Beating top teams on the road is a tough task, a task that comes with a pretty firm game plan.
Paramount on that bullet list is to stay out of the box when you’re playing the Capitals as their 8th ranked powerplay is ultra dangerous with the soft passing Niklas Backstrom, the rocket launcher in Alex Ovechkin and a myriad of options to fill out their top unit both up front and on the blueline.
Take penalties and put yourself behind the eight ball, something the Flames certainly did by taking three minor to the one taken by the Capitals in losing the special teams battle and the hockey game by a 4-2 score.
The Flow
When you’re playing good to great teams in their barn you have to be ready to withstand that big opening period push that is inevitable and usually unavoidable. The Flames did a reasonable job at that, avoiding damage, with the modified 3M line doing a great job in their first shift against Ovechkin’s line. The Caps open the scoring though when Johnny Gaudreau makes a head scratching turn over in the neutral zone sending Washington away on a three on two. From there Derryk Engelland fails to see Kuznetsov coming out of the penalty box, and Troy Brouwer can’t keep up with him and it’s 1-0 on a Kuznetsov goal. Luckily he was able to make amends a few minutes later when he combined with center Sean Monahan on a two on one, setting up Monahan who wired one over the shoulder of Brayden Holtby; game tied 1-1. From there the Flames settled right down and looked very comfortable playing with the Capitals. They fail on a powerplay that has a lot of zone time, but no real blue chip chance, but go to the room tied at 1-1.
Great start to the second period for the Flames as the Matt Stajan led third line enjoys a long shift in the Capital’s zone, a dusting of Backlund’s line switching in before play came to a halt. Brian Elliott was solid from start to finish, as the Capitals start to come on as the period rolls along but the Calgary netminder holds strong. The Caps get their first powerplay but its the Flames that almost score when Frolik goes to Backlund who goes back to Frolik for a one timer but is stoned by Holtby. The Caps finally break the deadlock when Backstrom spots Ovechkin across the zone who then finds Oshie going to the net, Elliott had little chance. They double the lead soon after on a late powerplay opportunity with Shatenkirk converting with less than 3 seconds to play in the period; a back breaker.
Give the Flames credit, they didn’t quit. The Flames are solid in the third period, carrying the play for the most part five on five in a game against a tough opponent. They’re finally rewarded late in the period when Troy Brouwer converts an amazing centering pass from Derryk Engelland and the Flames are right back into it with a 3-2 score. Mark Giordano then gets sprung seconds later on a golden chance in almost alone, but Holtby gets a shoulder on the puck and the game stays 3-2 Washington. Moments later Giordano gets a minor for putting the puck over the glass and Ovechkin goes to work putting the game away; 4-2 Caps in a well played game.
1st Period – 22-16 for the Caps in the first period, reflective of a close period with the home side slightly carrying the play. The scoring chances were knotted at 7 apiece; solid first period by the Flames.
2nd Period – The game got away a little bit in the second and that was seen in the shot attempts certainly with the differential 25-13 for the Capitals. The scoring chances an eye popping 15-7 for the Capitals, and that was just five on five.
3rd Period – Calgary pushes hard in the third and has a 20-8 edge in shot attempts, and also lead the scoring chances derby by a 8-6 margin. Capitals full marks for the win.
Players – The Flames big five dominate once again, and are led by Sam Bennett becoming one of the big five in the place of Matthew Tkachuk. All five players finish between 61 and 66%. The rest of the team suffered greatly however, as seven players finished under the 40% mark on the night, led shamefully at 15% by Curtis Lazar and Lance Bouma. Others with some trouble included; Freddie Hamilton, Bartkowski, Engelland, Stajan and Brouwer.
1. Alex Ovechkin: A goal and two assists as the superstar was just that in dousing the Flames.
2. Brayden Holtby : Don’t for a second think that Holtby is just an average goaltender playing for a great team. He’s lights out and was tonight stopping 25 of 27 shots, at least two in spectacular fashion.
3. Sean Monahan : Scored Calgary’s first goal and was very noticeable every time he was on the ice.
Big Save
Brayden Holtby’s stop on Michael Frolik short handed in the second period was a game changer as it came with the game tied at one halfway through the second period. Frolik and Backlund on a two on one with Frolik feeding Backlund who ran out of real estate but found Frolik for a shot with Holtby out of the play. He slides across and gets a pad on it.
The Goat
Didn’t like Gaudreau’s turn over on the first Cap’s goal, but he made up for it with a great assist later in the period. You could go after Giordano for putting the puck over the glass with five minutes to play, but that was just a bad bounce. No goat in this one.
Mr. Clutch
Gonna go with Sam Bennett tonight, as he stepped into the role on the 3M line seamlessly, as he spent most of his night on the attack for the first time in eons. Had a few chances, and showed some good poise with the puck, a great example game of what the kid will eventually become.
Odds and Ends
Biggest change to the lineup tonight comes as the result of the Matthew Tkachuk suspension, his having to sit two games has altered the look of the forward group, especially with Micheal Ferland still out with a possible case of the mumps. Alex Chiasson stays on the top line with Gaudreau and Monahan, while Sam Bennett gets elevated to play with Backlund and Frolik. Bennett scored 9 of his 15 goals last season playing the left side on that line so while missing Tkachuk isn’t ideal, it may have a silver lining if Bennett can get off the snide. Either way, not what you want if you’re Brian Elliott going for a team record 12th straight victory in the nets. … Speaking of Elliott, was impressed to see Mike Vernon’s comments about the streak this week; all class, giving a lot of credit to Elliott given the era he plays in. A refreshing change from another former Flame that seems to have a need to discuss how much harder it was for him when he played and tried to do similar things. True or not can be debated, not saying it however is certainly the way to go. …. It was a shame to see said streak come to a halt, but you had that feeling that a tough team like Washington, on the road, missing two top six wingers may be the tonic to nix the run. … If you look at Leon Draisaitl’s play through two years in the National Hockey League you’ll notice he’s spent a lot of time with one of Taylor Hall or Connor McDavid on his flank. If you do the same for Sam Bennett you’d notice a chunk of time with Backlund and rest with a hodge podge of wingers and teammates. He hasn’t been flanked with skill for most of his young career. That’s why tonight was super interesting to watch as he gained the mother load of assignments and proved, at least with a small sample size of one game. Will be interesting to see what happens in Nashville. … I think Sean Monahan is about to take his game to the next level. Over the first three years of his career he’s been amazing as a shooter, racking up goals as a teenager and defying the odds. But he wasn’t very hard on the puck, and he wasn’t one to create a whole lot on his own. Since the Flames got rolling six weeks ago I’ve seen a different guy emerge as this version of Monahan holds the puck, finds Gaudreau himself, and gets in on the forecheck and leans on guys. A very good sign for this and subsequent years, as I was worried he was riding shot gun far too much. … A loss sure, but was fun to see the Flames hang with the Capitals. The home side deserved to win, but the Flames didn’t get run out of the building by any shot, and with a little more discipline and finish it could have been a different outcome.
Next Up
The road trip moves to Nashville for game two on Tuesday, game time 6.00pm on Sportsnet Flames.
Lines:
Bennett – Backlund – Frolik
Gaudreau – Monahan – Chiasson
Versteeg – Stajan – Brouwer
Bouma – Hamilton – Lazar
Giordano – Hamilton
Brodie – Stone
Bartkowski – Engelland
Elliott
