The Calgary Flames have 3 different players with 40 goals on the season. Last week, Matthew Tkachuk scored his 40th goal and 100th point on the season against the Stars. Then the next game, Elias Lindholm joined him at the 40-goal mark with his own 40th in the Flames’ win against the Canucks. And now, Johnny Gaudreau completes the hat trick with his 40th goal tonight in Calgary’s 3-2 OT loss to Minnesota:
This is the first time in his career that Gaudreau has scored 40 goals. He once got up to 36 so this is a massive feat for him. He has also has beaten his total points record. Currently, he has 115 points with one game to go and his last record was from the 2018-2019 season when he finished 82 games with 99 points. It has just been a historic season for Johnny. The same goes for their other two 40-goal scorers on the team. Tkachuk has had 34 goals before, I talked about that more here. Lindholm, however, has had up to 29 goals – in a 70-game season and that was the COVID year.
That Carolina/Calgary trade ended up working out phenomenal for Elias. In his first 374 NHL games with Carolina, Lindholm put up 64 goals and 124 assists for 188 points. He was averaging about 17:09 in ice time. Since getting traded to the Flames, Lindholm has played in 288 games but he’s put up 117 goals and 144 assists for 261 points. He is also now averaging 19:54 in ice time. He’s become a core part of this Flames team and the success they have found recently. He, Gaudreau, and Tkachuk just click. Andrew Mangiapane was close to catching them with 35 goals in 81 games. If he ended the season with the pace he started with, the Flames would have had four 40-goal scorers this season. They might not be taking home the Rocket Richard but having three, almost four, 40-goal scorers on your team is a pretty good thing. The Flames have been building themselves into real contenders over the past few seasons. I wonder if this will be their best run yet.
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