Simply stated, Cam Talbot has become the Calgary Flames goalie of choice during the 2019-20 postseason and will be into the Stanley Cup playoffs. The 33-year-old Talbot was steady in net for the entire Winnipeg Jets series and in three games out of four he received great offensive support. Other than a single Jets victory, the Flames advanced easy to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Where did this goalie come from? Talbot’s looked like the 2016-17 version of himself when he played for and carried the Edmonton Oilers into their last playoff series win. During that season, Talbot’s 42 wins beat Grant Fuhr’s Edmonton Oilers’ franchise record for most wins in a season. Furthermore, Talbot didn’t stop playing well after the regular season and, during that postseason, helped the upstart Oilers advance to the Western Conference Semifinals after missing the playoffs for a decade.
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A Surprising Postseason for Talbot
This postseason, the veteran Talbot – in a bit of a surprise – has firmly taken over David Rittich’s job as the team’s number one goalie. His Thursday night’s Game 4 start was his fifth straight. He turned away all 31 shots the Jets fired at him and the Flames won the series-clinching victory by a score of 4-0. Talbot frustrated the hard-working Jets throughout the entire Game 4, and when he needed to he came up with huge saves on Nikolaj Ehlers and Kyle Connor during the third period.
The well-travelled goalie had a stellar series and only allowed six goals in four games. Although Connor Hellebuyck is the odds-on favorite to win the Vezina Trophy this season, Talbot definitely outplayed him in this series.
The Flames now wait to find out who they’ll face during round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs next week. It will be either the Dallas Stars or the St. Louis Blues. However, regardless of who that foe might be, should Talbot play like he has, the Flames will be tough to beat.
Talbot’s Postseason Record – So Far!
As it stands, Talbot ended the postseason, play-in series with a record of 3-1, a goals-against-average of a 1.51, and a .945 save percentage.
As Flames head coach Geoff Ward noted, “When we had breakdowns, our goaltender was huge.” (from “Flames lean on netminder Talbot in bounce-back year, Kristen Anderson, Calgary Sun, 07/08/20).
Ward added after Thursday night’s series-clinching victory, “Through the course of the series, he (Talbot) was our best player. And you need really good goaltending at this time of the year — he gave it to us. But I thought our team defense was a real key for us on top of the goaltending.”
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Whomever the Flames will play during their next round, that opponent is certain to see Talbot in goal when the puck drops for Game 1.
