Atop Pacific Division, Flames winning in different ways every night

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If the victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday evening where he stopped all 28 shots was, according to Darryl Sutter, a “Jacob Markstrom Statement Game”, what would the coach call the encore, when his goalie stopped 46 of 48 Leaf shots in a convincing 5-2 Calgary performance over the streaking Maple Leafs?

“He played good,” the coach said afterward.

“You’ve got to stop Auston Matthews and John Tavares, it’s not easy.”

While much of the talk this season (for good reason) has been Calgary’s top line of Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm, and Matthew Tkachuk (all of whom are on pace for at least 30 goals and 70 points), the Flames’ goaltending, defensive play, and scoring depth has shone this season, with every game bringing out a different star. Markstrom once again shon versus the Leafs, tying the franchise record for most saves in a regulation home game and bailing out his teammates in the opening period.

The blueline also stepped up in a big way. 

Flames’ defencemen combined for three goals and six points while frustrating Leafs players all game with their active sticks and physicality. Before the game, Darryl Sutter told his defenders to shoot more - and they obliged.

“Sometimes we try to catch guys off-guard a bit,” Hanifin said, of his goal.

“I tried to go back door. Razzy made a great play and thankfully it worked out, but it doesn’t happen all the time…the opportunity was there and we have a lot of confidence to make plays.”

Hanifin joked that had his pinch in the offensive zone not worked, Johnny Gaudreau would have had to defend an odd-man rush.

“It’s nice for us to get on the scoresheet,” Andersson said.

“Overall, we played a really good team game.”

Beyond the scoresheet, both Andersson