2019–20 Calgary Flames season

The 2019–20 Calgary Flames season was the Flames' 40th season in Calgary, and the 48th for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 6, 1972.^[2] The Flames entered the season as the defending Pacific Division champions.

2019–20 Calgary Flames
Division	4th Pacific
Conference	8th Western
2019–20 record	36–27–7
Home record	16–13–4
Road record	20–14–3
Goals for	210
Goals against	215
Team information
General manager	Brad Treliving
Coach	Bill Peters (Oct. 3 – Nov. 29) Geoff Ward (interim, Nov. 29 – Aug. 20)
Captain	Mark Giordano
Alternate captains	Mikael Backlund Sean Monahan Matthew Tkachuk
Arena	Scotiabank Saddledome
Average attendance	18,751[1]
Minor league affiliate(s)	Stockton Heat (AHL) Kansas City Mavericks (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Elias Lindholm (29)
Assists	Johnny Gaudreau (40)
Points	Matthew Tkachuk (61)
Penalty minutes	Matthew Tkachuk (74)
Plus/minus	Derek Ryan (+9)
Wins	David Rittich (24)
Goals against average	Cam Talbot (2.63)
← 2018–19 2020–21 →

The season was suspended by the league officials on March 12, 2020, after several other professional and collegiate sports organizations followed suit as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.^[3][4] On May 26, the NHL regular season was officially declared over with the remaining games being cancelled.^[5] The Flames advanced to the playoffs and defeated the Winnipeg Jets in the qualifying round in four games, but were defeated in the first round by the Dallas Stars in six games.^[6]

Standings

Divisional standings

Pacific Division

Pos	Team v t e	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Vegas Golden Knights	71	39	24	8	30	227	211	+16	86
2	Edmonton Oilers	71	37	25	9	31	225	217	+8	83
3	Calgary Flames	70	36	27	7	25	210	215	−5	79
4	Vancouver Canucks	69	36	27	6	27	228	217	+11	78
5	Arizona Coyotes	70	33	29	8	26	195	187	+8	74
6	Anaheim Ducks	71	29	33	9	20	187	226	−39	67
7	Los Angeles Kings	70	29	35	6	21	178	212	−34	64
8	San Jose Sharks	70	29	36	5	22	182	226	−44	63

Source: National Hockey League^[7]

Western Conference

Pos	Team v t e	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	PCT	Qualification
1	St. Louis Blues	71	42	19	10	33	225	193	+32	.662	Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament[8]
2	Colorado Avalanche	70	42	20	8	37	237	191	+46	.657
3	Vegas Golden Knights	71	39	24	8	30	227	211	+16	.606
4	Dallas Stars	69	37	24	8	26	180	177	+3	.594
5	Edmonton Oilers	71	37	25	9	31	225	217	+8	.585	Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round[8]
6	Nashville Predators	69	35	26	8	28	215	217	−2	.565
7	Vancouver Canucks	69	36	27	6	27	228	217	+11	.565
8	Calgary Flames	70	36	27	7	25	210	215	−5	.564
9	Winnipeg Jets	71	37	28	6	30	216	203	+13	.563
10	Minnesota Wild	69	35	27	7	30	220	220	0	.558
11	Arizona Coyotes	70	33	29	8	26	195	187	+8	.529
12	Chicago Blackhawks	70	32	30	8	23	212	218	−6	.514
13	Anaheim Ducks	71	29	33	9	20	187	226	−39	.472
14	Los Angeles Kings	70	29	35	6	21	178	212	−34	.457
15	San Jose Sharks	70	29	36	5	22	182	226	−44	.450

Source: National Hockey League^[9]

Tiebreaking procedures

1. Fewer number of games played (only used during regular season).
2. Greater number of regulation wins (denoted by RW).
3. Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime (excluding shootout wins; denoted by ROW).
4. Greater number of total wins (including shootouts).
5. Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded.
6. Greater goal differential (difference between goals for and goals against).
7. Greater number of goals scored (denoted by GF).

