For the past five games the Flames special teams have been anything but.
They’ve had their powerplay completely dry up, and their penalty kill has become more of a coin toss than the 80% kill rate required to be in the upper echelon of the National Hockey League.
So the results of late haven’t been all that surprising as the Flames had squandered a pretty good start to the season in dropping four of the last five. The Flames may not have won the special teams battle tonight, but they didn’t lose it either in a 2-1 squeaker at the Saddledome on Sunday night.
The win evens the team’s record on this all important early season seven game homestand, setting up a few days of practice before they take on the Penguins on Thursday.
The Flow
The Flames clearly hit the ice with the mantra of pucks on net, at any cost as they literally threw pucks at Grubaurer at every opportunity. Five on five the Flames carried the play for the most part with the best chances going to the Gaudreau/Monahan/Ferland line that featured a hand-eye chance for Monahan, a Gaudreau shot that almost squeaked through, and a Ferland tip that went off the cross bar. The Caps had the only two powerplays of the period and generated some zone time, but not a lot by way of great scoring chances. Game tied at zero through 20 minutes.
The Capitals put on a clinic on the powerplay to start off the second period, putting five shots on Mike Smith, but Smith got the better of Ovechkin and the gang and kept the game scoreless. The Flames settle in and then get back to work five on five and carry the play once again. Calgary goes ahead when a Brett Kulak point shot is tipped in by Micheal Ferland and it’s 1-0 Flames. Midway through the period you could really see a sag in the Capitals as they played the night before in Edmonton and lost their legs. More zone time in the Cap’s zone with all four lines enjoying some pressure. The Flames fail to put that nail in the coffin so the game stays 1-0 through 40 minutes.
Give the Caps credit as they mounted a decent charge in the third period, though the Flames were solid as well keeping the chances against to a minimum and winding down the clock. Towards the middle of the period however, the Capitals got the bounce they were waiting for when a Mark Giordano pass up the boards to Matthew Tkachuk hit the linesman’s skate resulting in a tying goal from Jacob Vrana, busting Mike Smith’s shut out. The Flames break out on a two on one a few minutes later but Gaudreau spins allowing many Caps to catch up to the play before spinning and finding Sean Monahan who rips it home for his 6th of the season, and the Flames have their lead back. The Flames are given a late powerplay when the Caps get caught with too many men on the ice but can’t salt the game away giving the Caps a late chance with Grubaurer pulled, but the Flames hang on for the win.
Possession Stats
1st Period – The whole game had the feel of one of those nights where a team dominates but doesn’t get rewarded and then eventually finds a way to lose it. In the first period the Flames had a 18-14 edge in five on five attempts although the Caps had the edge in scoring chances 6-4 due to having the only two powerplays.
2nd Period – The Flames again without a powerplay in the second, but still managed a 26-11 edge in five on five shot attempts. The scoring chances were 9-3 Calgary.
3rd Period – The shot attempts were even at ten in the third period with the Caps pressing and scoring chances were 3-0 for the Flames. Overall the Flames had a 16-9 edge in scoring chances and an even strength split in shot attempts of 61%.
Players – The Monahan line and the top defense pairing dominated the Caps on the night with all five players above 70%. The 3M line were above the 60% mark along with Curtis Lazar and Brett Kulak. The only players under water were the fourth line (Stajan, Brouwer and Versteeg) and TJ Brodie and Michael Stone who were close to 50%.
Three Stars
1. Johnny Gaudreau: Continues to find the scoresheet as he assists on both Flame’s goals tonight pushing his season total to 15.
2. Mike Smith : Lost his shutout on a pretty unfortunate bounce, but still managed to turn aside 29 of 30 Capital shots.
3. Philipp Grubaurer: Kept his team in it through most of the night stopping 36 of 38 shots.
Big Save
With the Flames pressing up 1-0 in the second Grubaurer has to be rock solid when Micheal Ferland sets up Johnny Gaudreau in the high slot; Gaudreau redirects it towards the net but it’s smothered.
The Heel
Has to be the officials tonight and I don’t usually play that card. From the accidental linesman skate to the mugging of Brett Kulak and the one arm take down of Johnny Gaudreau these men were watching a different game.
Mr. Clutch
Have to go with Micheal Ferland. Scores a goal, hits two cross bars and was noticeable all night. Getting a guy like Ferland going is so key. When Jaromir Jagr comes back and finds his groove it would be nice to use Ferland to balance the top three lines.
Odds and Ends
A lot of the underlying numbers on the Flames are trending towards last year’s numbers, despite the slow start. So it’s ironic that they jumped out to a 4-2-0 start averaging 49.5% in shot attempts only to go 1-4-0 in their last five games while averaging 52.0%. The save percentage is still solid but starting to normalize, while the shooting percentage both five on five and with the man advantage continues to sputter.
So what’s in a shooting percentage? Certainly part of it is luck (bad), part of it is a player in their own heads passing up good opportunities or not bearing down. Additionally systems has to play a role in the number as well as a weak system may yield solid shot event summaries but not much by way of dangerous chances. So how about high danger shot effects? The Flames were 48.3% in their first six games (4-2-0) and are 53.4% in the current 1-4-0 skid. Tonight’s mark of over 61% is only going to add to these numbers as they had the positive split in both categories once again.
Tonight the only two roster change were Brett Kulak in for Matt Bartkowski and Curtis Lazar back in for Tanner Glass. The Kulak insertion is something that bodes quite well for the young defender. He suited up for three straight games before being sat down, but only for one game before we see him again. Could be a sign the coaching staff is starting to lean his way. At the moment I don’t know if there’s much difference but logic dictates that Kulak has the better chance of improving if he’s given a longer leash. Tonight he certainly proved that could be the case in picking up an assist and looking really good all night. His ability to skate the puck out of trouble completely transformed the third defense pairing.
Much better showing by the Sam Bennett, Mark Jankowski, Curtis Lazar line tonight as they got to work in the offensive zone and created a lot of chances. Sam Bennett had three shots through the first 30 minutes of play, which says something as he’s averaged less than a shot per game through the season. Can’t say it enough, if Jankowski and Bennett can form 2/3 of a third line the Flames suddenly become a team to deal with. If not they likely hang in the middle of the cap. You just get the feeling if they can pop on in one of these game they’ll be off to the races. The elephant in the room however is the return of Jagr and how they deal with the extra body. Will be interesting.
Next Up
The homestand continues but with an interruption as the Flames don’t see another visitor until Sydney Crosby and the Penguins come to town on Thursday night, game time 7pm on Sportsnet.
Lines:
Tkachuk – Backlund – Ferland
Gaudreau – Monahan – Jagr
Bennett – Jankowski – Lazar
Versteeg – Stajan – Brouwer
Giordano – Hamilton
Brodie – Hamonic
Kulak – Stone
Smith
