Just hate that first game back from a long road trip; even more so when the building has been invaded by a sea of half drunken enemy fans wearing blue.
A slow start is guaranteed, that one you can bank on. With a great goaltender sometimes this perilous slope can be managed, but two fortuitous bounces for the Leafs; that is pucks off Flames defenders, got past Smith staking Toronto to a 2-0 lead on their way to a 4-1 victory at the Saddledome.
What is Up With That First Home Game?
Call me fickle or negative, but I sold my seats tonight. Told guys I work with that the Flames would lose 4-1 or 5-2 and I had little interest to sit through a boring game with a bunch of blue drunk idiots around me and in lines for the bathroom.
It was obvious.
But why? What is it about a home game after a long road trip that makes for such a miserable night at home more often than not?
Focus. Rich Sutter alluded to it in the intermission and he’s spot on. A team gets home and has to re-acquaint itself with their home lives, issues with the kids school, neighbours, holiday plans. They just don’t show up ready.
I made the right call.
Line Up Changes
The Flames made three changes to the group that beat the Avalanche 3-2 on Saturday night. The obvious one, a change in net where the rested Mike Smith returned in place of David Rittich who won his first NHL start against Colorado. On the blueline Brett Kulak returned in place of Matt Bartkowski, and up front Jaromir Jagr sat out with a lower body injury, Curtis Lazar taking his spot.
Would have to think the Jagr injury must have occurred when he and Sam Bennett collided late in the game on Saturday. Every Jagr injury has me cringing knowing he has to pass that most games played mark by the end of the season. Coming into tonight Jagr needs 42 games, and the Flames have 58 games to go (not including tonight), so he has 16 more passes before the mission will be aborted.
Flames Rumours
Not sure what to make of the Bob McKenzie / Darren Dreger rumours of Brad Treliving looking around the league to make changes to his blueline. That assumption from the rumour seems to be an upgrade to the 6th spot, but I’m wondering if it’s not that at all. It’s no secret that a club with young defenders coming up will eventually have to make room, so perhaps he’s decided to move now on a veteran defenseman to a) make space for a young player but also b) maximize the return for moving a solid top 3-5 defenseman. Is Michael Stone, TJ Brodie or Travis Hamonic on the move? If the making room thought is on point count on Michael Stone as Rasmus Andersson and his right shot is the most likely to take a spot.
Fourth Line Woes
The bottom six has been a topic all season for their lack of production, it’s almost getting tiresome. The Flames have gotten by with great goalending and a red hot first line, but at some point it will bite them in the butt. In the meantime the fourth line especially has to limit it’s mistakes and play simple hockey. Matt Stajan’s turnover in the neutral zone led directly to the too many men on the ice penalty in the first period; he has to get that across the red line and get it deep.
The Gulutzan Plan
The top line got owned tonight so it’s likely not the right night to get into this, but given the recent road trip and the month of Noveber for the top line, I’ll dig anyway.
Glen Gulutzan has his supporters and detractors, which I suppose is common in every NHL city. But you have to tip your hat to the development of Calgary’s skilled young forwards into players and lines that can be counted to play both ways. Sean Monahan was sheltered under both Bob Hartley and Gulutzan but this year the reigns are off and the young center his wearing big boy pants against the league’s top lines. A top line that can be productive against other team’s top lines really creates a trickle down effect of match ups that can only help an NHL team. Now if only that third line would capitalize!
What Constitutes A Good 4 Game Homestand?
If it’s a six gamer you target 4-2-0, if it’s a five game stand you want a 3-1-1 record. But what do you aim for when you have four games at home?
The no brainer answer is four wins, but seriously if you dig in it’s somewhere between 2-1-1 and 3-1-0 isn’t it?
Either way not a good start to get yourself down 0-1-0 to start, but that’s exactly what they did on that seven game homestand before pulling it out to the tune of 5-2-0.
Fancy Stats
The eye test certainly matches the underlying stats on this one as the Leafs clearly out played the Flames on the night; however, not to the extend you’d expect.
In the post game press conference Glen Gulutzan said something to the effect of “we had them in scoring chances five on five”. Not sure they had them, but he does have a point in that the Flames did record more scoring chances at even strength with a 7-5 edge, despite being down in shot attempts 53-49. Overall, the game was tied in scoring chances by official records, but it sure felt like Toronto had the lion’s share of the play.
The fourth line got absolutely shredded on the night as Freddie Hamilton, Matt Stajan and Curis Lazar were all between 15% and 20% on the night; that’s not good enough. The third line, the third pairing and the second pairing were also under water on the night. The top two lines were all between 56% and 65% however, so there’s that.