Schedule and results

Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 18, 2019.^[10]

2019 preseason game log: 4–3–1 (Home: 3–0–1; Road: 1–3–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1[A]	September 16	Vancouver	3–2	Calgary	OT	Talbot	17,465	0–0–1	[11]
2[A][a]	September 16	Calgary	4–3	Vancouver		Parsons	7,006	1–0–1	[12]
3	September 18	San Jose	4–6	Calgary		Gillies	17,348	2–0–1	[13]
4	September 20	Calgary	2–6	Edmonton		Gillies	17,592	2–1–1	[14]
5	September 22	Calgary	1–4	Winnipeg		Talbot	15,325	2–2–1	[15]
6	September 24	Winnipeg	0–2	Calgary		Rittich	—	3–2–1	[16]
7	September 26	Calgary	1–4	San Jose		Zagidulin	12,433	3–3–1	[17]
8	September 28	Edmonton	2–3	Calgary		Rittich	18,896	4–3–1	[18]
Notes: A Indicates split-squad. a Game was played at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria, British Columbia

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on June 25, 2019.^[19]

2019–20 game log
October: 7–6–2 (Home: 4–1–1; Road: 3–5–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 3 Calgary 3–5 Colorado Rittich 18,016 0–1–0 0 [20] 2 October 5 Vancouver 0–3 Calgary Rittich 19,005 1–1–0 2 [21] 3 October 8 Los Angeles 4–3 Calgary OT Rittich 18,150 1–1–1 3 [22] 4 October 10 Calgary 3–2 Dallas SO Rittich 17,989 2–1–1 5 [23] 5 October 12 Calgary 2–6 Vegas Rittich 18,192 2–2–1 5 [24] 6 October 13 Calgary 1–3 San Jose Talbot 16,250 2–3–1 5 [25] 7 October 15 Philadelphia 1–3 Calgary Rittich 17,771 3–3–1 7 [26] 8 October 17 Detroit 1–5 Calgary Rittich 18,232 4–3–1 9 [27] 9 October 19 Calgary 1–4 Los Angeles Rittich 18,230 4–4–1 9 [28] 10 October 20 Calgary 2–1 Anaheim Talbot 15,690 5–4–1 11 [29] 11 October 22 Washington 5–3 Calgary Talbot 18,002 5–5–1 11 [30] 12 October 24 Florida 5–6 Calgary SO Rittich 18,011 6–5–1 13 [31] 13 October 26 Calgary 1–2 Winnipeg OT Rittich 33,518 (outdoors) 6–5–2 14 [32] 14 October 29 Calgary 1–2 Carolina Rittich 13,864 6–6–2 14 [33] 15 October 31 Calgary 6–5 Nashville OT Rittich 17,351 7–6–2 16 [34]
November: 6–6–2 (Home: 3–2–1; Road: 3–4–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 16 November 2 Calgary 3–0 Columbus Rittich 13,618 8–6–2 18 [35] 17 November 3 Calgary 2–4 Washington Talbot 18,573 8–7–2 18 [36] 18 November 5 Arizona 3–4 Calgary OT Rittich 17,824 9–7–2 20 [37] 19 November 7 New Jersey 2–5 Calgary Rittich 18,851 10–7–2 22 [38] 20 November 9 St. Louis 3–2 Calgary OT Rittich 19,289 10–7–3 23 [39] 21 November 13 Dallas 3–1 Calgary Talbot 18,257 10–8–3 23 [40] 22 November 16 Calgary 0–3 Arizona Rittich 13,534 10–9–3 23 [41] 23 November 17 Calgary 0–6 Vegas Talbot 18,083 10–10–3 23 [42] 24 November 19 Colorado 3–2 Calgary Rittich 18,698 10–11–3 23 [43] 25 November 21 Calgary 0–5 St. Louis Rittich 18,096 10–12–3 23 [44] 26 November 23 Calgary 3–2 Philadelphia SO Rittich 17,198 11–12–3 25 [45] 27 November 25 Calgary 2–3 Pittsburgh OT Rittich 18,437 11–12–4 26 [46] 28 November 27 Calgary 3–2 Buffalo OT Rittich 17,485 12–12–4 28 [47] 29 November 30 Ottawa 1–3 Calgary Rittich 18,919 13–12–4 30 [48]
