It looked like the Flames had the recipe for the third period to walk a tight 1-0 game home to the victory column.
The teams went seven minutes without a whistle and there really wasn’t a whole lot happening either way. Time was ticking on and the Jets were running out of time.
But a missed assignment by Mark Giordano led to a breakaway and then a penalty, and then of course a Josh Morrissey goal just as the powerplay expired, and just like that you have a snowy overtime.
A Sean Monahan penalty and then a lack of hustle from Derek Ryan later and the Jets walk away with an entertaining out door 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Saturday night.
The overtime loss moves the Flames to 6-5-2 on this still young NHL season.
Line Up Changes
Where to start?
Every one of the team’s forward trios change not only from last game, but in a way we literally haven’t seen since Bill Peters took the reigns 13 months ago.
Elias Lindholm slides over to center on the top line and is joined by Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk. Sean Monahan drops down to center Andrew Mangiapane and Sam Bennett. Mikael Backlund forms a new 3M line with Milan Lucic filling in for Tkachuk with Michael Frolik. Mark Jankowski is a healthy scratch as Alan Quine gets inserted after being recalled on a line with Tobias Rieder and Derek Ryan.
No changes to the defense pairings.
David Rittich gets the start after a bit of a rough night against the Panthers on Thursday.
The Weather
Pretty much snowed the entire game, which always adds so much to these games. Temperatures stayed around -4C for the game, and they said the wind chill was -11C for most of the night.
Sure the snow piled up on the ice, and that created a lot of bouncing and bobbled pucks, but for the most part the wind didn’t seem to be the factor that we all thought it would be.
The Jerseys
I found myself going back and forth between shear joy of seeing that 80s Saddledome look again and almost being dumbfounded that it took them almost 25 years to finally get it right.
Have to hand it to the current jersey team though, they nailed both the home (red) and now these new road (white) jerseys completely. The biggest change is the lower shoulder pad drop to the bottom of the jersey V on the front; the 80s version were only about half way down. That and the bigger C of course on the front.
Such a great look.
The Lindholm Goal
I have to admit I was almost sure it was going to be disallowed.
I get the Tkachuk was bent over argument as that changes the perspective quite a bit, and you add that to the fact that you needed irrefutable angles to over turn the call on the ice which was a good goal.
But yeah add that to my record of getting 3/4 of reviews wrong. Glad it’s not my job.
Rittich the Teammate
Pretty cool to see David Rittich come out and protect Oliver Kylington when he was to close to a corner brawl after getting hit from behind by Dave Lowry.
Reminded me of when my cousin played for the Port Coquitlam Buckaroos in tier II BC junior hockey and had his helmet knocked off and kicked in the head. He got up, but was out on his feet and falling when he goalie dove out and caught his head with his catcher before his melon hit the ice. Could have saved his life.
Rittich digging into the pile to pull Kylington to safety is a good demonstration of why the guy is so popular with his teammates.
Still can’t believe that wasn’t a five minute major.
New Look Lines
Overall pretty impressed right?
The top line looked good all night, though a little snake bit. Tkachuk, Lindholm and Gaudreau work well together. And I thought the Monahan line worked well too with Mangiapane and Bennett pretty seamless in how they work the cycle down low. Even the third line had a look or two with Lucic showing hands and poise for the first time on the season. And finally the fourth line was doing what a fourth line should do and staying out of trouble.
Though the team had a rough third period, I’d stick with them for a while.
The Derek Ryan Overtime Shift
Just don’t get that one.
Did he think the less speedy Matthew Tkachuk was hard on the backcheck already? Forgot that it was three on three and not four on four?
Guessing it’s not laziness, but Derek Ryan had the opportunity to reign in the puck carrier in overtime and instead just coasted giving the Jets the game winning two on one on TJ Brodie that led to the game winner.
You could see he was frustrated when all he could do was watch the goal from 20 feet. Blown decision.
More Face Off Woes
The Flames were 38% in the face off circle again tonight, as their misery continues this season in the dot after being a dominant team last year.
Sean Monahan continued to be the most reliable player in the circle at 50%, while Lindholm posted 29%, Derek Ryan 30% and Mikael Backlund 45%.
Mark Scheifele and Adam Lowry owned the group all night.
Counting Stats
Team Stats:
Shots – Flames 30 Jets 45
Face Offs – Flames 38%
Special Teams – Flames 1/3 Jets 1/5
Player Stats:
Points – Each of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm get a point, all on the same play, a Lindholm powerplay goal in the second period.
Plus/Minus – With the Calgary goal coming a man up, no player had a plus night.
Shots – Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk each had six shots on the night.
Fancy Stats
The Flames ended the night at 45% in five on five shot attempts on period splits of 45%/57% and a miserable third period with just 32%, score effects of course. The Flames did have the edge in five on five high danger chances though with 60% (6-4) in the snow.
In all situations the Flames had 41% of the shot attempts (the Jets had two additional powerplays), but still had the high danger edge 8-7.
Calgary was led individually by Michael Frolik with 63% on the night, Lindholm had 61% and Milan Lucic was good for 58% as the newly minted third line was pretty effective in their own zone, save for one shift. On the other end of the spectrum was the fourth line who all finished under 30%.
