You never want to chase a game.
The Flames were money through the first period, outplaying their visitors and setting a solid two way five on five tone after delivering a win in Anaheim. The second saw back to back odd goals though, and really from there the Flames never really recovered.
The first a tough angle shot that had Cam Talbot looking unprepared and then almost hurt after the play. The second on a bobble behind the net and a puck off of Rasmus Andersson’s skate. Just like that it’s 2-0 Washington and the Flames never really found their game again.
They tied it briefly in the second, but the Caps pulled ahead again on an Ovechkin one timer and that was that in setting up a listless third period.
Line Up Changes
With Andrew Mangiapane set to go the Flames sent Alan Quine back to Stockton and called up Oliver Kylington to make things right on the roster again. Quine played well in his one game, but teams don’t go far carrying only six defenseman.
Mangiapane goes in on the third line with Derek Ryan and Tobias Rieder. Leaving Milan Lucic to play with Mark Janowski and Michael Frolik. Austin Czarnik holds his spot in the top six for now lining up with Matthew Tkachuk and Mikael Backlund.
On the blueline no change, with Michael Stone staying in (scored last game) and lining up with TJ Brodie, Rasmus Andersson on the top pairing with Mark Giordano, and the middle pairing staying unchanged.
Good to see Cam Talbot staying in the nets for his first back to back start in Calgary colours.
The Quote
“You play sh*tty defence, good luck getting out of your own end”
Everyone is welcome to their own opinion on Bill Peters, but as a hockey coach myself I almost did a cross of the Weiser Clap and the Captain Morgan when I took in his series of quotes on TSN this morning.
Do the work. Get the puck back, and transition out and then go to work offensively. If you skip those first two steps the fun last step almost never happens.
The Flames need to be more committed to play at the hashmarks and stop cheating offensively.
Last year they went through a transition and then picked up their defensive game. Bill Peters is doing his best to get them back on the same page in this early season as well.
Honestly think Peters meant it as a compliment for the last game, but it certainly fit the bill for the final results of this one with his top line all sitting a -3.
Gaudreau Forcing It
The wee man is still fighting it.
His line was -3 tonight and that’s never good, but beyond that the focus on Gaudreau shows a player fighting the puck, trying too hard to make things happen and creating far too many turnovers; both off of mistakes and shots from ill-advised angles.
Like we saw in the playoffs last year … less is more. Gaudreau has to deal with the hand he’s dealt from time to time instead of going all in on a 2, 5 and 9.
Two Gaffs
Still not sure what happened on that first Cam Talbot gaff. It’s almost like he had an out of body experience and missed the play altogether.
The second mistake happens at least. Goalie caught playing the puck, the opposition centers it and its off your defenders skate and into the net.
As a total a rough night, and in this game huge as the Flames had the better of the play but found themselves down two goals, but Talbot has to be better than that.
Great game in Anaheim but Talbot gets a share in the loss in this one.
Bottom Pairing Gets Fed
Look for the return of Oliver Kylington on Thursday night against the Panthers. Michael Stone had a rough night with TJ Brodie on the bottom pairing with the duo finishing last and second last in possession metrics.
Kylington hasn’t been perfect this year by any stretch, but after a loss you have to think Peters is thinking changes and the switch up on the blueline is a likely bet. Kylington on the move is a helluva hockey player, but standing still he gets himself in trouble. Still think as an option you take the upside.
Rieder Scores!
The game may have been done and on ice, but nice to see Tobias Rieder score his first goal of the season after delivering a doughnut in Edmonton all of last season.
Rieder popped in a rebound after Andrew Mangiapane directed a puck on net in the final ten seconds of the game.
Rieder has been a positive impact player from the fourth line all early season, so it’s nice to see him rewarded.
Counting Stats
Team Stats:
Shots – Flames 35 Caps 30
Face Offs – Flames 51%
Special Teams – Flames 1/4 Caps 0/3
Player Stats:
Points – Nine different Calgary players had a point, not the one stepping up to take the crown.
Plus/Minus – Only three players managed a + night though and they included; Mikael Backlund, Austin Czarnik and TJ Brodie.
Shots – TJ Brodie and Sean Monahan led the way with four shots on goal.
Fancy Stats
The Flames had the edge in five on five shot attempts on the night with a total game split of 54% on period splits of 59%/48% and 50%. In terms of high danger splits at even strength the Flames had 50% with a 5-5 split. Expected goals for fell 54% in Calgary’s favour, matching the shot attempts.
In all situations Calgary had 51% of the shot attempts, 50% of the high danger attempts and an expected goal split of 44%.
Individually, Austin Czarnik led the way with 67% on the night. He was joined in the 60s by Rasmus Andersson, Matthew Tkachuk, Milan Lucic, Noah Hanifin and Mikael Backlund. At the bottom of the pile was Michael Stone at 3%.
