Puckstopshere Kukla's Korner
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Calgary Leads The Pacific Divison
It is interesting to notice that the Calgary Flames are in first place in the Pacific Division right now. They have a record of 16-15 with two regulation tie points for 34 points. They have played more games than San Jose, Anaheim and Edmonton who are all one point behind the Flames. Thus their lead in the division is precarious.
Calgary got off to a slow start. The main reason they improved is an improvement in goaltending. Brian Elliott was brought in in the off-season from St Louis to improve their goaltending. He had produced some strong numbers in St Louis after some struggles in Ottawa. He is back to struggling. He has a .885 saves percentage and a 3.31 goals against average so far this year. Likely those numbers will improve with time, but it is a reasonable question to ask how much of his success in St Louis came from the Blues defensive system and can he succeed without it. Chad Johnson has taken over as the Flames goaltender. He is new to the team having been acquired from Buffalo. He has great numbers so far this year. He has a .932 saves percentage and a 1.98 goals against average.
Johnny Gaudreau is back from injury and has two points per game in his return. He is the best offensive player on the Calgary Flames.
Calgary is a much improved team as long as their goaltending holds up. They are a probable playoff team, but their odds of keeping first place in the division are low.