2018–19 Calgary Flames season

The 2018–19 Calgary Flames season was the Flames' 39th season in Calgary, and the 47th for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 6, 1972.^[2]

2018–19 Calgary Flames
Pacific Division champions
Division	1st Pacific
Conference	1st Western
2018–19 record	50–25–7
Home record	26–10–5
Road record	24–15–2
Goals for	289
Goals against	227
Team information
General manager	Brad Treliving
Coach	Bill Peters
Captain	Mark Giordano
Alternate captains	Mikael Backlund Sean Monahan Matthew Tkachuk
Arena	Scotiabank Saddledome
Average attendance	18,501[1]
Minor league affiliate(s)	Stockton Heat (AHL) Kansas City Mavericks (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Johnny Gaudreau (36)
Assists	Johnny Gaudreau (63)
Points	Johnny Gaudreau (99)
Penalty minutes	Sam Bennett (93)
Plus/minus	Mark Giordano (+39)
Wins	David Rittich (27)
Goals against average	David Rittich (2.61)
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

The Flames clinched a playoff spot on March 17, 2019, when the Minnesota Wild lost to the New York Islanders.^[3] On March 31, the team won its first division title since the 2005–06 season,^[4] and clinched the best record in what is now the Western Conference for the first time since the 1989–90 season.^[5] They also finished with 50 wins and 107 points, in both cases trailing only the 1989 Stanley Cup champions. The Flames faced the Colorado Avalanche in the first round, losing in five games.

Standings

Pacific Division

Pos	Team v t e	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	z – Calgary Flames	82	50	25	7	50	289	227	+62	107
2	x – San Jose Sharks	82	46	27	9	46	289	261	+28	101
3	x – Vegas Golden Knights	82	43	32	7	40	249	230	+19	93
4	Arizona Coyotes	82	39	35	8	35	213	223	−10	86
5	Vancouver Canucks	82	35	36	11	29	225	254	−29	81
6	Anaheim Ducks	82	35	37	10	32	199	251	−52	80
7	Edmonton Oilers	82	35	38	9	32	232	274	−42	79
8	Los Angeles Kings	82	31	42	9	28	202	263	−61	71

Source: National Hockey League^[6]
x – Clinched playoff spot; z – Clinched conference

Schedule and results

Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 14, 2018.^[7]

2018 preseason game log: 4–3–3 (Home: 2–1–2; Road: 2–2–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1[a]	September 15	Boston	4–3	Calgary	SO	Gillies	–	0–0–1	[8]
2	September 17	Edmonton	7–4	Calgary		Rittich	17,311	0–1–1	[9]
3[A][b]	September 19	Calgary	1–3	Boston		Smith	–	0–2–1	[10]
4[A]	September 19	Calgary	4–1	Vancouver		Rittich	15,371	1–2–1	[11]
5	September 21	Calgary	3–4	Winnipeg	OT	Glass	15,321	1–2–2	[12]
6	September 22	Vancouver	2–5	Calgary		Gillies	17,746	2–2–2	[13]
7	September 24	Winnipeg	5–4	Calgary	OT	Smith	17,207	2–2–3	[14]
8	September 25	San Jose	5–7	Calgary		Gillies	17,584	3–2–3	[15]
9	September 27	Calgary	4–3	San Jose		Smith	13,999	4–2–3	[16]
10	September 29	Calgary	3–4	Edmonton		Smith	18,347	4–3–3	[17]
Notes: A Indicates split-squad. a Game was played at Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre in Shenzhen, China. b Game was played at Cadillac Arena in Beijing, China.

Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on June 21, 2018.

