So you’re saying there’s a chance!
The Flames dropped a tonne of game leading up to the trade deadline so it was only natural to move assets on a one game win streak and the chance of a playoff spot pretty dim.
So consider that lucky, the team didn’t do something foolish and mismanage assets on a wing and a prayer.
With that said now it’s just fun. The Flames have a shiny new prospect, and two draft picks, and then walked into back to back games in Canada’s two biggest cities with victories, the regulation one coming against the team they needed it the most.
Tonight’s 3-1 win in Montreal doesn’t make the Flames quest to grab a miracle playoff spot probable, but it certainly pushes off the death march and makes the next set of games interesting.
Could be fun!
The Line Up
When a team plays the night before and wins, there are two ways a coach can go when he fills out his lineup. One school of thought is to pick a skater or two; usually a third pairing defenseman and a fourth line forward and scratch them for players with fresh legs. Additionally, you start the other goaltender. The other school of thought is to go with the winning roster of course, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing tonight from Darryl Sutter.
The Cage
Back to back games? Who cares! The season is on the line. The Flames pretty much have to win this one, so it would make very little sense to go with Louis Domingue in his first NHL start this season in this scenario with David Rittich now a Leaf. Hopefully whatever was ailing Jacob Markstrom for a month had more to do with an injury that he’s put behind him, and not due to over playing or it could be a rough ride the rest of the way.
Jacob Markstrom
Goals Saved above average -7.5
Louis Domingue
Yet to play
The Blueline
No change on the blueline as well, as we see Mark Giordano with Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin with Rasmus Andersson and Juuso Valimaki with Michael Stone. All three pairings had their moments last night, the third pairing being on the ice for three of the four even strength goals; one for and two against.
Giordano – Tanev
49% xGF in 81 minutes
Hanifin – Andersson
40% xGF in 92 minutes
Valimaki – Stone
48% xGF in 37 minutes
Up Front
Once again no change. With Josh Leivo filling in for Sam Bennett after the trade they picked up the win, so Sutter goes with the same four lines. Elias Lindholm between Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk, Sean Monahan between Andrew Mangiapane and Dillon Dube, Mikael Backlund between Milan Lucic and Joakim Nordstrom, and Derek Ryan between Josh Leivo and Brett Ritchie.
Gaudreau – Lindholm – Tkachuk
40% xGF in 26 minutes
Mangiapane – Monahan – Dube
61% xGF in 17 minutes
Lucic – Backlund – Nordstrom
58% xGF in 23 minutes
Leivo – Ryan – Ritchie
63% xGF in 7 minutes
~ Data from NaturalStatTrick, and Moneypuck
What a Start!
For the last two wins the Flames pretty much followed the script that we’ve seen in a lot of the team’s losses that lead up to the trade deadline and selling assets.
Have a territorial edge in play, but that edge is pretty much nullified by the fact that the team’s offence and attack plays on the perimeter without generating a lot by way of scoring chances. Add in a lack of finish and a lack of getting a save and they lost eight of nine games.
In the last two wins things changed, though not really the script. The Flames had some puck luck, some much better goaltending, but still were out chanced when you dug into the numbers.
Tonight though the Flames were a little more intense in pushing pucks to the middle. In the first period they had the Habs completely on their toes, and in trouble on a lot of shifts.
That pattern continued as the Flames dominated in shot metrics, and in scoring chances in what seems like the first time in ages.
It’s a long road back, but if they’re figuring it out they may at least make it interesting.
Face Offs
Three years ago the Flames were a solid face off team, finishing near the top of the NHL in percentage. That wasn’t the only stat though, as the most important one, the standings also had them up the list.
There centers that year? Sean Monahan, Mikael Backlund, Derek Ryan and Mark Jankowski, Elias Lindholm took more draws than any other winger.
But for the past couple of seasons it’s been a weak point.
Tonight they were 60% in the dot in a game that they were physically and mentally ready to play from the drop of the puck, making we wonder if the face offs were an indicator of a team playing on it’s toes, something we certainly haven’t seen in spades this season, nor last.
Derek Ryan was 63%.
Mikael Backlund was 75%.
Sean Monahan was 59%.
Elias Lindholm was 53%.
Teams ready to play bring details, and faceoffs is one of the more important ones.
Traffic
There was something distinctively obvious on both Calgary goals tonight.
Traffic.
Defenseman getting pucks through lanes and forwards clogging up the slot and taking away the vantage point for Allen, the goaltender for the Habs.
It’s not an easy job, it’s not glamorous, but it makes a difference if you want to win hockey games.
Too often this season we’ve seen a team that rings the boards ad nauseum until someone fires a puck on net that is turned away easilty.
Maybe Sutter is getting through.
Is Jacob Markstrom Back?
Shut out over the Oilers on Saturday.
Gives up only two to Toronto last night.
Only the single Hab goal tonight.
That’s three goals in three games and with overtime in the Six that’s a goals against average less than 1.00 in the Flames win streak.
He was money to start the season, but almost lost in action for the last six weeks. If the Flames are going to make this something to pay attention to they’re going to need Markstrom to be one of their best players.
The team has played well, so he hasn’t had to steal a game, but he’s been solid.
Team Stats:
Shots – Flames 34 Habs 27
Face Offs – Flames 60%
Powerplay – Flames 0/1 Habs 0/2
Player Stats:
Points – Defense pair Mark Giordano and Chris Tanev each picked up two helpers tonight to pace the Flames with two points.
Plus/Minus – The very same pairing also lead the team with a +2 night.
Shots – Matthew Tkachuk led all skaters with five shots on goal.
Fancy Stats
Pretty dominant game by the Flames pretty much for the full 60 minutes. The Flames had the lion’s share of five on five shot attempts with 52% on the night with period splits of 63%/59% and 43% (score effects). In terms of high danger chances though, the Flames flipped the script and took it to the opponent for once with a 13-4 edge, good for 76%. The expected goals split followed suite with 71% for the Flames.
In all situations the Flames had 52% of the shot attempts, 78% of the high danger chances and 74% of the expected goal split.
Individually the Flames were led by Josh Leivo for the second straight night at 74%, as the fourth line continues to be a solid mix in a limited sample size. Linemate Brett Ritchie was at 70% with Juuso Valimaki, and the other member of the line; Derek Ryan wasn’t far behind at 65%. Other players in the 60s included Elias Lindholm, Michael Stone, and Matthew Tkachuk. At the bottom of the pile was the Monahan line with all three players finishing around 32%.
