Back to back nights in the city of Los Angeles, usually a death trap for the Flames in recent seasons.
But tonight after last night’s 3-2 win in L.A., the Flames find a way to win another this time in a shoot out turning back the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 in a shoot out after blowing a 3-1 lead.
The Flames got a good push from a new fab’d third line with both Sean Monahan and Blake Coleman getting off lengthy goalless streaks to propel the win.
The Flames are now 2-0-0 on a four game road trip through the West Coast of the Pacific Division, erasing a lot of doubts about their record being padded against the East.
Next up the Sharks on Sunday night.
The Lineup
Back to back games with only the one expected change tonight, as Daniel Vladar looks to continue his streak to six games without a regulation loss to start his career in Calgary. Looking forward to seeing him on home ice someday as well, he’s only made road starts to date.
On the blueline with Juuso Valimaki sent down there isn’t a whole lot of intrigue going forward. With Michael Stone the clear number seven it will take an injury to change up the blueline. So look for Noah Hanifin and Rasmus Andersson, Oliver Kylington with Chris Tanev, and the now encased Nikita Zadorov with his regular linemate Erik Gudbranson.
But there was some change up front, as I’m guessing Sutter has noticed (clearly) that the fourth line was getting filled in of late. So tonight it’s Elias Lindholm between Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau (no change), and then all three bottom lines change. Mikael Backlund with Milan Lucic and Andrew Mangiapane, Sean Monahan with Blake Coleman and Trevor Lewis, and a new fourth line with Brad Richardson between Dillon Dube and Tyler Pitlick.
Line Metrics
xGF%
Gaudreau – Lindholm – Tkachuk 66.4%
Lucic – Backlund – Mangiapane NA
Coleman – Monahan – Lewis NA
Dube – Richardson – Pitlick NA
Hanifin – Andersson 58.4%
Kylington – Tanev 60.1%
Zadorov – Gudbranson 52.3%
Goals Saved + Avg
Markstrom +11.4
Vladar Saves Their First Period Bacon
Have to hand it to Dan Vladar in start number 6 with the Flames.
The end result is another game without a regulation loss, in fact he wins it, but without his heroics in the first period I’m not sure they get to the point where they would have had a chance.
The Flames turned the puck over often in the first, and took two penalties, but Vladar and his posts were the difference in keeping the game scoreless through 20.
The Flames built up a 3-1 lead in the second on three straight goals, but coughed up the lead and made it interesting in the third period.
Changes Up Front
The telecast highlighted Sean Monahan as the reason Darryl Sutter changed up his forward lines, something that was somewhat supported by the fact that the Monahan line took the opening face off in all three periods.
But honestly I think the change was more due to the fact that the existing fourth line was getting filled in on a night basis, and Sutter knew he needed to change it up.
Last night in LA they were around 20% in xGF%, and the old Monahan line was pretty terrible as well.
So getting a change to the bottom six without hurting (or changing the top three) was paramount in avoiding sink holes in the roster.
Monahan Five on Five / Coleman Off the Snide
Either way the change certainly worked for Sean Monahan as the struggling former first line center scored a goal and added a pretty nifty assist, with both points coming five on five.
The Monahan assist was also an ice breaker for Blake Coleman who had gone a month without scoring a goal himself.
The Flames have a great top line, they have Andrew Mangiapane going on the road, but some support scoring from Monahan and Coleman would go a long way in keeping the hot start flowing.
Mirror Image of LA Game Through Two
Odd to see how similar the two games in Los Angeles played out.
Cali teams opening the scoring.
Flames score three straight and look to be cruising towards the the third period.
Both Cali teams score late in the second to make it interesting.
The Flames win both by a goal so they found the same outcome, but in LA they managed to hang on in the third period.
Most Boring OT Ever?
Man that wasn’t pretty.
I get being careful but that had to be the most boring overtime period I’ve seen in the whatever number of years they’ve walked out the format.
I think Brian Burke was on to something when he suggested they add an over and back rule like basketball that would keep teams in overtime from moving the puck back to their side of center once they took it across.
That and I’m not sure Chris Tanev is the guy to go with in the extra time. Roll with Rasmus Andersson, Oliver Kylington and Noah Hanifin.
Shoot Out Magic
Pretty emphatic push from the Flames in the shoot out tonight, compared to that seven shot marathon against the Penguins the other night.
Daniel Vladar stops both shots including a great glove save on Trevor Zegras, and then both Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk score on Gibson to end it early; Tkachuk on the Forsberg shoot out move done to perfection.
This idea that the Flames lack star power may be somewhat overstated.
Special Teams
The Flames go zero for one with their chance, and give up the game tying goal on the Ducks’ powerplay early in the third so the special teams edge has to go to Anaheim.
Originally I was pretty chaffed when the officials called the third period cross check of Zegras on Tkachuk even up, but then I saw the replay and the Coleman shot to Zegras’ head and nodded in approval.
Standings and Record
With the win the Flames have done some fun things.
Edmonton lost, so they move three points clear of the Oilers and ahead in points % as well. Additionally they move into a three way tie for first place in the league at 35 points (tied with Toronto in points % and just back of Florida).
The Flames at 15-4-5 have played at least two more road games than any of the teams at the top of the list, including six more than the Panthers.
Counting Stats
Shots: Flames 36/ Ducks 34
Face Offs: Flames 45% / Ducks 55%
Powerplay: Flames 0-1 / Ducks 1-3
Fancy Stats
The Flames had the edge in most of the play driving stats despite having what felt like a pretty sloppy road game overall; something that probably speaks to how spoiled I’ve become watching this team to start the season. Five on five they had 51% of the shot attempts with period splits of 54%/52% and 47% respectively. In terms of five on five expected goals, the Flames only had 49%, and for high danger scoring chances the Flames had 54%, with a 14-12 split.
In all situations the Flames had 49% of the shot attempts, 49% of the expected goals, and 57% of the high danger splits.
Individually the Flames were led by Noah Hanifin with 70% of the five on five shot attempts. Rasmus Andersson, Blake Coleman, and Sean Monahan were in the 60s. Erik Gudbranson and Mikael Backlund were at the bottom as the only players under the 40% mark.
