They really didn’t have it tonight did they?
They looked tired … a step behind the play, and not on the details that they’ve managed so well for most of the season. Honestly if you look at the three games on this trip they haven’t been fully sharp in any of them, but have two wins and a loss after the 3-2 setback to the Vegas Golden Knights tonight.
The loss moves the team to 2-1-0 on this trip that will see them close it out with a game in San Jose on Tuesday night.
Have to give them credit for making it interesting in the third down two goals twice, but overall this was clearly not their best game.
The Lineup
Game three of the four game road trip as the Flames try to keep their winning streak rolling and continue to add points in nearly every game.
Look for Jacob Markstrom back in the net after taking the night off on Friday in Anaheim. Such a luxury to have two guys you can trust and not have to ride the starter out of necessity.
A change on the blueline with Michael Stone coming in for Nikita Zadorov on the third pairing with Erik Gudbranson; a nice touch by Sutter with his brother lining up on the other side. The other two pairs don’t change as Noah Hanifin lines up with Rasmus Anersson, and Oliver Kylington with Chris Tanev. With Valimaki playing well in Stockton, he may become an option after Christmas, but for now I would have assumed the regular six until there was an injury. Wont assume again!
Up front one change as Tyler Pitlick got dinged up in Anaheim, missing the third period, and not suiting up tonight. No change to the top three lines as Elias Lindholm centers Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau, Mikael Backlund centers Milan Lucic and Andrew Mangiapane, a new hot third line with Sean Monahan between Blake Coleman and Trevor Lewis, and then a new fourth line with Dillon Dube, Brad Richardson and call up Adam Ruzicka.
Line Metrics
xGF%
Gaudreau – Lindholm – Tkachuk 66.9%
Lucic – Backlund – Mangiapane 33%
Coleman – Monahan – Lewis 55.6%
Dube – Richardson – Pitlick NA
Hanifin – Andersson 59.2%
Kylington – Tanev 60.4%
Zadorov – Gudbranson 50.0%
Goals Saved + Avg
Markstrom +11.4
Markstrom Strong
Now that was quality goaltending.
Not a shut out as we’ve seen from the guy five times this year, but the kind of goaltending that gives a team that doesn’t deserve to be in a game a chance.
The Flames didn’t generate a single high danger chance five on five through 40 minutes, their powerplay generated one late in the second, yet they were down 1-0 going to the third period with a fighting chance because of their goaltender.
What a difference quality goaltending can make. The Flames have been full marks this season for playing a good system, but tonight the stopper masked a lot of zits.
Dube Needs To Be Better
Hard to blame Darryl Sutter for sending Dillon Dube down the roster; he just isn’t getting it done.
He has too much talent to be so ineffective offensively, but it’s the defensive side of his game that has him a liability on the ice far too often.
In the second he had the puck high in the offensive zone, which is a danger area. The pass to him was somewhat unexpected to I’m not even that down on him for the turnover. But then he doesn’t get on his horse on the backcheck that he created, allowing a two on one essentially that Chris Tanev misread leading to a breakaway.
If Dube is going there he easily catches the guy.
Disappointing.
Middle Six Mix
The line changes to the bottom three lines and specifically the middle six worked in Anaheim in getting Sean Monahan and Blake Coleman going, but it looks to have completely neutered Mikeal Backlund and Andrew Mangiapane.
Milan Lucic is a great story, a solid leader, and a great teammate but he shouldn’t be a top six forward. That line has completely stalled since the shake up, and with the Monahan/Coleman/Lewis line not as effective tonight it really makes the team a one line squad.
And that line wasn’t all that good tonight either.
Special Teams
Neither team hit the scoresheet tonight with the man advantage, the Knights getting three chances and the Flames two.
One of those five on five nights where special teams don’t play a big role.
If you’re going to pick a winner though, its the Flames with the extra penalty killed.
Standings and Record
The loss gives the Flames a 15-5-5 record on the season, and a 2-1-0 record on this four game road trip through the sunbelt of the Pacific Division.
The Oilers lost to the Kings tonight with McDavid getting ejected for boarding so they don’t lose any ground in the Battle of Alberta.
The Knights move with seven points of the Flames.
Counting Stats
Shots: Flames 26/ Golden Knights 28
Face Offs: Flames 53% / Golden Knights 47%
Powerplay: Flames 0-2 / Golden Knights 0-3
Fancy Stats
Another game where the eye test perfectly matches the underlying stats summary as the Flames were not the better team tonight in Vegas. Five on five they had 45% of the shot attempts with period splits of 42%/42% and 50% respectively. In terms of five on five expected goals, the Flames only had 30%, and for high danger scoring chances the Flames had 13%, with a 2-13 split. If not for Jacob Markstrom this game honestly would have been a laugher, they literally didn’t generate a thing five on five.
In all situations the Flames had 50% of the shot attempts, 33% of the expected goals, and 25% of the high danger splits.
Individually the Flames were led by Sean Monahan with 55% of the five on five shot attempts. Blake Coleman, Johnny Gaudreau, Rasmus Andersson, Trevor Lewis, Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin were the other players over the 50% mark. Eleven players were under water with two players under 30%; Mikael Backlund and Brad Richardson.
