The Flames have had a lot of disheartening, disappointing losses this season, but this wasn’t one of them.
Both teams showed up and played a highly entertaining, low scoring, high hit, two fight contest, but it was Edmonton that found that extra push to erase an early third period deficit and win the game 3-2.
I’ve said it before, but more and more I think this league is becoming a superstar league, and when Connor McDavid creates there’s not much you can do. The Oilers were so befuddled in this one that Tippett loaded Draisaitl and McDavid on the same line which effectively made most of the rest of their roster a giant hole, but the skill of McDavid found a way.
For Calgary it was a good effort, and they likely deserved at least a point.
The Line Up
Such an odd situation. The team has a new head coach. That head coach can’t be near the team. So it’s interesting to wonder what input/thoughts Sutter shared with Ryan Huska in terms of lineup changes for the Flames against Edmonton tonight. My assumption since Thursday night was “leave it alone” given the time frame and proximity to the team without a practice before they play. So it’s a bit of a surprise to see Oliver Kylington come out, and Nikita Nesterov go in, especially with how much Nesterov struggled in Edmonton the last times the two teams met.
The Cage
Jacob Markstrom is back! David Rittich picked up some points and probably stole a few along the way, but was pretty inconsistent overall. Hopefully Markstrom is fully healed, sharp and ready to go against an angry group of Oilers who have had their offence dry up. Good to have one of the team’s key players back after missing six games.
Jacob Markstrom
Goals saved above average -2.5
David Rittich
Save percentage above average -2.4
The Blueline
Just the one change as I mentioned. Nikita Nesterov on the third pairing with Juuso Valimaki. The top two pairings don’t change; Mark Giordano with Rasmus Andersson and Noah Hanifin with Chris Tanev.
Giordano – Andersson
44% xGF in 289 minutes
Hanifin – Tanev
60% xGF in 354 minutes
Nesterov – Valimaki
57% xGF in 209 minutes
Up Front
No changes at all from Thursday night’s 7-3 win over the Ottawa Senators. A top line of Elias Lindholm between Matthew Tkachuk and hat trick boy Dillon Dube. Sean Monahan between Johnny Gaudreau and Josh Leivo, Mikael Backlund between Milan Lucic and Andrew Mangiapane, and the surprisingly productive fourth line of Derek Ryan between Brett Ritchie and Joakim Nordstrom.
Tkachuk – Lindholm – Dube
42% xGF in 120 minutes
Gaudreau – Monahan – Leivo
57% xGF in 43 minutes
Lucic – Backlund – Mangiapane
67% xGF in 55 minutes
Ritchie – Ryan – Nordstrom
92% xGF in 6 minutes
The Start
Best start of the year?
Clearly fear of the new emperor was as effective as all hell, as the Flames come out blazing in the first period out shooting the Oilers 21-10, out scoring them 1-0 and seeing both sides of the Lucic/Neal trade with fighting majors.
It was an interesting period to watch. We’ve seen them start well, not get the results and then fold. Tonight though they just kept on trucking even though they didn’t have much to show for their territorial edge.
Great period overall. Key of course is building on it.
Powerplay Positioning
The Johnny Gaudreau first period goal featured Elias Lindholm with a right shot on the left side threading the seam to Johnny Gaudreau with a left shot playing the right side.
It just makes so much sense.
Body positioning has them opened up to the play and seeing everything, their sticks are in better shooting angles, and with that they have one timers as an option.
I get it to some degree defensively, but teams should always have wingers on the other side on the powerplay.
Markstrom Back
Jacob Markstrom made his return after getting pulled from a game in Edmonton two weeks ago.
Good timing to get the number one back, as the Flames now as a team statistically have middling goaltending, as the club’s save percentage is at .902, good for 17th overall, and just a hair behind the Oilers.
The Flames good start probably didn’t help Markstrom much ironically. They had an 11-1 shot edge through ten minutes with Markstrom not getting a lot of puck touches for a goaltender that had been out two weeks. He bobbled the biscuit a few times, but without any issue as his teammates were there to turn the puck away.
Thoughts on the Sutter Weekend
Anyone that has ever had a conversation with Darryl Sutter knows he’s not really the guy you see on TV.
So with that I was a little surprised to see more of the real Darryl Sutter and less of the cantankerous, sharp tongued old goat that we saw in Calgary and Los Angeles.
With the job clearly getting more from a group of players that have dropped the ball for three straight coaches he could have come in firing, about ass kickings, and country clubs and the like. The man has the pedigree to say what he wants, he would get away with it.
Instead it was a softer approach where he placed himself in the group, not in front of it. They had some work to do. They would do what it takes. They would figure it out. I’m sure the soft Sutter doesn’t permeate into the dressing room all that often behind closed doors, but it’s an interesting to change to how he carries himself from the last time he was in Calgary.
He made some puzzling moves as a GM (also some great ones), but I never doubted if the guy could coach.
When he kicked himself upstairs in June of 2006 the Flames lost something. I didn’t see it at the time, didn’t predict it. But it was almost like they traded their captain, the leadership was gone, and the team was never the same again. Hoping he can lead this group in a similar fashion.
I thought a Geoff Ward firing would mean an interim Ryan Huska 25-30 game death march. Certainly didn’t see Darryl Sutter landing on the scene before it was brought up by Rhett Warrener last week. Still didn’t think it was going to happen even after it was being discussed.
Sure makes the rest of the this season interesting.
Glad he has three years.
Team Stats:
Shots – Flames 36 Oilers 33
Face Offs – Flames 44%
Powerplay – Flames 1/3 Oilers 0/2
Player Stats:
Points – Elias Lindholm led all Flames skaters with two points on the night.
Plus/Minus – Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin were both plus one, the only plus players on the night.
Shots – Mikael Backlund was at the top with five shots on goal.
Fancy Stats
The Flames blocked a lot of shots, showing some pretty solid defensive commitment through the game. The Oilers had the edge in five on five shot attempts, but were just under 50% when it comes to unblocked shots. Calgary had 45% of the shot attempts with period splits of 51%/44% and 38%. In terms of high danger chances the Flames had a sizeable lead as Mike Smith was pretty solid for the Oilers, with a 10-5 edge. In terms of goal expectancy, Calgary had a huge 62% five on five.
In all situations the Flames had 46% of the shot attempts, 63% of the high danger chances and a goal expectancy of 57%.
Individually the Flames were led by the fourth line with Derek Ryan at 70% and his linemates both above 60% (Brett Ritchie and Joakim Nordstrom), hard to underestimate how big of an impact Ryan has made to that fourth line. Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev were next in line at 56%, Mikael Backlund, Andrew Mangiapane, Nikita Nesterov and Juuso Valimaki also finished above the break even point. Mark Giordano was at the bottom of the pile pulling in 25%, with his pairing mate Rasmus Andersson at 27%.
When you look at how the team handled McDavid, Matthew Tkachuk, Rasmus Andersson and Mark Giordano got run over. On the other side of the coin Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev were solid against the Oiler star.
