Mike Smith is the Calgary Flames’ first month MVP. Without his goaltending, the 4-4 Flames could be 1-7 – and all the same hand-wringing and angst that you saw in Edmonton last week before the Oilers won on the road in Chicago, would be going on in Calgary, too. It might even have been worse.
For sure, coach Glen Gulutzan hasn’t let his team off the hook. The three messages Gulutzan keeps hammering away on are: They need to play more disciplined; they need to play better collectively; and they need to rely less on their goaltender bailing them out night after night.