Game Takes: Flames 4 Oilers 3

March 15th, 2021 | Posted in Game Takes | By: D'Arcy McGrath

It’s been 15 years since Darryl Sutter coached the Flames against the Oilers.

He’s always pretty much owned them no matter what city he represented, so it was interesting to see if he could turn the tide in this season’s battle of Alberta as Edmonton had won three straight.

And yes of course he could as the Flames led pretty much wire to wire with a huge 4-3 regulation win over their provincial rivals on Monday night. The Flames led 2-0 and 3-1 before the Oilers forced a tie early in the third before Calgary answered back and took the game for the full two points.

The win further compacts the standings in the North Division making the next few weeks before the trade deadline pretty entertaining.

The season felt over. It isn’t.

How much fun is this?

The Line Up

Darryl Sutter was pretty coy about his lineup today when he had his media opportunity at the Saddledome. He hinted there wouldn’t be changes, but then went on to say as far as it goes, doesn’t know about injuries and protocols etc. The assumption though was no change at all. Same goaltender, same defense pairs and same lines as the group that beat Montreal 3-1 on Saturday night. That group, of course, was only one player changed from the group that won on Thursday as well; Nesterov out for Kylington.

The Cage

Jacob Markstrom will make his third straight start under Darryl Sutter, and fourth in a row overall. The Calgary number one goaltender is likely loving life in the Sutter Era as he’s posted back to back wins with only giving up a goal in each. Markstrom is slowly but surely digging his numbers back to a respectable level. He’s currently 15 amongst starters for goals saved above average.

Jacob Markstrom
Goals saved above average -3.6
David Rittich
Save percentage above average -2.4

The Blueline

No changes on the blueline as Oliver Kylington aquitted himself well on Saturday night, potentially laying claim to the third pairing left side job. For now. Kylington showed his speed when he got caught on a pinch, but made up for it by catching Paul Byron and thwarting a breakaway. The pairs are Mark Giordano with Rasmus Andersson, Noah Hanifin with Chris Tanev, and the Kylington / Juuso Valimaki third pairing.

Giordano – Andersson
44% xGF in 348 minutes

Hanifin – Tanev
63% xGF in 424 minutes

Kylington – Valimaki
67% xGF in 29 minutes

Up Front

No changes up front as well, with all four lines putting in pretty decent evenings against Montreal on Saturday. Elias Lindholm between Matthew Tkachuk and Dillon Dube. Still leaning in to see that first solid Tkachuk game under Sutter. Sean Monahan coming off two goals between Johnny Gaudreau and Brett “don’t call me Byron” Ritchie, Mikael Backlund between Milan Lucic and Andrew Mangiapane, and finally Derek Ryan between Sam Bennett and Josh Leivo.

Tkachuk – Lindholm – Dube
44% xGF in 159 minutes

Gaudreau – Monahan – Ritchie
35% xGF in 29 minutes

Lucic – Backlund – Mangiapane
64% xGF in 99 minutes

Bennett – Ryan – Leivo
91% xGF in 21 minutes

The Start

Anyone trying to make the case for the equivalent of the 1991 playoff series would end up quickly on the losing side of the argument, but you have to be happy if you’re a Flames fan with Calgary’s first period.

If they actually measured possession in times of minutes with the puck, or minutes in the opposition’s zone it was pretty much all Calgary as the shots were 6-4, with Calgary doing a lot of great cycling without getting a lot by way of shots on goal.

Shot attempts were 17-10 Flames and the scoring chances (high danger) were 2-0 for the Flames.

The tone was set on the first shift when the Flames started the Backlund line against the McDavid line, McDavid and Draisaitl spending all 35 seconds pinned in their own zone.

Kylington Hit / Ritchie Knock Out

Well that was old time hockey wasn’t it?

Jujhar Kara comes in and puts an elbow to the face of Oliver Kylington, sending Kylington to the ice, and then to the room. Brett Ritchie on his next shift with Kara pretty much explains what is about to happen. Sean Monahan either purposely or perfectly planned gets tossed out of the circle. Ritchie comes in … puck drops and the fight is on.

Didn’t last long as Kara is dropped with a really hard right.

Don’t see many fights end that decisively these days.

Glad Kylington Came Back

Seems to be finding his legs under Sutter so fingers were crossed when he reappeared in the second period to take his regular turn on the third pairing.