December: 7–5–1 (Home: 3–4–1; Road: 4–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 30 December 5 Buffalo 3–4 Calgary Rittich 18,085 14–12–4 32 [49] 31 December 7 Los Angeles 3–4 Calgary Talbot 19,080 15–12–4 34 [50] 32 December 9 Calgary 5–4 Colorado OT Rittich 17,588 16–12–4 36 [51] 33 December 10 Calgary 5–2 Arizona Talbot 11,198 17–12–4 38 [52] 34 December 12 Toronto 2–4 Calgary Rittich 19,289 18–12–4 40 [53] 35 December 14 Carolina 4–0 Calgary Rittich 18,853 18–13–4 40 [54] 36 December 17 Pittsburgh 4–1 Calgary Talbot 18,412 18–14–4 40 [55] 37 December 19 Montreal 4–3 Calgary OT Rittich 19,172 18–14–5 41 [56] 38 December 22 Calgary 5–1 Dallas Rittich 18,532 19–14–5 43 [57] 39 December 23 Calgary 0–3 Minnesota Talbot 17,596 19–15–5 43 [58] 40 December 27 Calgary 5–1 Edmonton Rittich 18,347 20–15–5 45 [59] 41 December 29 Vancouver 5–2 Calgary Rittich 19,289 20–16–5 45 [60] 42 December 31 Chicago 5–3 Calgary Rittich 19,289 20–17–5 45 [61]
January: 7–2–1 (Home: 3–0–1; Road: 4–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 43 January 2 NY Rangers 3–4 Calgary Talbot 19,038 21–17–5 47 [62] 44 January 5 Calgary 5–4 Minnesota SO Rittich 17,204 22–17–5 49 [63] 45 January 7 Calgary 2–1 Chicago Talbot 21,274 23–17–5 51 [64] 46 January 9 Minnesota 1–2 Calgary Talbot 18,634 24–17–5 53 [65] 47 January 11 Edmonton 3–4 Calgary Talbot 19,289 25–17–5 55 [66] 48 January 13 Calgary 0–2 Montreal Rittich 20,790 25–18–5 55 [67] 49 January 16 Calgary 2–1 Toronto SO Rittich 19,462 26–18–5 57 [68] 50 January 18 Calgary 2–5 Ottawa Rittich 17,671 26–19–5 57 [69] January 23–26 All-Star Break in St. Louis, Missouri 51 January 28 St. Louis 5–4 Calgary SO Talbot 19,033 26–19–6 58 [70] 52 January 29 Calgary 4–3 Edmonton SO Rittich 18,347 27–19–6 60 [71]
February: 6–7–1 (Home: 1–5–0; Road: 5–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 53 February 1 Edmonton 8–3 Calgary Rittich 19,289 27–20–6 60 [72] 54 February 4 San Jose 3–1 Calgary Rittich 18,131 27–21–6 60 [73] 55 February 6 Nashville 3–2 Calgary Talbot 18,512 27–22–6 60 [74] 56 February 8 Calgary 6–2 Vancouver Rittich 18,871 28–22–6 62 [75] 57 February 10 Calgary 6–2 San Jose Rittich 17,101 29–22–6 64 [76] 58 February 12 Calgary 3–5 Los Angeles Rittich 18,230 29–23–6 64 [77] 59 February 13 Calgary 6–0 Anaheim Talbot 16,212 30–23–6 66 [78] 60 February 15 Chicago 8–4 Calgary Talbot 19,231 30–24–6 66 [79] 61 February 17 Anaheim 4–6 Calgary Talbot 19,116 31–24–6 68 [80] 62 February 21 Boston 4–3 Calgary Talbot 19,289 31–25–6 68 [81] 63 February 23 Calgary 4–2 Detroit Rittich 18,022 32–25–6 70 [82] 64 February 25 Calgary 5–2 Boston Rittich 17,850 33–25–6 72 [83] 65 February 27 Calgary 3–4 Nashville OT Rittich 17,350 33–25–7 73 [84] 66 February 29 Calgary 3–4 Tampa Bay Rittich 19,092 33–26–7 73 [85]
March: 3–1–0 (Home: 2–1–0; Road: 1–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 67 March 1 Calgary 3–0 Florida Talbot 14,104 34–26–7 75 [86] 68 March 4 Columbus 2–3 Calgary OT Talbot 18,696 35–26–7 77 [87] 69 March 6 Arizona 2–3 Calgary Talbot 19,206 36–26–7 79 [88] 70 March 8 Vegas 5–3 Calgary Rittich 18,841 36–27–7 79 [89]
Cancelled games # Date Visitor Home 71 March 12 NY Islanders Calgary 72 March 14 Winnipeg Calgary 73 March 16 Calgary NY Rangers 74 March 17 Calgary NY Islanders 75 March 19 Calgary New Jersey 76 March 21 Tampa Bay Calgary 77 March 23 San Jose Calgary 78 March 25 Anaheim Calgary 79 March 27 Calgary Vancouver 80 March 31 Winnipeg Calgary 81 April 2 Vegas Calgary 82 April 4 Edmonton Calgary
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

Main article: 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs

The Flames faced Winnipeg Jets in the qualifying round,^[90] defeating them in four games.^[91]

The Flames faced the Dallas Stars in the first round,^[92] but were defeated in six games.

