On Thursday night, Darryl Sutter’s first game back behind the bench with the Flames, the team was solid in a 2-1 win. The victory came with a lot of asterisks however as the Montreal Canadiens were exhausted with a late game the night before and travel between back to back nights.
Tonight the Flames were equally impressive, and this time with full marks, as they controlled things pretty much start to finish in turning back the Canadiens 3-1 to sweep the mini set with back to back regulation wins.
The four points make the playoff race interesting again, as the Flames now sit just two points back of Montreal with the Habs having a game in hand.
This four game stretch with Sutter behind the bench really felt like the season; I was thinking they needed to go 3-1 or even 3-0-1 if they wanted to get back into it.
So far so good.
The Line Up
Coming off a win you wouldn’t expect a lot of change from Darryl Sutter, and that’s pretty much what we saw in the lineup, with only one change Nikita Nesterov coming out for Oliver Kylington. I thought Nesterov was the skater who struggled the most with Sutter’s changes, failing to move the puck quickly when he had opportunities and as a result missing out on chances.
The Cage
Right back to Jacob Markstrom in goal, as the number one gave up only one goal on 18 shots and had a full day off between games getting ready for the new most important game of the season tonight. Markstrom would certainly be a fan of Darryl Sutter’s systems so far given his work load from a tired Montreal team on Thursday.
Jacob Markstrom
Goals saved above average -3.8
David Rittich
Save percentage above average -2.4
The Blueline
The one change as I said above with Nesterov coming out for Oliver Kylington. Kylington has the skill set to be “fast” as long as his processing speed doesn’t get the best of his boots. He’ll line up with Juuso Valimaki on the third pairing tonight. No change to the top four as Mark Giordano skates with Rasmus Andersson, and Noah Hanifin takes to the ice with his steady partner Chris Tanev.
Giordano – Andersson
43% xGF in 333 minutes
Hanifin – Tanev
63% xGF in 408 minutes
Kylington – Valimaki
50% xGF in 15 minutes
Up Front
Not a single change in the forward group. Elias Lindholm between Matthew Tkachuk and Dillon Dube, Sean Monahan at center with Johnny Gaudreau and Brett Ritchie, Mikael Backlund with Milan Lucic and Andrew Mangiapane, and finally the stars of the Thursday win the fourth line with Derek Ryan between Sam Bennett and Josh Leivo.
Tkachuk – Lindholm – Dube
41% xGF in 149 minutes
Gaudreau – Monahan – Ritchie
42% xGF in 19 minutes
Lucic – Backlund – Mangiapane
65% xGF in 87 minutes
Bennett – Ryan – Leivo
100% xGF in 10 minutes
The Start
Monahan 200th
There were a lot of eyes on Sean Monahan and his primary linemate Johnny Gaudreau with the coaching change to Darryl Sutter. How would the Flames’ two key offensive pieces respond to a coach that demands two way hockey, and accountability all over the ice? And would Sutter be the key in unlocking whatever has been ailing the duo in big games in the last 20 months?
None of that is solved in two games, but not a bad start in game two with Monahan striking twice in the first period, scoring goals 200 and 201 on his career. The first on a great physical effort to spin in the slot and pick a top corner, and the second a powerplay goal where he withstands some pressure to get a stick on the rebound steering it into the empty cage.
Monahan is still the lead goals scorer from the 2013 draft, now five ahead of Nathan McKinnon. Honestly McKinnon will be the guy in the end, but it’s amazing to me eight years later that Monahan is still the lead dog in goal scoring from that draft class.
Oliver Kylington’s Play
Well we know Darryl Sutter won’t be unhappy with his roster decision with Kylington’s speed in the first period, turning what looked to be a Paul Byron breakaway into basically nothing as he reeled in the Montreal speedster as he bobbled the puck.
But that wasn’t all of his night.
Kylington, with partner Juuso Valimaki were 1-2 in shot metrics, and had a solid night.
With his ability to move his feet, and tonight his hands when needed, can’t think he’ll come out of the lineup for the next game against Edmonton. Would like to see what he can do over a half dozen games with a longer look than he’s seen this season.
For game one, he was very much a good fit for Sutter’s system.
Special Teams Battle
First off didn’t like a lot of the calls.
Didn’t think the Valimaki or Andersson interference penalties were all that egregious, as they were plays you see on almost every single NHL shift. The tripping penalty to Brendan Gallagher was also a blown call.
All in all though five powerplays, with the Flames scoring once in three attempts and the Habs coming up empty on their two chances.
The entries were a little sketchy again, including a turnover that almost resulted in a shorty.
Balanced Lines Again
The Flames are going to be a well rested group in a condensed schedule if Sutter continues to roll four lines.
Overall the Flames had only 4+ minutes in diversity between Mikael Backlund at the top of the pile and Brett Ritchie at the bottom in all situations. Five on five the gap was even tighter with Backlund again at the top and Matthew Tkachuk at the bottom, but just three minutes apart.
The defensemen were pretty similar five on five with Noah Hanifin having 17:42 and just under a three minute bulge on Juuso Valimaki who had 14:55.
The Flames may not be the deepest team in the league, but rolling lines if you don’t expose a trio is a great way to get everyone in the game, and a little more pop five on five.
Team Discipline
The Flames coming into the game were the 8th most penalized team in the league with roughly 3.2 times short handed per night.
Through two Sutter games the Flames have been shorthanded twice in each game, a noticeable difference from earlier in the season.
Guessing a lot of that has to do with playing fast and being on your toes, as a lot of penalties are taken when you’re in a reactionary position instead of dictating the flow.
Less danger in front of your own zone, and less need to grab on to someone to regain control.
Tonight could have been a blank for penalties as well, as I didn’t think either of Valimaki or Andersson’s interference penalties were all that solid.
Team Stats:
Shots – Flames 36 Habs 25
Face Offs – Flames 50%
Powerplay – Flames 1/3 Habs 0/2
Player Stats:
Points – Sean Monahan was the only multi point getter for the Flames tonight, scoring two goals.
Plus/Minus – Milan Lucic was the only player to have a +2 night.
Shots – Sean Monahan was also the shot leader with six through the game.
Fancy Stats
The Flames pretty much controlled things wire to wire, which could be seen in the five on five shot metrics as Calgary had a 59% edge on period splits of 60%/70% and 44%. In terms of high danger chances the Flames only gave up four on the night five on five and had a 9-4 edge (69%). Expected goals naturally fell Calgary’s way as well with 65% on the night. Solid night.
In all situations the Flames had 56% of the shot attempts, 65% of the high danger chances and 68% of the expected goal split.
Individually the Flames were led by Juuso Valimaki (74%) and Oliver Kylington (70%). Matthew Tkachuk, Derek Ryan, Dillon Dube, Sam Bennett and Josh Levio were in the 60s. Only one player, Milan Lucic was under water with 40% on the night.
