Of all the jubilant Calgary Flames mobbing T.J. Brodie, no one hugged the team’s latest hero tighter than David Rittich.
After all, for a good chunk of the third period Rittich stewed in the possibility he might have cost his team the game against lowly Philadelphia.
It was a cruel reality given he had previously kept his team in the contest most of the afternoon.
Alas, true to form, the Flames erased the 2-1 deficit created when Rittich’s stickhandling gaffe early in the third period gave Travis Konecny an easy goal.
With four minutes remaining Matthew Tkachuk snapped home the game-tying goal, setting up Brodie’s overtime winner.
And just like that, Big Save Dave was off the hook, the Flames were back in the win column and the team’s league lead in third-period comebacks was extended to eight.
The relief shown on the faces of Johnny Gaudreau’s family in the stands when it was all said and done mirrored the fist-pumps locals sported when hearing Rittich was back in the lineup.
After missing two games to a lower body injury, Rittich was sensational stopping 24 of 25 shots in the first two periods against a surprisingly game Flyers bunch.
Rittich was key in stopping three of the host’s four power plays in the first two frames, further reinforcing fans’ belief the second-year stopper is for real.
For certain, he’s this team’s starter, a point hammered home by incessant calls for the team to upgrade its backup following Mike Smith’s latest shaky start in Boston.
As well as things have gone for so many Flames players this year, the team’s surge to the top of the Western Conference wouldn’t have been possible without the emergence of Rittich as one of the loop’s most effective stoppers.
His record now jumps to 14-4-3 with a goals-against average hovering around 2.35 and a save percentage over .920
He was clearly the game’s first star.
Again.
His confidence level has extended to his ability to play the puck – something he’s been bolder with, likely thanks to watching Smith as the world’s very best.
But six minutes into the final period, Rittich came out of his crease considerably to play the puck, but failed to get all of it, sending his pass right onto the stick of Konecny.
The Flyers forward took a step in from the Flames blue line and shot the puck the through the legs of a scrambling Rittich to put the hosts up 2-1.
Motivated heavily by a fear of letting his teammates down, Rittich dug deep while his teammates dug deeper.
Every player in that room wanted to bail Rittich out, as he’s done for them so often.
More takeaways from Philly:
BENCH HONOURS FOR PETERS
First-year Flames coach Bill Peters probably doesn’t get enough credit for the job he’s done turning the team around.
He got some much-deserved love Saturday when he was named coach of Team Pacific at the All-Star Game later this month by virtue of the Flames’ first-place standing.
Peters has brought more of an edge to the gig previously held by Glen Gulutzan, demanding more of the players in terms of accountability.
There’s no cheating in the defensive zone – a notion the players bought into early.
He was the one who saw the fit with Elias Lindholm on the top line, using the winger’s faceoff prowess to the team’s advantage on his strong side.
He’s avoided the inherent pressure to use James Neal in a top-six role, despite the $5.75-million price tag the free agent signing came with this summer. Peters would certainly love to help Neal find his game, but given how well things are going on the top two lines the impetus isn’t there to do anything radical.
His penchant for making quick adjustments during games has helped the team with several comebacks.
He’s pushing the right buttons.
[relatedlinks]
What is clear now is that the Flames have had the horses for a while to be a special team – it just needed a conductor to get them all playing together.
Peter has been that guy, proving GM Brad Treliving right when he made the tough call to fire Gulutzan last summer and bringing in the only person he interviewed.
He felt Peters was the right man to bring about more accountability and tap into the talents of a team now showing what it’s truly capable of.
The native of Three Hills, Alta., said the honour was a feather in the cap of the organization.
He becomes just the second Flames coach to be so-honoured, as Terry Crisp coached the Western Conference in 1990 as a result of winning the Stanley Cup in 1989.
THIS & THAT
• Gaudreau, a native of nearby New Jersey, grew up a Flyers fan and has long been open about how special it is to play there. His 24th goal of the year tied the game in the second period and gave him his 11th point in his last four games. His parents loved every minute of it. The Flames are now 15-1-2 when Gaudreau scores.
• You have to wonder if the league will get involved as Dale Weise was caught on camera squirting water on Tkachuk from the bench as the Flame skated by. Um, while funny for viewers, you can’t do that.
• These two teams have created quite the magic for viewers, as both games this year were finished in dramatic fashion. This one didn’t have the excitement of their previous meeting when Sean Monahan tied it with seven seconds left, before Gaudreau won it in overtime. But it was an entertaining finish once again.
• Brodie’s goal was his fifth and came on a 2-on-1 with Tkachuk in which the tired defender skated as hard as he could to join the play before making no mistake with his conversion past Carter Hart. He is every bit as good as he was two years ago when the slick-skating veteran previously played alongside Mark Giordano. Knocked for several years for his defensive play, he’s amongst league-leaders at plus-20.
• Flames wrap up their four-game roadie in Chicago Monday.
