Much like the game in Philly, the Flames come away with an extra time victory despite icing a game that was quite a bit less than stellar.
In Pittsburgh they played quite well, but came up on the wrong side of the score, also in extra time.
Those games coupled with the blow out loss to the St. Louis Blues to start the trip results in a four game trip and five points for the Flames, a huge success given the overall play, the chaos off the ice, and in comparison to their result results heading into the trip.
The chaos still remains; a post game letter from Bill Peters to Brad Treliving and Treliving press conference added nothing to the narrative. But for now the team can come home, take a day off on Thursday, and get some practice time with Geoff Ward before hosting the Ottawa Senators on Saturday late afternoon.
Quite a ride.
Lineup Changes
Not a one.
Have to think Cam Talbot would have started this one if everything off ice didn’t go Chernobyl in the last 48 hours. As it stands, the David Rittich start tonight means he was the guy on the ice for the anthems in all four games on this road trip.
No change to the forwards lines at all, no change to the defense pairings either.
Backlund Snakebit
How many chances is this going to get before he buries one?
The other night he clangs one of the cross bar in overtime in Pittsburgh. Tonight he’s set up for a point blank bang bang play by Matthew Tkachuk in the first period, but it turned away by Linus Ulmark.
Backlund is getting the chances though, and as long as they’ve played the sport we’ve heard players and coaches suggesting it’s when you don’t get them that you’re worried.
Some stats …
Backlund is 14th in goals/60 (last place for players that have scored a goal) and 10th on the team in points/60 … those are bad. However he’s 3rd on the team in expected goals/60 and 4th in scoring chances/60 and 5th in high danger chances per 60.
Something is going to give on the Backlund front; guessing he finishes the season with 15-20 goals and 45 points as per usual.
Changes From Coaching?
Hard to expect much given how little time has passed since the change behind the bench (at this time in interim and not official), but I’m guessing the average Calgary fan was hoping for a boost in play from some or all of the Flames given the difficult November.
A show of spirit from Mark Jankowski
A show of renewed “hands” confidence from Johnny Gaudreau.
A show of that solid control from the back end by Mark Giordano.
But yeah no … a game with about 15 minutes of Calgary looking somewhat solid against a struggling and injured team, and about 30 minutes of hanging on for dear life is what we saw.
Vesey
Lord knows I don’t want to reopen the Adam Fox brawl on the web site, the two sides of whether or not a player should be allowed to determine his own fate by suggesting he won’t sign and forcing a trade raged for weeks in the summer.
But how interesting is it to see Jimmy Vesey playing in Buffalo after he shunned the Sabres after shunning the Predators before finally signing with the New York Rangers.
Oh the irony …
Forcing the Play
A great way to illustrate the confidence and not coaching issues (structure) with the Flames as of late is the number of times we see highly skilled players forcing plays through bodies when the option doesn’t exist.
In the first period Johnny Gaudreau had a three on two with his linemates, and with nothing opening up he forced a pass into a Sabre player’s skates and turned it over.
The Buffalo shorthanded goal came when Elias Lindholm had it in his mind that he was going to Gaudreau on the way up the ice and didn’t change his mind when a Sabre firmly took that option away by getting in the lane. Instead it’s a turnover and a short handed breakaway.
They just need to settle down.
Take what they can see.
Hanifin; Changed Player
The guy isn’t perfect, but he’s certainly different.
I thought Noah Hanifin struggled in his own zone from time to time tonight, so it wasn’t his best effort on the season. What it was however, was another aggressive step forward in a defenseman that is taking it upon himself to develop his offensive game.
Hanifin was lugging the puck in deep, taking it wide, pinching like his mentor Mark Giordano and making a huge impact offensively.
This on the job training is bound to pay off down the road as he better learns to pick his spots and his tactics as he ventures in on the attack.
Counting Stats
Team Stats:
Shots – Flames 29 Sabres 36
Face Offs – Flames 54%
Special Teams – Flames 0/2 Penguins 0/2
Player Stats:
Points – TJ Brodie continuing his big comeback and Matthew Tkachuk led the way with a goal and an assist apiece.
Plus/Minus – TJ Brodie again, leads with a +3 on the night.
Shots – A name you don’t see often in counting stats, Derek Ryan bests the team with five shots on goal.
Fancy Stats
The Flames lost the battle of the five on five shot attempts in a very even manner with period splits of 45%/46% and 45% for a game total of 45% (you can see how the math works there). In terms of scoring chances the Sabres had a 26-21 edge for 55%, and unsurprisingly the Sabres had the edge in xGF% at 56.4%.
In all situations things were even worse, as the Flames had 42% of the shot attempts, 48% of the high danger chances and 41% as a xGF%. Not sure the right team won.
Individually, the Flames had four players over the break even mark with Mark Giordano, Johnny Gaudreau, TJ Brodie and Michael Frolik having solid nights. The Michael Stone / Oliver Kylington pairing were at the bottom of the pile with 31% each.
Frolik, Giordano and Brodie all had high 60s xGF% nights.
