The Flames spent the better part of the four game losing streak that was snapped tonight playing a decent brand of hockey save for a brutal ability to generate actual scoring chances.
They didn’t get a lot of bounces though, that’s for sure.
Tonight they certainly did as all four goals had at least a hint of spiritual intervention in their 4-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets.
Goal one was a goal post squeeze with a good bounce, goal two went off a Jet, goal three was deflected by a Jet, and goal four was put into the net by the Jet’s goaltender as the Flames took some Murphy’s Law in the positive way to snap their skid.
The win puts them two points back of Montreal (good!) for the final playoff spit, but the Canadiens have five (bad!) games in hand.
The Line Up
No change has been the broken record summary of roster alterations for the most part during Darryl Sutter’s brief time back behind the Calgary bench. Until it wasn’t. For the fourth straight game we see change with tonight’s scratches performance based for the first time with the brief exception of the 6th defensemen choices between Nikita Nesterov and Oliver Kylington.
The Cage
The first change up is in goal where David Rittich comes in for Jacob Markstrom which is pretty expected given the back to back nature of tonight’s game. Additionally though, Markstrom isn’t picking up wins, and he did put the puck over the glass last night leading to the Jets game winner. Not saying it’s a performance change but that could easily be the case.
Jacob Markstrom
Save percentage above average -0.004
David Rittich
Save percentage above average -0.001
The Blueline
One change on the blueline with Michael Stone playing his first game in 13 months, coming in for Juuso Valimaki. It’s the first change to the defense core that hasn’t been defenseman #6, with the defacto #5 guy finally effected. So Stone plays with Nikita Nesterov, Noah Hanifin plays with Chris Tanev, and Mark Giordano plays with Rasmus Andersson.
Hanifin – Tanev
60% xGF in 539 minutes
Giordano – Andersson
41% xGF in 449 minutes
Nesterov – Stone
New pairing
Up Front
Up front another healthy scratch with Dillon Dube facing the music for his first period high sticking penalty. With that omission lots of change to the lines … Elias Lindholm between Matthew Tkachuk and Andrew Mangiapane, Sean Monahan with Johnny Gaudreau and Brett Ritchie, Michael Backlund between Milan Lucic and Sam Bennett, and finally Derek Ryan between Joakim Nordstrom and Josh Leivo.
Tkachuk – Lindholm – Mangiapane
48% xGF in 83 minutes
Gaudreau – Monahan – Ritchie
36% xGF in 74 minutes
Lucic – Backund – Bennett
82% xGF in 12 minutes
Nordstrom – Ryan – Leivo
65% xGF in 13 minutes
~ Data from NaturalStatTrick, and Moneypuck
Gaudreau’s 5ooth Game
Certainly came with some attention given Darryl Sutter’s comments about hoping he exerts more energy than he did in his 499th game, but the little guy ultimately came through.
Two first period assists to kick things off, and maybe shake a monkey off his back.
His outlet pass early lead to a Sean Monahan/Josh Leivo effort and a Josh Leivo goal.
And then he dished the puck to Mark Giordano for a first period powerplay goal that went off Appleton on a one timer.
When it comes to the message, I’m honestly good with it. I’m not focusing on Johnny Gaudreau specifically, but as one that felt this core was letting the team down more than Geoff Ward I’m happy to see some push back from a coach with more security and power.
Give David Rittich Some Credit
Pretty solid start for David Rittich overall.
He was a victim of a crazy deflection off of Milan Lucic on the first goal, and then quickly gave up another one, but didn’t buckle.
Some solid rebound control and finding pucks in his feet to keep the game tied, and then in the third the Flames ahead as he picks up the win with 19 saves on 21 shots.
Have to think he’s slowly earning himself some more playing time down the stretch, especially if the math gets pretty lopsided for the Flames.
Mangiapane’s Penalty
Have to admire the small statured guy for his grit, but he didn’t make the best decision in cross checking the Jet’s captain in the throat.
Feeling like he owed him one for the missed call earlier in the period when Scheifele high sticked Mangiapane on a baseball swing that went undetected, there are better ways to seek revenge on the ice than a stick foul near the head that simply wouldn’t be missed.
Ideally it’s a thunderous hit, but if you have to do something greasy a slash to the back of the legs or a face wash after the whistle has a better chance of not putting your team in a pickle.
Former Pick Laurent Broissoit Tough Third
Man what a tough third period for the former Flame’s draft pick.
Sure the Andrew Mangiapane shot was deflected but you still need to close off the shortside and make that save. Yet he doesn’t and that’s the third period game winner.
Then about seven minutes later Sam Bennett scores by shooting the puck wide only to have Broissoit deflect it back into his own net.
He made a pretty good save on both Milan Lucic and Sean Monahan to keep the game within two goals, but that’s a pretty epic fail for a third period.
Team Stats:
Shots – Flames 33 Jets 24
Face Offs – Flames 48%
Powerplay – Flames 1/2 Jets 0/2
Player Stats:
Points – Thought Johnny Gaudreau had two points on the night, but the official scorer dropped his first assist meaning 11 different players on the team finished with one point on the night.
Plus/Minus – The much maligned former top pairing of Mark Giordano and Rasmus Andersson had a redemption night as they led the team jointly with a +2 night.
Shots – Five different forwards had three shots on goal including; Mikael Backlund, Milan Lucic, Sean Monahan, Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane.
Fancy Stats
Pretty solid night for the Flames against the Jets again territorially, and a little better in terms of chance generation as well. The Flames finished the night with 65% of the five on five shot attempts on period splits of 69%/64% and 61%, you don’t see many clean sweeps of 60+ in every period. In terms of high danger chances though the pattern continues as the Flames actually finish up on the stat, but much closer than what the shot attempts would suggest at 7-5 five on five. The Flames did have 66% in terms of expected goal splits when playing five on five hockey.
In all situations the Flames had 57% of the shot attempts, 53% of the high danger chances and 61% of the expected goal split.
Honestly the first game the Flames deserved to win in quite a while, probably dating back to the first Oiler game two weeks ago.
Individually the Flames were led by Josh Leivo with 83%, closely tracked by Nikita Nesterov with 81% and Derek Ryan with 80%. Michael Backlund, Joakim Nordstrom, Micheal Stone and Sam Bennett were all in the 70s as the bottom half of the Flame’s lineup had themselves a night. Only three players finished under water with Brett Ritchie a paltry 35%, followed by Sean Monahan with 43% and Milan Lucic at 47%.
