A tale of too little too late.
For 55 minutes the game story was a pretty simple one to write. The Flames failed to show up early and never really got themselves in it in a listless 4-0 loss the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.
Instead the Flames mount a crazed comeback, scoring three goals in roughly two and a half minutes to make said 4-0 loss into a 4-3 nail biter. The positive side of me appreciates the never say die angle from the Flames, while the frustrated side of me points out the fact that they’ve surrendered the first goal in 6 straight games and they simple have to find a way to get things going off the hop.
Either way they drop an important game to a team chasing them in the ever tightening Western Conference playoff race.
The Flow
Another slow start for the Flames as they continue to come out slow and give up the first goal of the game, just as they did against New Jersey and Florida in recent home starts, a bad trend. This time it was a big rebound given up by Chad Johnson with Chris Neal jumping on the rebound and sliding the puck right through his wickets. The Flames get untracked and start to push back through the rest of the period, and even get back to back overlapping powerplay chances later but fail to gain control of the puck and gas the excellent opportunity. Predators lead 1-0 after one period, despite being out shot 14-9 in the end.
The Flames looked better in the second and had some good chances early but couldn’t solve Predator goaltender Juuse Soros. The Predators take advantage of TJ Brodie getting caught up ice and Ryan Ellis was a bit of an over match for Dennis Wideman on the two on one, blowing right by the Flames defender before beating Johnson off the post to make it 2-0. The Flames gas a powerplay chance again, a perfect opportunity to get back into it, but the Predators don’t make the same mistake when they get their chance, Ryan Ellis firing another through Johnson’s legs and the Predators lead the Flames 3-0 after two periods, pretty much in cruise mode heading to the third period.
Three zip is a tough score to come back from, but if my arithmetic is correct 4-0 is even worse, and that’s what the Filip Forsberg scores just 8 minutes into the period, making the final 12 minutes pretty academic, or so the 1000s of hockey fans that left early thought. Not so fast! The Flames get a bounce on a Kris Versteeg powerplay goal to break Soros’ shut out and with that the game finally got interesting. The Flames score 17 seconds later when Matthew Tkachuk puts a screen on for a Michael Frolik counter and with that its 4-2. Two minutes later with the goalie pulled the Flames find the net again when Sean Monahan takes advantage of an exhausted Predator team, picking up his own rebound and beating Soros over the pad to make it 4-3. Calgary pulls the goalie again but never really finds that final blue chip chance and with that they come up just short against the Preds; 4-3 final.
Possession Pulse
First Period – First period the teams tie in shot attempts five on five with 13 apiece, and tie overall in shot attempts as well with 20.
Second Period – Second period shot attempts are 15-11 Calgary, and they also lead overall at 16-14.
Third Period – And predictably the Flames pull ahead even more in the third with a 14-10 edge, a big edge overall at 29-11.
Players – One of those games where the underlying stats don’t really tell the story. The team with the edge in fancy stats really didn’t play all that well on the night, as the scoreboard was a better explanation of the happenings. Guys with good numbers though included; the corsi line with Tkachuk at 82%, and his buddies both in the 80s. Only five players were under water for the Flames a list that included; the top line of Monahan, Gaudreau and Brouwer who were all in the 30s, and Lance Bouma and Freddie Hamilton, 4th liners that struggled without the presence of Matt Stajan.
1. Ryan Ellis: His first two goal game of his career, both coming in the second period in the win.
2. Viktor Arvidsson: Scrappy kid, picked up two assist and was in the guts of the game all night.
3. Sean Monahan: Got owned in possession, but picked up a goal and an assist to keep his streak rolling.
Big Save
On a shift in the second period powerplay Sean Monahan had a point blank shot in the slot and then a tipped shot from the point both stoned Soros with pad saves at a point where a goal would have really changed the trajectory of the game.
The Goat
Have to go with Chad Johnson. His two wickets goals really hurt the team tonight, especially the one in the first with the team still looking to find their legs. I didn’t particularly love his two goals against in the first against Florida either, but tonight his club wasn’t able to bail him out.
Mr. Clutch
I liked Dougie Hamilton’s game tonight. He picked up two assists in 20 minutes of work and was noticeable on almost every shift. Got caught on a late hit on Arvidsson, but other than that was one of the Flames better skaters.
Odds and Ends
As per usual I start with lineup changes, but tonight it has a different feel to the exercise. The Flames go with Johnson in the cage again, the same defensive alignment, but up front 20 year old Sam Bennett takes a seat for a healthy scratch, his first of the season. In his place Matt Stajan moves up the roster, and Freddie Hamilton checks in in his place on the fourth line. So what to make of the scratch? I like it, and I’m not over reacting to it. The guy is only 20 years old, and he’s lost his way. Sam Bennett plays with a lot of spit and fire, but right now his confidence is shot and maybe a different perspective will chill him out. It did a world of good for Matthew Tkachuk earlier this season and he’s never looked back. … So I guess it’s Brian Elliott against the Oilers on a Saturday night again with Johnson’s loss tonight against the Predators. Elliott looked really good in Edmonton up until the shoot out last Saturday and probably deserved one of the starts this week leading up to Saturday with Edmonton again. A big opportunity to seize the net and add a little intrigue to the goalie situation again for the next spell of games. … Like Micheal Ferland’s late look on the powerplay tonight, he has the hands to get things done and certainly the frame to cause havoc in front of the cage. … Just don’t like the way Dennis Wideman plays hockey. Can’t honestly put my finger on what it is, but it annoys me. There just seems to be a “whatever” type of tone in his movements on the ice, but I’ll be the first to admit I might be jaded. … This season was never going to be a joy ride, something Calgary fans were faced with early with the team’s dreadful start. Now in a playoff spot a spotty January has seen them miss some great chances to put some distance between themselves and rivals, none more obvious than tonight’s tilt with the Predators. As a result the Flames now have themselves very much in a wildcard battle as they are six back of the Oilers for the Pacific’s last gimme spot. Two points up on Nashville and three up on the Kings with both teams having three games in hand isn’t a great situation. Time for a win streak I guess!
Next Up
Things don’t get much bigger than the next one up on the old schedule with the Oilers coming to town and the Flames looking to avoid both back to back losses and back to back losses to the Oilers on Saturday nights. Game time 8pm on Hockey Night in Canada.
Lines:
Tkachuk – Backlund – Frolik
Versteeg – Monahan – Brouwer
Gaudreau – Stajan – Chiasson
Bouma – Hamilton – Ferland
Giordano – Engelland
Brodie – Wideman
Jokipakka- Engellend
Johnson
