Are the Flames finding their Darryl Sutter spirit animal too late?
After a solid 5-0 pasting of the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night, the Flames extended their win streak by besting David Rittich and the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night with a 3-2 overtime victory.
And they get style points too.
Limiting the Leafs to less than 30 shots, keeping Auston Matthew quiet, and carrying the play (in their own way where they dominate without doing a whole lot) along the way to a pretty solid victory.
Next up is back to back games against Montreal which will likely mean the season. The math doesn’t look good anyway but it could be more interesting or downright ugly by Friday night.
The Line Up
Sometimes you make change due to a loss. Sometimes you make changes due to an injury. And sometimes you make changes because of a trade or two, which is what we saw tonight with the exodus of David Rittich and Sam Bennett.
The Cage
Not much doubt as to the starter with the other option no longer an option, and also opposing his old teammates on the other side. Markstrom bested his career high for shutouts with what would have to be one of the easiest ones in his career on Saturday night, blanking the Oilers 5-0. Yet he did make some key first period saves when the game was in doubt before Mike Smith and the Flames took the game away in the second period.
Jacob Markstrom
Goals Saved above average -8.3
Louis Domingue
Yet to play
The Blueline
It’s a pretty small sample size, but the mixed up pairings on Saturday worked pretty well against a pretty passive Edmonton Oilers. Will be interesting to see how they fare against the Leafs tonight in enemy territory (as much as it can be). So it’s Mark Giordano with Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin with Rasmus Andersson, and Juuso Valimaki with Michael Stone. Hoping we keep seeing Hanifin able to handle the load himself without the assistance of Tanev.
Giordano – Tanev
53% xGF in 65 minutes
Hanifin – Andersson
43% xGF in 73 minutes
Valimaki – Stone
44% xGF in 24 minutes
Up Front
A small change up front as necessitated by the Sam Bennett trade, as the remodeled lines get walked out again. I thought the Elias Lindholm/Johnny Gaudreau/Matthew Tkachuk line struggled for the most part on Saturday, really the only five on five line that struggled. They did score an even strength goal however. The Sean Monahan/Andrew Mangiapane/Dillon Dube line though was great to watch, hoping to see that continue. Mikael Backlund will be centering Milan Lucic in his 1000 NHL game tonight, the other winger Joakim Nordstrom, and finally Derek Ryan with Brett Ritchie and
Gaudreau – Lindholm – Tkachuk
29% xGF in 13 minutes
Mangiapane – Monahan – Dube
48% xGF in 8 minutes
Lucic – Backlund – Nordstrom
58% xGF in 13 minutes
Leivo – Ryan – Ritchie
New Combination
~ Data from NaturalStatTrick, and Moneypuck
David Rittich in Enemy Colours
Pretty fun night for David Rittich against his teammates, and pretty much the ultimate outcome.
The Flames get a win, but it’s not Rittich’s fault so nobody goes home to cry in their pillow.
In the game we got some spice with the Matthew Tkachuk snow show and the David Rittich lace slash as retaliation. Then to start the second he brushes Johnny Gaudreau aside on his way to the Leaf’s net to start the period. Just classic drama.
The guy is a good goaltender, and an even better human, and I wish him well in Toronto.
Sam Bennett Moves On
Kind of weird to watch a Flames game without Sam Bennett.
For the most of his six year career in Calgary he’s been neither a healthy scratch nor an injured player so he’s a guy you see in almost every game.
A lightning rod in Calgary due to his draft position, he was a gritty player that stuck up for his teammates and always got up for games.
I’m happy he’s getting a second breath of fresh (salty) air in Florida, but also happy that Brad Treliving picked up a second round pick and an interesting prospect given the slim pickings at the deadline.
Valimaki Instincts
The season of Juuso Valimaki.
Incredible offensive instincts to sneak in from the point and take a great pass from Milan Lucic to put the Flames up 1-0, but end the night -1 with being on the ice for the two Toronto goals.
Now in fairness, the first goal was more on Markstrom as Valimaki had the slot, and the second goal he had made a solid outlet pass to Elias Lindholm before the puck was turned over, but in the end the stats are the stats.
It’s been interesting to watch the Darryl Sutter / Valimaki story to start the season. He had some rope early, and then was scratched and criticized, but then he’s been back in the lineup for the last handful of games.
Hopefully Sutter sees the upside and the circumstances and continues to give him opportunity.
Matthews Vs Calgary
Ying and yang.
The Flames constantly get sliced and diced by Connor McDavid (yet they clearly served him a cold doughnut on Saturday night), but for whatever reason seem to have Auston Matthews number when they play Toronto.
The only teams close to his output … or lack thereof against Calgary are his games against Nashville, St. Louis and his hometown Arizona Coyotes, which makes sense to some degree.
Early this season he played the Flames when he was hurt and pretty much invisible, but even since then he just hasn’t gotten it done. Ten points in 15 career games, and this year honestly made up ground as he’s had nine points in eight games.
Slashing the Stick Penalty
In the second period Mikael Backlund got his stick slashed out of his hands with no penalty?
Am I outraged?
Sure on one hand as I’ve seen that penalty called all season, but honestly I hate that call.
An attack on the shaft of the stick that results in a broken stick is one thing, but why are we penalizing players for finding players on the ice that can’t hold on to their sticks?
Silly.
Glad they didn’t call it, and wish they’d never call it.
Lucic 1000 Games
That was fun.
With Milan Lucic you knew he’d try to find a way to make game 1000 memorable and honestly it didn’t take all that long.
A great assist on Valimaki’s first period goal and then a fight with Leaf tough guy xxxxxx, had me hoping we’d see a Gordie Howe Hat Trick in the first twenty minutes in game 1000.
Watching the bench when his tribute video was up it’s pretty clear how important he is in a room, that honestly has been questioned this year.
Still can’t believe how well the trade has worked out for Calgary.
Keep in mind as well that 1000 games from a physical player with an ailment like Scheuermann’s disease, a condition that can cause the upper back to curve and has given him a hunched look, is quite a feat.
Glad he had his memorable moment in Calgary colours even if there were no fans in attendance.
Team Stats:
Shots – Flames 28 Leafs 26
Face Offs – Flames 44%
Powerplay – Flames 1/2 Leafs 0/2
Player Stats:
Points – Johnny Gaudreau picks up two points for the second straight game, and Elias Lindholm chips in with two points as well … both players with a goal and an assist.
Plus/Minus – Only four players had plus nights with Calgary scoring a powerplay goal and the Leafs having none, Mark Giordano, Mikael Backlund, Milan Lucic and Joakim Nordstrom.
Shots – Elias Lindholm led all shooters with six shots on goal.
Fancy Stats
Solid road game by the Flames as they led the five on five shot attempts with 53% on period splits of 52%/43% and 61% despite starting the third down a goal. In terms of high danger chances the Flames had 41% with a 7-10 split. Expected goal splits were at 59% Toronto, as the Flames posted another “Calgary special” where they carry the play, but only to a perimeter degree. The story of their season.
In all situations the Flames had 52% of the shot attempts, 45% of the high danger chances and 49% of the expected goal split. With two powerplays apiece, a pretty even game.
Individually the Flames were led by Josh Leivo at 71%. Players in the 60s included Brett Ritchie, Derek Ryan and Andrew Mangiapane. Noah Hanifin, Michael Stone and Sean Monahan also had solid nights. Only five players were under the break even mark including Milan Lucic, Joakim Nordstrom, Chris Tanev, Dillon Dube and Mark Giordano.
