Johnny Gaudreau’s career-high 37th goal was a thing of a beauty, a circular skate around the offensive zone, capped by a perfectly placed shot into the side of the net.
It was a superstar move that night in Chicago, a winger brimming with confidence in himself and his teammates. Gaudreau could always play, from growing up in New Jersey to breaking into the NHL, but he has reached a different level this year with the Calgary Flames.
“He just plays the whole game. For sure, a more consistent player,” coach Darryl Sutter said, “and, in his own way, a more demanding player also of how his linemates are playing, which is a big something that I’ve really noticed with him.”
Playing alongside Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk on one of the league’s most dangerous lines, Gaudreau has a career-best 74 assists and 113 points, topping the Flames in each category. He has five goals and seven assists during a six-game point streak heading into Thursday night’s matchup with Minnesota.
The 28-year-old Gaudreau also tops the NHL with a plus-63 rating and a gaudy 88 even-strength points for the Pacific Division champions. The plus-minus statistic is the league’s best since Wayne Gretzky was plus 69 for the 1986-87 season, according to Sportradar, and it’s the most even-strength points in a single season since Jaromir Jagr had 95 in 1995-96.
Now Gaudreau is hoping to carry his success into a deep postseason run for a Calgary franchise that hasn’t advanced in the playoffs since it lost in the second round in 2015.
“He’s been great. He plays the right way,” fellow Calgary forward Dillon Dube said. “He’s playing (a) 200-foot game right now. He’s probably one of our hardest backcheckers right now. He’s flying all over the ice.”
A standout at Boston College, Gaudreau won the Hobey Baker Award in 2014 as the NCAA’s top men’s hockey player. He then signed with Calgary and made his NHL debut with the Flames.
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Listed at 5-foot-9 and 165 pounds, Gaudreau had 24 goals…