2018–19 game log
October: 7–5–1 (Home: 2–2–1; Road: 5–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 3 Calgary 2–5 Vancouver Smith 18,870 0–1–0 0 [18] 2 October 6 Vancouver 4–7 Calgary Smith 18,688 1–1–0 2 [19] 3 October 9 Calgary 3–0 Nashville Smith 17,209 2–1–0 4 [20] 4 October 11 Calgary 3–5 St. Louis Smith 16,403 2–2–0 4 [21] 5 October 13 Calgary 3–2 Colorado OT Rittich 17,334 3–2–0 6 [22] 6 October 17 Boston 2–5 Calgary Smith 17,641 4–2–0 8 [23] 7 October 19 Nashville 5–3 Calgary Smith 18,725 4–3–0 8 [24] 8 October 21 Calgary 4–1 NY Rangers Rittich 17,404 5–3–0 10 [25] 9 October 23 Calgary 2–3 Montreal Rittich 21,028 5–4–0 10 [26] 10 October 25 Pittsburgh 9–1 Calgary Smith 18,834 5–5–0 10 [27] 11 October 27 Washington 4–3 Calgary SO Smith 17,832 5–5–1 11 [28] 12 October 29 Calgary 3–1 Toronto Smith 18,989 6–5–1 13 [29] 13 October 30 Calgary 2–1 Buffalo OT Rittich 15,196 7–5–1 15 [30]
November: 8–4–1 (Home: 6–1–1; Road: 2–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 14 November 1 Colorado 5–6 Calgary Smith 17,317 8–5–1 17 [31] 15 November 3 Chicago 3–5 Calgary Rittich 18,143 9–5–1 19 [32] 16 November 7 Calgary 2–3 Anaheim Smith 16,461 9–6–1 19 [33] 17 November 10 Calgary 1–0 Los Angeles Rittich 18,230 10–6–1 21 [34] 18 November 11 Calgary 1–3 San Jose Smith 17,562 10–7–1 21 [35] 19 November 15 Montreal 3–2 Calgary Smith 18,443 10–8–1 21 [36] 20 November 17 Edmonton 2–4 Calgary Rittich 19,289 11–8–1 23 [37] 21 November 19 Vegas 2–7 Calgary Rittich 17,635 12–8–1 25 [38] 22 November 21 Winnipeg 3–6 Calgary Rittich 17,661 13–8–1 27 [39] 23 November 23 Calgary 0–2 Vegas Rittich 18,206 13–9–1 27 [40] 24 November 25 Calgary 6–1 Arizona Smith 12,821 14–9–1 29 [41] 25 November 28 Dallas 4–3 Calgary OT Rittich 17,676 14–9–2 30 [42] 26 November 30 Los Angeles 1–4 Calgary Smith 17,989 15–9–2 32 [43]
December: 9–3–2 (Home: 4–1–2; Road: 5–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 27 December 2 Calgary 3–2 Chicago Smith 21,704 16–9–2 34 [44] 28 December 4 Calgary 9–6 Columbus Smith 14,885 17–9–2 36 [45] 29 December 6 Minnesota 0–2 Calgary Smith 17,690 18–9–2 38 [46] 30 December 8 Nashville 2–5 Calgary Smith 17,717 19–9–2 40 [47] 31 December 9 Calgary 0–1 Edmonton Rittich 18,347 19–10–2 40 [48] 32 December 12 Philadelphia 5–6 Calgary OT Rittich 17,763 20–10–2 42 [49] 33 December 15 Calgary 2–1 Minnesota Rittich 18,882 21–10–2 44 [50] 34 December 16 Calgary 7–2 St. Louis Rittich 17,064 22–10–2 46 [51] 35 December 18 Calgary 0–2 Dallas Rittich 18,127 22–11–2 46 [52] 36 December 20 Tampa Bay 5–4 Calgary SO Rittich 19,289 22–11–3 47 [53] 37 December 22 St. Louis 3–1 Calgary Smith 18,683 22–12–3 47 [54] 38 December 27 Calgary 4–1 Winnipeg Rittich 15,321 23–12–3 49 [55] 39 December 29 Vancouver 3–2 Calgary OT Rittich 19,289 23–12–4 50 [56] 40 December 31 San Jose 5–8 Calgary Rittich 19,289 24–12–4 52 [57]
