CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — While Johnny Gaudreau gets all the hype for his sublime playmaking ability, teammate TJ Brodie is no slouch himself.
Brodie stayed hot with three assists and the Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Friday night.
With a career-high 32 helpers on the season, including 11 in the last eight games, Brodie is just two back of Gaudreau for the team lead.
“The way that he skates, the way that he jumps in the play, he can change direction so quickly that he’s basically impossible to defend,” Flames coach Bob Hartley said.
Two of the assists came in the second period while Calgary scored three straight goals to take a 4-2 lead.
The go-ahead goal at 5:34 came off Michael Frolik’s stick. Set up in the slot by Brodie, Frolik’s shot changed directions off the skate of Canucks defenseman Matt Bartkowski.
The Flames made it 4-2 on Giordano’s 14th goal with 25 seconds remaining. Again, it was Brodie with the set-up.
“Lately, we’ve been trying to play more of a five-man unit. Jumping through the holes, trying to find the pockets, and get pucks to the net and it worked out for us tonight,”…