Rittich's big win just what the team needed
As the final buzzer sounded on Monday night's win in Toronto, Calgary Flames goaltender David Rittich let out a triumphant, almost guttural scream.
The outburst of emotion was understandable. The Flames badly needed a win after a brutal week that saw plenty of soul-searching around the Saddledome.
It was an important victory for Rittich, too. It had been almost a full calendar year since Rittich was credited with an NHL win, with his last one coming against the Boston Bruins on Feb. 25, 2020.
In the time between wins, Rittich was benched in favour of Cam Talbot in the Edmonton bubble last season and then saw the Flames spend big money bringing in Jacob Markstrom in free agency.
To come in on Monday and knock off the North Division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs was a big deal. To turn away 34 shots and earn a shutout was even bigger.
“I was just happy,” Rittich said. “It was my fourth game that I started (this season) and my first win. Just a happy feeling and I did what I did.”
By all accounts, Rittich has been a model professional since Markstrom has arrived. He's continued to put in the work behind the scenes to make sure he's ready whenever the Flames call upon him.
Now, they may be calling on him a lot.
After Monday's game, Flames head coach Geoff Ward listed Markstrom as day-to-day and said the team would have him re-evaluated. They'd expected him to be available Monday against the Leafs, but found out in the morning that he was out.
“It's something where he's going to be daily for a little bit until we sort of know more,” Ward said of Markstrom.
There's not much use in speculating about how long Markstrom might be out. An “upperbody injury” can mean a lot of things, after all.
But if the starting duties are going to fall to Rittich short term, Monday's performance provides reason for optimism.
All things considered, the way he's played all season suggests he can give the Flames a chance.
It's true Monday's victory was Rittich's first of the season but with the exception of his first start, a 4-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Jan. 28, he's generally been solid in net. He's got a .909 save-percentage — the same as Markstrom — and a 2.36 goalsagainst average. Rittich hasn't just suddenly forgotten how to play, in other words.
“I felt confident in each of my starts,” Rittich said. “I don't really know why I shouldn't be confident. I had a couple tough games but (against) Montreal, Winnipeg, Edmonton, I felt confident, I felt good.”
In Monday's game, Rittich took his play to another level. The Leafs did hit two crossbars, but otherwise Rittich was basically perfect. He became the first Flames goalie to earn a shutout
in Toronto since the organization moved to Calgary from Atlanta.
More importantly, he was also critical in snapping the Flames' three-game losing skid and restoring a little bit of hope around the team and its fans.
“He was feeling it there,” said Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk. “He was confident. He was calm, just everything you want to say about a goalie. Can't say enough great things about him and his play this year, so (I'm) happy he got rewarded tonight.
“He's kept us in every game he's played this year and we just haven't given him much run support. Quite frankly, we've been playing terrible in front of him so we tried to battle hard for him today because he was battling really hard for us.”
Although Markstrom had started the vast majority of the first 15 games of the season, Ward said last week that was partly because of scheduling quirks. With the team essentially playing every second night now, the plan was always for Rittich to get more playing time throughout late-february and March.
Now, he's appeared in four straight games, starting twice and coming in to relieve Markstrom on two other occasions.
The Flames may have to lean on him even more in the coming days, depending on how Markstrom is holding up.
Losing your starting goalie for an extended stretch is never ideal, especially at the start of a road trip that the Flames themselves have admitted could make or break their season. They play the Leafs again Wednesday night and then square off against the Ottawa Senators for four straight games.
Ideally, the Flames can win three or four of those. The Senators are very beatable and another solid 60 minutes against the Leafs would certainly help build a lot of confidence.
If Markstrom makes it back, he'll surely carry most of the load. If he doesn't, Rittich's play this season — and especially Monday — suggests he's ready to give the Flames a fighting chance.