Well that was interesting.
When I was much younger it seemed like the Flames were always lending a helping hand to expansion teams to make sure they had their first win, first home win, or first win on the road.
Luckily when the Flames arrived in Seattle the Kraken had already scratched most of their firsts off the lists.
Tonight the Flames struggled early to find their legs, hands and brains, but then pretty much dominated and were unlucky to not win this one going away in a 6-4 game that likely should have been 5-2.
The win snaps the Flames four game losing streak heading into the covid break, and puts them in third spot in the conference in terms of win % before heading East on what could be an endless road trip.
The Lineup
Back at it!
Can’t believe it’s been almost three weeks without a Flames game, but here we are with a return to the ice in Seattle.
A few changes from when we last saw the team.
No change in goal as Jacob Markstrom starts the team’s first game back as expected for the starter. Coming into the game Markstorm is +10.8 in goals saved above average good for 9th in the league.
On the blueline no change as well, with Noah Hanifin lining up with Rasmus Andersson, Oliver Kylington paired with Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov playing with Erik Gudbranson.
Up front lots of change beyond the first line however. Mikael Backlund adds Milan Lucic to his left side along with Blake Coleman. The third line has Dillon Dube up the middle with Andrew Mangiapane and Tyler Pitlick. The fourth line is reunited with Sean Monahan between Brad Richardson and Trevor Lewis. As I said, no change to the top line with Elias Lindholm centering Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk.
Honestly not sure about those forward lines, as I think they weakened three of the four trios.
Note: At game time despite, practicing with the above lines all week, Sutter changed up Milan Lucic for Tyler Pitlick, putting a line of Lucic, Dube and Mangiapane together, while Pitlick joined Backlund and Coleman.
Line Metrics
xGF%
Gaudreau – Lindholm – Tkachuk 63.7%
Lucic – Backlund – Coleman 50.0%
Mangiapane – Dube – Pitlick NA
Richardson – Monahan – Lewis 35.7%
Hanifin – Andersson 58.1%
Kylington – Tanev 56.7%
Zadorov – Gudbranson 51.9%
Goals Saved + Avg
Markstrom +10.8
Expected Rusty Start
Pretty ugly start for the Flames, something that I suppose was expected.
Some terrible play in their own zone, poor positioning, and a general lack of support had the Kraken jump into a 7-2 shot lead and a 1-0 goal lead when former captain Mark Giordano found a pass in the slot and beat Jacob Markstrom off the post.
The Flames pretty much took over from there, limiting chances and tying the game up.
Flames Find Their Feet
To continue the passage above, pretty impressive to be honest to see the Flames find their feet so quickly, you just have to give a nod to Darryl Sutter.
After the rough ten minutes to start the game the Flames were solid the rest of the way, and pretty much dominant in the next thirty.
Sure they’re playing an expansion team (remember pre-Vegas when that was a thing?) but they were full marks for getting back to their details and putting out the game that got them off to a great start.
How About Johnny?
What a start after a three week break … two goals to turn things around giving him 12 on the season.
Gaudreau scored his first when he called for the puck when Nikita Zadorov was looking to shoot from the high slot; the late pass left the Flames winger with a wide open net.
His second he just beat Dreiger plain and simple with a snipe coming off the half boards on the powerplay.
Then in the third he adds an assist with some solid hands finding Matthew Tkachuk for the game winner on a turnover he created.
Bottom line a healthy and ready Johnny Gaudreau is a huge variable in the Flames continued success this season.
Lucic Continues His Roll
Not a five hole goal!
But great to see the story that’s been Milan Lucic through the season continue, even after the break.
That line with Dube and Mangiapane was pretty effective in moving the puck, and grinding deep in the offensive zone. Also like that Andrew Mangiapane has a serious presence to help settle some issues when he stirs things up.
Lucic made a great pass which was foiled, but then took a pass and beat Dreiger up high for his 8th of the season.
The Captain is Present
What a calling card game for Calgary’s former captain, Mark Giordano.
He wires one home for the team’s first goal of the game in the first period, and then adds a powerplay assist on a solid rush on the powerplay to garner two points on two goal from the hosts.
In the third he assists on what looked like an overtime forcing equalizer.
He didn’t get his homecoming with the December 23rd game canceled due to the Flames covid crunch, but he gets his story tonight on home ice in Seattle.
Wish there was a logical way to bring this guy home to play his 1000th game in Calgary colours.
There isn’t.
Flames Are A Forward Short (or two)
I liked the third line look with Dillon Dube back with Milan Lucic, and adding Andrew Mangiapane to that mix made for what honestly looks like a second line.
But the team is still short a forward or two.
The fourth line got just filled in again tonight, and on the season they came in at 37% in xGF%. That isn’t good enough.
The energy of Tyler Pitlick on the fourth line would be a good add, with what I’d assume is a Brad Richardson scratch, but that hole on the Backlund line needs to be filled.
At some point they’re going to have to decide on either spending some assets to bring in a 6-8 guy, or to promote Jacob Pelletier to see what he can do.
Special Teams
The edge goes to Calgary with the Flames scoring twice on five attempts while giving up one against on two chances.
By percentages the Kraken do well, but the Flames get the edge in an empty net goal game.
Flames special teams continue to be a big force behind their first half success.
Standings and Record
Given the chaos on the planet there are pretty much two ways to look at the standings in the National Hockey League.
By points the Flames now have 38 with a 16-7-6 record, good for 3rd spot in the Pacific (a divisional playoff spot), and a five point lead over the first team out of the playoff race in the West (the Jets).
By points % however the Flames are 3rd in the conference with a .655 record behind only Colorado and Minnesota and ahead of St. Louis.
Counting Stats
Shots: Flames 40 / Kraken 22
Face Offs: Flames 60% / Kraken 40%
Powerplay: Flames 2-5 / Kraken 1-2
Fancy Stats
This was pretty much the Flames show from coast to coast after they settled down ten minutes in after a flaky start to their comeback from Covid. Five on five the Flames had 59% of the shot attempts with period splits of 60%/58% and 60% respectively. In terms of five on five expected goals, the Flames had 56%, and for high danger scoring chances the Flames had 50%, with a 6-6 split. That folks is an extremely low event game!
In all situations the Flames had 62% of the shot attempts, 67% of the expected goals, and 58% of the high danger splits.
Individually the Flames were led by Andrew Mangiapane with 76% of the five on five shot attempts. Milan Lucic and Matthew Tkachuk joined him in the 70s club. Dillon Dube, Erik Gudbranson, Nikita Zadorov, Elias Lindholm and Johnny Gaudreau were above the 60% mark. Only five players were under the break even mark on the night a list that included Trevor Lewis, Sean Monahan, Brad Richardson, Tyler Pitlick and Blake Colmean in order.
