Lately the Flames have been getting by winning more than they lose despite getting owned in special teams. You might say the Flames away from the safe comforts of five on five hockey were especially bad.
Did all that change in Philadelphia? The Flames burst out for three powerplay goals while giving up just one in a +2 night on the way to a 5-4 come from behind overtime victory over the Flyers.
Like the game in Philly, the Flames gave up a really early goal, and like the game in Philadelphia the Flames were able to over come the early adversity. And like the game in the City of Brotherly Love, the Flames road some red hot special teams to victory, this time scoring two (and almost three) powerplay goals and blanking the Capitals powerplay in a 4-1 win on Monday night.
The win moves the Flames four games over .500 for the first time this season, and to a 2-1-0 record on this six game road trip after getting shellacked in game one in Detroit.
Goalie Starts
How many times have the Flames had great first periods only to be stoned by the opposing goaltender and come out scoreless. No problem you think as a fan, if they keep playing like this they’ll get a few by him and win the game; they’re playing too well.
Instead however, the opposition finds their legs, open the scoring and then run away with a victory despite getting run in the first period.
This year the Flames have that goaltender.
Mike Smith is simply there. He doesn’t post shut outs every night, but he competes and makes key saves at key times in games to allow his teammates to find their true north and get back into hockey games. At the end of the night you see the Flames out shooting and out chancing the Capitals in a 4-1 win, but hidden in that is the yeoman job done by Mike Smith to get them into position to take the game away.
Truly a great acquisition by Brad Treliving. In fact, if the guy has another good season next year (yes I’m getting ahead of myself) they may want to entertain a third year in Calgary as a tandem with a young goaltender. A competitive veteran goaltender is a great guy to have around a young stopper, to say nothing of the tricks he could share for handling the puck.
Third Line
As the Monahan/Gaudreau line continues to dominate, Glen Gulutzan has put the trio head to head with other club’s top lines. The trickle down effect of this is a huge asset for the Flames.
With Monahan doing more heavy lifting, the 3M line gets a better matchup, and enjoys a better chance of keeping the puck in the opposition’s territory as they line up with the 2nd line of their counterparts instead of the first.
Then the next trickle down is the third line, and this is where the Flames season could be determined. Can Mark Jankowski, Sam Bennett and Jaromir Jagr form a third line that can dominate the third line of the club they are facing? If so the Flames are a tough team to game play for, and simply built for the playoffs.
Streaking
Johnny Gaudreau happily picked up another goal and assist tonight running his point streak to 10 games in while he’s pulled in 19 points. His center Sean Monahan has 14 points in those games. As they continue this pace game to game they continue to run up the leader board for top lines, as well as Gaudreau chasing the Tampa players for the overall scoring lead.
Gaudreau’s a different player offensively this season. Two more points, but he easily could have had a few more including double spin behind the Cap’s net that was a whisker away from a wraparound goal.
Johnny Splits
Johnny Gaudreau can’t score on the road. Fact or fiction?
It’s become a thing, but should it have been? Over the course of his career Gaudreau has 1.1 points per game on home ice, and .8 points per game on the road. A gap, but certainly not a chasm.
This season Gaudreau has 10 points in nine road games, and 12 points in 11 home games, so he’s actually better on the road by a hair. Last season Gaudreau was more productive at home by one, with a 31-30 split. Really the entire differential came from one season that of 2015-16 where Gaudreau had 34 more points at home.
That was the exception not the norm for his career.
Fancy Stats
The Flames had 56% of the five on five shot attempts including a 63% edge through two periods, with score effects certainly bolstering the Capitals in the third period as they looked to come from behind.
The Caps actually had the edge in scoring chances however with a 16-14 edge overall, at five on five the Flames actually had a 13-9 edge, showing just how dangerous that Capital’s powerplay can be; credit Smith for keeping the game comfortable at the end because the Caps were pushing.
Individually many a Flame had a good night as you’d expect. Only four players were under the 50% mark, which included the fourth line and Travis Hamonic, TJ Brodie was at 50% on the nose. Dougie Hamilton was the runaway leader to the positive with 72%, followed by another eight players that had 60% or greater including Mark Giordano, Frolik, Backlund, Bennett, Jagr, Stone, Ferland and Monahan. An interesting side note; the third pairing of Brett Kulak and Michael Stone had the highest share of scoring chances when on the ice at 67% (4-2).
Standings Look
The Flames have really closed the gap in the Pacific Division with winning seven of their last nine while the Kings began to sputter. Now you see the Kings with 26 points (21 games), the Nights with 25 points (19 games) and the Flames right there with 24 points (20 games). The Flames have stretched their lead over the first non playoff team to three points as well.
The Oilers are now eight points back of the Flames with even games played. That’s getting to be quite the gap, maybe Mark Spector jumped the gun with his balance of power in Alberta article last January.
More on the Powerplay
You need bounces to be successful; when a powerplay runs cold they get none, and when it gets red hot lady luck starts to shine. However when the bounces start to come the players improve as well as confidence comes from the results regardless of how little skill had to do with the puck going in the net. The Flames powerplay is clicking largely on the back of Johnny Gaudreau, or at least that’s how it started. Now they have both units going which really makes it difficult on the opposition to defend against. They gas their top PK group against the top powerplay and suddenly a mixture of Mark Giordano, Matthew Tkachuk, Jaromir Jagr and Sam Bennett get to fest on the left overs. Depth is king in today’s NHL. The Flames seem to be getting some balance.
