear that once the Flames score, their team gets fired up and want more goals, which they can provide with their very impressive offense.

The Calgary Flames faceoff with the Pittsburgh Penguins tomorrow night who are first in the league and have very talented offensive players. Can the Flames defeat Sidney Crosby and the Pens to extend their win streak to 10 games?