January: 9–1–1 (Home: 5–0–1; Road: 4–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 41 January 2 Calgary 5–3 Detroit Smith 19,515 25–12–4 54 [58] 42 January 3 Calgary 4–6 Boston Smith 17,565 25–13–4 54 [59] 43 January 5 Calgary 3–2 Philadelphia OT Rittich 19,236 26–13–4 56 [60] 44 January 7 Calgary 4–3 Chicago Rittich 21,036 27–13–4 58 [61] 45 January 9 Colorado 3–5 Calgary Rittich 18,220 28–13–4 60 [62] 46 January 11 Florida 3–4 Calgary Rittich 18,579 29–13–4 62 [63] 47 January 13 Arizona 1–7 Calgary Smith 17,849 30–13–4 64 [64] 48 January 16 Buffalo 4–3 Calgary OT Rittich 18,286 30–13–5 65 [65] 49 January 18 Detroit 4–6 Calgary Smith 19,289 31–13–5 67 [66] 50 January 19 Calgary 5–2 Edmonton Rittich 18,347 32–13–5 69 [67] 51 January 22 Carolina 2–3 Calgary OT Rittich 18,508 33–13–5 71 [68] January 24–27 All-Star Break in San Jose, California
February: 8–3–2 (Home: 3–1–0; Road: 5–2–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 52 February 1 Calgary 3–4 Washington Smith 18,506 33–14–5 71 [69] 53 February 3 Calgary 4–3 Carolina Rittich 12,621 34–14–5 73 [70] 54 February 7 San Jose 5–2 Calgary Smith 18,748 34–15–5 73 [71] 55 February 9 Calgary 3–4 Vancouver SO Rittich 18,410 34–15–6 74 [72] 56 February 12 Calgary 3–6 Tampa Bay Rittich 19,092 34–16–6 74 [73] 57 February 14 Calgary 2–3 Florida SO Smith 10,198 34–16–7 75 [74] 58 February 16 Calgary 5–4 Pittsburgh Smith 18,667 35–16–7 77 [75] 59 February 18 Arizona 2–5 Calgary Smith 18,985 36–16–7 79 [76] 60 February 20 NY Islanders 2–4 Calgary Smith 18,632 37–16–7 81 [77] 61 February 22 Anaheim 1–2 Calgary Smith 18,960 38–16–7 83 [78] 62 February 24 Calgary 2–1 Ottawa Rittich 13,160 39–16–7 85 [79] 63 February 26 Calgary 3–1 NY Islanders Smith 13,097 40–16–7 87 [80] 64 February 27 Calgary 2–1 New Jersey Rittich 12,019 41–16–7 89 [81]
March: 8–7–0 (Home: 6–4–0; Road: 2–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 65 March 2 Minnesota 4–2 Calgary Smith 19,289 41–17–7 89 [82] 66 March 4 Toronto 6–2 Calgary Rittich 19,289 41–18–7 89 [83] 67 March 6 Calgary 1–2 Vegas Rittich 18,422 41–19–7 89 [84] 68 March 7 Calgary 0–2 Arizona Smith 13,341 41–20–7 89 [85] 69 March 10 Vegas 3–6 Calgary Rittich 19,086 42–20–7 91 [86] 70 March 12 New Jersey 4–9 Calgary Rittich 18,529 43–20–7 93 [87] 71 March 15 NY Rangers 1–5 Calgary Rittich 18,956 44–20–7 95 [88] 72 March 16 Calgary 1–2 Winnipeg Smith 15,321 44–21–7 95 [89] 73 March 19 Columbus 2–4 Calgary Rittich 18,288 45–21–7 97 [90] 74 March 21 Ottawa 1–5 Calgary Smith 18,793 46–21–7 99 [91] 75 March 23 Calgary 3–1 Vancouver Smith 18,685 47–21–7 101 [92] 76 March 25 Los Angeles 3–0 Calgary Smith 18,471 47–22–7 101 [93] 77 March 27 Dallas 2–1 Calgary Rittich 18,881 47–23–7 101 [94] 78 March 29 Anaheim 1–6 Calgary Smith 19,030 48–23–7 103 [95] 79 March 31 Calgary 5–3 San Jose Smith 17,313 49–23–7 105 [96]
April: 1–2–0 (Home: 0–1–0; Road: 1–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 80 April 1 Calgary 7–2 Los Angeles Rittich 18,117 50–23–7 107 [97] 81 April 3 Calgary 1–3 Anaheim Rittich 17,174 50–24–7 107 [98] 82 April 6 Edmonton 3–1 Calgary Smith 19,289 50–25–7 107 [99]
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