2020 Stanley Cup playoffs
Western Conference Qualifying Round vs. (9) Winnipeg Jets: Calgary won 3–1 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Series Recap 1 August 1 Winnipeg 1–4 Calgary Talbot 1–0 [93] 2 August 3 Winnipeg 3–2 Calgary Talbot 1–1 [94] 3 August 4 Calgary 6–2 Winnipeg Talbot 2–1 [95] 4 August 6 Calgary 4–0 Winnipeg Talbot 3–1 [96]
Western Conference First Round vs. (3) Dallas Stars: Dallas won 4–2 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Series Recap 1 August 11 Calgary 3–2 Dallas Talbot 1–0 [97] 2 August 13 Calgary 4–5 Dallas Talbot 1–1 [98] 3 August 14 Dallas 0–2 Calgary Talbot 2–1 [99] 4 August 16 Dallas 5–4 Calgary OT Talbot 2–2 [100] 5 August 18 Calgary 1–2 Dallas Talbot 2–3 [101] 6 August 20 Dallas 7–3 Calgary Rittich 2–4 [102]
Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season[103] Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Matthew Tkachuk 69 23 38 61 −5 74 Johnny Gaudreau 70 18 40 58 −10 12 Elias Lindholm 70 29 25 54 −8 22 Sean Monahan 70 22 26 48 −16 25 Mikael Backlund 70 16 29 45 3 26 Andrew Mangiapane 68 17 15 32 4 18 Mark Giordano 60 5 26 31 2 34 Derek Ryan 68 10 19 29 9 10 Noah Hanifin 70 5 17 22 −12 12 Rasmus Andersson 70 5 17 22 −7 57 Milan Lucic 68 8 12 20 −6 54 T. J. Brodie 64 4 15 19 7 36 Dillon Dube 45 6 10 16 0 6 Sam Bennett 52 8 4 12 −1 36 Travis Hamonic 50 3 9 12 −3 27 Michael Frolik‡ 38 5 5 10 −10 24 Tobias Rieder 55 4 6 10 −12 6 Mark Jankowski 56 5 2 7 −12 14 Oliver Kylington 48 2 5 7 −6 16 Michael Stone 33 2 5 7 −5 16 Zac Rinaldo 19 3 2 5 −1 34 Austin Czarnik 8 2 1 3 1 0 Erik Gustafsson† 7 0 3 3 −1 2 Alan Quine 9 1 0 1 −1 4 Buddy Robinson 5 1 0 1 0 7 Derek Forbort† 7 0 0 0 −1 0 Alexander Yelesin 4 0 0 0 0 0 Brandon Davidson‡ 7 0 0 0 −2 0

Playoffs[104] Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Sam Bennett 10 5 3 8 4 10 Sean Monahan 10 2 6 8 0 2 Johnny Gaudreau 10 4 3 7 0 0 Mikael Backlund 10 4 2 6 −2 8 Elias Lindholm 10 2 4 6 1 2 Milan Lucic 10 1 5 6 2 17 Dillon Dube 10 4 1 5 1 2 Rasmus Andersson 10 3 2 5 4 6 Tobias Rieder 10 3 2 5 −2 0 Andrew Mangiapane 10 2 3 5 −2 6 T.J. Brodie 10 1 3 4 0 6 Erik Gustafsson 10 0 4 4 1 2 Noah Hanifin 10 0 4 4 2 0 Mark Giordano 10 0 3 3 −1 12 Derek Forbort 10 1 1 2 −1 2 Matthew Tkachuk 6 1 1 2 1 10 Derek Ryan 10 0 2 2 3 0 Alan Quine 3 0 1 1 1 0 Buddy Robinson 1 0 0 0 0 0 Mark Jankowski 5 0 0 0 −1 0 Zac Rinaldo 5 0 0 0 0 4

Goaltenders

Regular season^[105]

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
David Rittich	48	48	2,791:58	24	17	6	138	2.97	1,478	.907	2	0	1	6
Cam Talbot	26	22	1,434:39	12	10	1	63	2.63	780	.919	2	0	0	21

Playoffs^[106]

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Cam Talbot	10	10	595:33	5	4	24	2.42	316	.924	2	0	0	2
David Rittich	1	0	16:35	0	1	3	10.85	9	.667	0	0	0	0

^†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.