And back he was …

Dillon Dube gets the puck in the Flames corner and spots Kylington creating an option from the defense up the ice; something you don’t see very often. Kylington takes the puck in tries to set up Matthew Tkachuk only to have the puck slip by him and to Elias Lindholm for the goal.

Just have to love that Kylington read to jump up.

Ironically it was the same sort of read from Juuso Valimaki on the Oilers second goal that caught the very same pairing.

Smith Handling the Puck

When Mike Smith was in Calgary I tried to defend the guy as I felt the four or five big mistakes a year were made up by the 15 times a game where he helped out his defensemen by settling the puck and saving them the full trip back to retrieve.

Still believe that. I think his criticism is over thought.

But one thing that stood out to me tonight? Why is he allowed to high stick the puck when it rings the glass high and then have it go to an Oiler defenseman without a whistle?

Is that a rule?

Seems pretty inconsistent.

Standings Impact

Huge two points again for the Flames.

They didn’t get their dream night finish with a Jets win over Montreal, but beating the Oilers in regulation is certainly key as they closed the gap with the third place team to five points with Calgary having two games in hand.

Makes that game on Wednesday super important again, of course.

Hanifin Again

Another night for Noah Hanifin.

He would be the first one to give credit to his all season battery mate in Chris Tanev, and with good reason, but lets not give away all the credit.

I mean Chris Tanev was a 46% CF player in Vancouver last year primarily with Quinn Hugues. It might be time to give Hanifin a nod for being a good match for Tanev, and helping Tanev along every bit as much as Tanev is helping Hanifin.

Tonight the game winning goal, his third goal in the last five games as he continues to push the play all over the ice.

Sutter even gave him a powerplay turn in the third period.

The former 5th overall pick was chosen a spot behind Mitch Marner, perhaps he’s emerging into that future top pairing guy he was destined for.

Thank God they didn’t trade him for a Taylor Hall rental.

Monahan / Gaudreau Break Up

Guessing it won’t be long before we see something we haven’t seen through four coaches and almost six year; the Sean Monahan / Johnny Gaudreau break up.

The Flame’s second line has consistently been under water since Sutter took over. Sure Monahan scored two key goals against Montreal on Saturday night, but long term they just may not be the best match defensively five on five.

Would assume that won’t go on too much longer in the shot volume emphasis world we are seeing.

Flames Have Two Nukes

Wow did Brett Ritchie fair well in his first scrap in Calgary colours.

With Milan Lucic on the roster that gives the Flames two dangerous options for wingers in their current top nine, which is somewhat unique in today’s NHL.

Does that make Ritchie a night in night out guarantee to play? Or does his perch on a roster spot remain perilous?

Ideally the Flames would have a better option for that Monahan/Gaudreau line, but at the moment it will be interesting to see if they muck with other lines to fix the second line.

Team Stats:

Shots – Flames 27 Oilers 31
Face Offs – Flames 38%
Powerplay – Flames 0/3 Oilers 0/1

Player Stats:

Points – Four players with two points nights including Mikael Backlund, Elias “Oil Killer” Lindholm, Dillon Dube and Andrew Mangiapane, the final three all with a goal and an assist.
Plus/Minus – Quite a few players with a +2 night including Backlund, Milan Lucic, Matthew Tkachuk, Lindholm, Dube and Mangiapane.
Shots – Sean Monahan led all shooters with four shots on goal.

Fancy Stats

The Flames and Oilers sawed off the five on five shot attempts for the night with score effects playing a role as Calgary led most of the night. The Flames with 50% with period splits of 54%/50% and 45%. In terms of scoring chances the Flames had the high danger edge five on five with a 10-8 split (56%). Expected goals five on five were pretty much even.

In all situations the Flames had 49% of the shot attempts, 55% of the high danger chances and an expected goal spit of 48%.

Individually, the Flames were led by Oliver Kylington again at 61%. Elias Lindholm was the other skater at 60%, followed by Juuso Valimaki at 58%, Matthew Tkachuk at 57%, Chris Tanev at 56% and Dillon Dube at 55%. Rasmus Andersson, Noah Hanifin (there’s a first!), Brett Ritchie, Josh Leivo and Mark Giordano were all at the bottom of the pile.

 



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