Main article: 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs

The Flames faced the Colorado Avalanche in the First Round of the playoffs.^[100] and were defeated in five games.^[101]

2019 Stanley Cup playoffs
Western Conference First Round vs. (WC2) Colorado Avalanche: Colorado won 4–1 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 April 11 Colorado 0–4 Calgary Smith 19,289 1–0 [102] 2 April 13 Colorado 3–2 Calgary OT Smith 19,289 1–1 [103] 3 April 15 Calgary 2–6 Colorado Smith 18,098 1–2 [104] 4 April 17 Calgary 2–3 Colorado OT Smith 18,102 1–3 [105] 5 April 19 Colorado 5–1 Calgary Smith 19,289 1–4 [106]
Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

As of April 19, 2019^[107]

Skaters

Regular season[108] Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Johnny Gaudreau 82 36 63 99 18 24 Sean Monahan 78 34 48 82 7 12 Elias Lindholm 81 27 51 78 30 20 Matthew Tkachuk 80 34 43 77 14 62 Mark Giordano 78 17 57 74 39 69 Mikael Backlund 77 21 26 47 34 52 Derek Ryan 81 13 25 38 21 24 Michael Frolik 65 16 18 34 24 26 T. J. Brodie 79 9 25 34 29 24 Noah Hanifin 80 5 28 33 18 12 Mark Jankowski 79 14 18 32 6 12 Sam Bennett 71 13 14 27 −6 93 Garnet Hathaway 76 11 8 19 14 56 James Neal 63 7 12 19 −5 28 Travis Hamonic 69 7 12 19 21 33 Rasmus Andersson 79 2 17 19 17 23 Austin Czarnik 54 6 12 18 −1 8 Andrew Mangiapane 44 8 5 13 11 12 Oliver Kylington 38 3 5 8 3 10 Alan Quine 13 3 2 5 0 6 Dillon Dube 25 1 4 5 2 4 Michael Stone 14 0 5 5 0 10 Juuso Valimaki 24 1 2 3 −2 12 Dalton Prout 20 1 1 2 1 8 Oscar Fantenberg† 15 0 1 1 5 7 Anthony Peluso 4 0 0 0 −1 7 Ryan Lomberg 4 0 0 0 0 17 Curtis Lazar 1 0 0 0 −1 0 Kerby Rychel 2 0 0 0 −1 0

Playoffs[109] Player GP G A Pts +/- PIM Sam Bennett 5 1 4 5 0 16 Matthew Tkachuk 5 2 1 3 −4 18 Rasmus Andersson 5 1 2 3 −1 2 Mikael Backlund 5 1 2 3 −5 8 T. J. Brodie 5 2 0 2 −1 6 Sean Monahan 5 1 1 2 1 0 Elias Lindholm 5 1 1 2 −5 4 Mark Giordano 5 0 2 2 −3 0 Derek Ryan 5 1 0 1 1 2 Andrew Mangiapane 5 1 0 1 1 0 Johnny Gaudreau 5 0 1 1 −2 2 Juuso Välimäki 2 0 1 1 1 0 Noah Hanifin 5 0 1 1 −3 4 James Neal 4 0 0 0 −3 0 Austin Czarnik 1 0 0 0 −1 0 Mark Jankowski 5 0 0 0 −2 0 Travis Hamonic 5 0 0 0 −4 2 Garnet Hathaway 5 0 0 0 0 14 Michael Frolik 5 0 0 0 −1 2 Oscar Fantenberg 3 0 0 0 1 6

Goaltenders

Regular season^[110]

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
David Rittich	45	42	2,503:20	27	9	5	109	2.61	1,228	.911	1	0	0	4
Mike Smith	42	40	2,400:19	23	16	2	109	2.72	1,069	.898	2	0	3	2

Playoffs^[111]

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Mike Smith	5	5	318:32	1	4	17	3.20	205	.917	1	0	1	4

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Flames. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.
^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Transactions

