Another game, another loss.
After a streak of success, say three wins in four games, a 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche with the home side up in shots and chances would be a game you could accept and get your head around. It happens.
But when said loss comes as the fifth straight, and fourth straight without securing a point there just aren’t any silver linings to be mined. The league is too tight and November points squandered can lead to a lost season if a slide isn’t handcuffed and arrested before it becomes a season killer.
The Flames played a solid first and third periods on Tuesday night, but found themselves down 3-0 in the second period before goals by Derek Ryan and Andrew Mangiapane brought the game close and made it interesting. The loss sends the Flames on a tough game road trip, starting in St. Louis on Thursday night.
Things are getting real … fast.
Line Up Changes
Lots and lots of changes …
In goal David Rittich comes in for Cam Talbot, after the backup did his best to hold them in a game before the team and the goaltender folded the tent in the last ten minutes. Rittich has only played one game in the last ten days now, and should be well rested.
On the blueline Travis Hamonic can’t go, adding to the blueline woes that now have Juuso Valimaki and TJ Brodie on the sidelines. That puts #7 Michael Stone at #4 with Noah Hanifin as a pair, and #8 at #6 with Oliver Kylington on the third pairing.
Up front other changes as well. First off Sam Bennett is still injured, the team updating his status to week to week with an upper body injury. Tobias Rieder was sent to the farm and Zac Rinaldo was recalled in his place. The team has only 12 healthy forwards.
Only one line from Sunday’s game is intact.
The team has two top lines (or second lines if you like) with Mikael Backlund centering Johnny Gaudreau and Elias Lindholm. Sean Monahan centers Matthew Tkachuk and Andrew Mangiapane. The kept together line is Derek Ryan between Milan Lucic and Dillon Dube. Which leaves the pointless Mark Jankowski between Zac Rinaldo and Michael Frolik.
Phew …
The top Line Shuffle
The last time they switched things up was to get Lindholm to center, a result that pitched Sean Monahan to the second line and Mikael Backlund to the third line.
I like that from a standpoint of strength down the middle, but the error in their last configuration was the fact that Monahan had nobody to play with. If you keep two of the big four on the first line and the other two on the second line the second group has a better chance of competing.
Tonight’s lines do that … though Backlund is the center.
Tough Start
The Flames give up the first goal again, the 16th time in 24 starts where they have to chase the game.
From there the Flames settled down though and had at least a good share of the play, culminating in a powerplay where they put six shots on goal.
The first period nightmare continues though when Burakovsky scores his second of the period, short side on David Rittich. A goal he’d like to have back.
And the shut out streak continued …
Purple Mask
Kind of embarrassing for the cancer survivor to forget that its Hockey Fights Cancer month, hence the reason for why Phillip Grubauer was wearing a purple mask tonight.
Couldn’t for the life of me understand how the guy could think that matches the already sketchy colour scheme worn by the Avalanche.
Whoops.
First Games for Rinaldo and Davidson
Neither Zac Rinaldo or Brandon Davidson had impactful first turns in Calgary silks, but then they didn’t hurt the club either.
With injuries to the blueline and up front the Flames had to dip into some Stockton veteran depth for the game, and both players acquitted themsleves fine with limited ice time.
Rinaldo played just under seven minutes and had four hits … his CF% was 54.55% and he largely stayed out of trouble both defensively and in terms of penalties; the player has had a history of chaos of course.
Davidson was on the ice for 12.5 minutes and recorded two blocks and a 55% CF%.
All in all a decent depth pull for a team that needs it.
Third Line Rolling
If you want to find that happy place in a fifth straight loss it would have to come from the third line featuring Derek Ryan, Milan Lucic and recently recalled Dillon Dube. They were noticeably the best line for the Calgary side, as it seemed every time they hit the ice in the second half of the game they had the puck on their sticks and going North.
Ryan had a goal and three shots, Lucic an assist and 6 shots, while Dube didn’t pick up a point and three shots of his own.
The line’s total tally was 12 shots on goal and two scoring points while posting 60%+ possession numbers to be with team leaders on the night.
There’s some work to be done at the top of the roster, but maybe just maybe they’ve found a line that clicks in the bottom half.
Counting Stats
Team Stats:
Shots – Flames 33 Avalanche 26
Face Offs – Flames 55%
Special Teams – Flames 0/2 Avalanche 0/2
Player Stats:
Points – Five players had a single point in the game including; Lucic, Ryan, Sean Monahan, Oliver Kylington and Andrew Mangiapane.
Plus/Minus – Ryan, Mangipane, Dube and Monahan led the way at +1
Shots – Milan Lucic had six shots to pace the Flames.
Fancy Stats
The Flames had 55% of the five on five shot attempts with period splits of 55%/48% and 63%. Five on five high danger chances finished at a very low 7-6 edge for the Avalanche and Calgary had the edge in xGF% at 52.13%.
In all situations the Flames had 56.2% of the shot attempts, 45% of the high danger chances and an xGF% of 49.55%.
Individually the Flames were led by Derek Ryan with 71%, but six players were in the 60s as well including Monahan, Dube, Andersson, Tkachuk, Lucic, and Hanifin. At the bottom of the pile was essentially the Gaudreau line with Elias Lindholm at 36% and Backlund at 40%.
