Johnny Gaudreau Dazzles for Stunning Goal to Help Surging Flames Earn 10th Straight Win

If you want something done right, sometimes you have to do it yourself.

The ever-skilled Johnny Gaudreau has the ability to go off at any time, and that's exactly what he did against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night. After picking the puck up in his own zone, Johnny Hockey turned on the jets, blazed across Pittsburgh's blueline and made a mockery of Ron Hainsey before beating Marc-Andre Fleury with a tight wraparound to the far post.

The 4-3 shootout win over the defending Stanley Cup champions was the Flames' 10th victory in a row, matching a franchise record set by the 1978-79 Atlanta Flames. Calgary now sits tied for second in the Pacific Division with the Ducks, seven back of San Jose for first, and three up on the provincial rival Oilers. It's been quite the turnaround for a club that finished third last in the Western Conference last season and which, just 10 games ago, was only three games over .500 and on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.

After inexplicable struggles plagued Gaudreau and the Flames through the first half of the season, both the team and its most skilled player have turned it around in a monumental way. Coming into the 2016-2017 season, Gaudreau had put up 142 points, including 54 goals, in the past two seasons, and looked as though he was coming into his own and would be (potentially) ready to contend for the scoring title as a 23-year-old. Instead, Gaudreau struggled out of the gate, scoring only four goals and posting a minus-10 rating as Calgary won just five of its first 16 games.

Since the team began its current 10-game winning streak on Feb. 21, Johnny Hockey has once again been the leading force on the offensive side of the puck—putting up 14 points and a plus-13 rating during the streak, and 18 over 17 games since the All-Star break. He's now up to a team-leading 49 points in 59 games, despite missing time earlier in the season after undergoing surgery for a broken finger.

As Johnny Hockey goes, so do the Flames.

[Sportsnet]