Player signings

Date	Player	Contract term	Ref
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	Dalton Prout	1-year	[112]
July 15, 2018 (2018-07-15)	Morgan Klimchuk	1-year	[113]
July 16, 2018 (2018-07-16)	Elias Lindholm	6-year	[114]
July 17, 2018 (2018-07-17)	Jon Gillies	2-years	[115]
July 25, 2018 (2018-07-25)	Mark Jankowski	2-year	[116]
July 25, 2018 (2018-07-25)	Brett Kulak	1-year	[117]
July 26, 2018 (2018-07-26)	David Rittich	1-year	[118]
July 30, 2018 (2018-07-30)	Garnet Hathaway	1-year	[119]
August 20, 2018 (2018-08-20)	Kerby Rychel	1-year	[120]
August 30, 2018 (2018-08-30)	Noah Hanifin	6-year	[121]
March 30, 2019 (2019-03-30)	Dmitri Zavgorodny	3-year	[122]
April 12, 2019 (2019-04-12)	Adam Ruzicka	3-year	[123]
April 20, 2019 (2019-04-20)	Martin Pospisil	3-year	[124]
June 13, 2019 (2019-06-13)	Eetu Tuulola	3-year	[125]

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 5, 2018 (2018-06-05)	To Montreal Canadiens 4th-round pick in 2019	To Calgary Flames WPG's 4th-round pick in 2018	[126]
June 23, 2018 (2018-06-23)	To Carolina Hurricanes Dougie Hamilton Micheal Ferland Adam Fox	To Calgary Flames Noah Hanifin Elias Lindholm	[127]
August 20, 2018 (2018-08-20)	To Montreal Canadiens Hunter Shinkaruk	To Calgary Flames Kerby Rychel	[128]
October 1, 2018 (2018-10-01)	To Montreal Canadiens Brett Kulak	To Calgary Flames Matt Taormina Rinat Valiev	[129]
November 27, 2018 (2018-11-27)	To Toronto Maple Leafs Morgan Klimchuk	To Calgary Flames Andrew Nielsen	[130]
February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25)	To Los Angeles Kings 4th-round pick in 2020	To Calgary Flames Oscar Fantenberg	[131]

Additions and subtractions

Additions Player Former team Via Austin Czarnik Boston Bruins Free agency[112] Tyler Graovac Washington Capitals Free agency[132] Alan Quine New York Islanders Free agency[132] Derek Ryan Carolina Hurricanes Free agency[112] James Neal Vegas Golden Knights Free agency[133] Buddy Robinson Winnipeg Jets Free agency[134] Anthony Peluso Washington Capitals Free agency[135] Luke Philp Alberta Golden Bears (U Sports) Free agency[136] Artyom Zagidulin Metallurg Magnitogorsk (KHL) Free agency[137] Carl-Johan Lerby Malmö Redhawks (SHL) Free agency[138] Alexander Yelesin Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (KHL) Free agency[139]

Subtractions Player New team Via Daniel Pribyl Sparta Praha (ELH) Free agency[140] Matt Bartkowski Minnesota Wild Free agency[141] Cody Goloubef Boston Bruins Free agency[142] Marek Hrivik Vityaz Podolsk (KHL) Free agency[143] Tyler Wotherspoon St. Louis Blues Free agency[144] Austin Carroll Utah Grizzlies (ECHL) Free agency[145] Troy Brouwer Florida Panthers Released[146][147] Matt Stajan Red Bull München (DEL) Free agency[148] Tanner Glass Boxers de Bordeaux (Ligue Magnus) Free agency[149] Kris Versteeg Avangard Omsk (KHL) Free agency[150] Nick Shore Metallurg Magnitogorsk (KHL) Free agency[151] Yasin Ehliz Red Bull München (DEL) Released[152][153] Marcus Hogstrom Djurgårdens IF (SHL) Free agency[154]

Draft picks

See also: List of Calgary Flames draft picks

Below are the Calgary Flames' selections at the 2018 NHL entry draft, which was held on June 22 and 23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
4	105	Martin Pospisil	C	Slovakia	Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)
4	1081	Demetrios Koumontzis	LW	United States	Edina High School (USHS)
4	1222	Milos Roman	C	Slovakia	Vancouver Giants (WHL)
6	167	Mathias Emilio Pettersen	C	Norway	Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)
7	198	Dmitri Zavgorodny	LW	Russia	Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL)

Notes:

1. The Florida Panthers' fourth-round pick went to the Calgary Flames as the result of a trade on February 27, 2016, that sent Jiri Hudler to Florida in exchange for a second-round pick in 2016 and this pick.^[155]
2. The Winnipeg Jets' fourth-round pick went to the Calgary Flames as the result of a trade on June 23, 2018, that sent a fourth-round pick in 2019 to Montreal in exchange for this pick.^[126]