Flames bail out goalie with OT win
Rittich’s uncharacteristic gaffe early in third period is forgotten after road rally sinks Flyers
PHILADELPHIA — Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk unloaded a wicked wrist shot, evening the score with just over four minutes remaining in regulation and ultimately forcing overtime.
At the opposite end of the rink, his puck-stopping pal David Rittich unleashed a fist pump.
This is what our friends are for.
You couldn’t have scripted a much more appropriate ending in the City of Brotherly Love — Tkachuk erased the damage done by Rittich’s oopsie and then assisted on the game-winner, too, as the Flames escaped with a 3-2 overtime triumph in Saturday’s afternooner against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center.
Asked if he had any postgame words for Tkachuk, Rittich smiled: “Maybe ‘Thanks bro, I love you,’ or something like that.”
If not for Tkachuk’s heroics, including a sweet feed to TJ Brodie to end the overtime session on a two-on-one rush, Rittich might have been groaning instead of grinning.
The 26-year-old masked man was otherwise sharp in his return from a brief injury absence, but he nearly spoiled it when he gift-wrapped the go-ahead goal on a giveaway early in the third.
Wandering out of his crease to retrieve a puck in the right circle, Rittich was trying to hit Garnet Hathaway with a long breakout pass but instead found the tape of opposing centre Travis Konecny. As the Flames’ starter scrambled back into position, Konecny fired five-hole to boost the Flyers to a 2-1 lead.
Rittich’s buddies weren’t going to let Saturday’s story end that way.
“He’s bailed us out all year,” Tkachuk said. “I mean, I don’t even think we really bailed him out today. He played solid. He’ll tell you he’d probably want that second one back, but that was a great play by their guy. But he’s been great for us all year, so the least we could do is try to help him out one time.
“Even after that goal happens, he made some huge saves,” Tkachuk continued. “Right after that, you could have blinked and it could have been 4-1. But he held the fort and was strong. So it was a big response from him, as well.”
Thanks to their comeback against the Flyers, the Pacific Division-leading Flames improved to 26-13-4 on the season and 2-1 and on this four-game sojourn.
They haven’t suffered backto-back regulation losses since Nov. 11-15.
Saturday’s win wasn’t pretty — a snoozer of an opening period, a lot of incomplete passes, etc. — but they can’t all be beauties.
“That’s a greasy road win is what it is,” said Flames head coach Bill Peters. “It was definitely a grind. I thought the guys did a good job, though, on the bench, staying with it and finding a way. Real good play on the game-tying goal — a great pass by Benny (Sam Bennett), putting it right in the wheelhouse for Chucky. That was outstanding.
“And then another quality pass on the game-winner. Brods has been playing real well here recently, and it’s good to see him get rewarded.”
All-star winger Johnny Gaudreau, raised not far from Philly in Carneys Point, N.J., provided Saturday’s other snipe for the Flames, while defenceman Noah Hanifin contributed a couple of assists.
Rittich, who missed the past two contests due to a lower-body injury, delivered 32 saves.
He was beaten only on a bad bounce — Brodie hit the deck to try to clog the lane on a twoon-one, but Travis Sanheim’s attempted pass glanced off the toe of his skate and rerouted just under the cross-bar, a topshelf boot that Lionel Messi would have been impressed with — and then the brain fart.
That turnover could have been the turning point.
His teammates had other ideas.
“I was pretty happy about that (Tkachuk) goal because I made a mistake that almost cost the game for us,” Rittich said of the late equalizer. “After that goal, I felt like we can make win.”
They did exactly that. Rittich, who has clearly emerged as the go-to goalie for the Flames, improves to 14-4-3 with a 2.31 goals-against average and .921 save percentage.
“Ritter has been unbelievable for us all year,” Hanifin said. “He’s saved us quite a few times throughout this season, so we definitely owe him.”
AROUND THE BOARDS
Brodie’s overtime winner against the Flyers came at the end of a 65-second shift. You couldn’t tell as he hustled up the ice on a two-on-one with Tkachuk. “We call him Iron Lungs,” Hanifin said. “It seemed like he was out there for about two minutes, but got up the ice and finished it off for us.” Across the room, Brodie insisted he was still feeling pretty fresh when Tkachuk started to lug the puck up the ice. “I just sort of looked around for a second and realized that everyone was behind me and I could jump up,” he said after his first game-winner of the campaign. “And it worked out” … After scoring Saturday in what is basically his backyard, Gaudreau now has 11 points during a four-game span.