Sometimes watching a game you figure out the lead, but things change and you’re glad said lead never saw the light of day.
After blowing a 3-0 lead to the Washington Capitals this afternoon in DC the game had that “sure the Flames blew a lead, but at least they got a point” expectation with the Caps having more firepower to trot out three on three.
But never mind … Elias Lindholm takes a Johnny Gaudreau pass on a up the ice pass from Daniel Vladar and buries his third of the night to give the Flames a 4-3 overtime victory, pushing their season record to 2-1-1, and the road trip o 2-0-0.
You read that right by the way … Calgary with four goals on the game. Four!
The Lineup
With the team’s first win of the season it comes as no surprise that Darryl Sutter pretty much went with the same line up as the game in Detroit, with one major exception Daniel Vladar gets his first start in a Calgary uniform, spelling off the number one Jacob Markstrom.
On the blueline no change as Oliver Kylington is featured in the second pairing role with Chris Tanev for the second straight game. Noah Hanifin continues to take the ice with partner Rasmus Andersson, and a third pairing that has been surprisingly solid; Juuso Valimaki with Erik Gudbranson.
Up front no change as well … a first line of Elias Lindholm between Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk, a second line of Mikael Backlund between Blake Coleman and Tyler Pitlick, and then two other lines (honestly don’t know how to rank them) of Sean Monahan between Milan Lucic and Trevor Lewis and finally Dillon Dube between Andrew Mangiapane and Brett Ritchie.
Lucic in the Paint?
Honestly thought that first goal, the Andrew Mangiapane powerplay marker might come back when I saw the replay and Milan Lucic with his boots in the crease.
He didn’t directly interfere with the goaltender, but he was inside the crease and with that I’ve seen less used to call goals back.
Didn’t seem to be any chatter at the Capitals bench though and the puck was dropped quickly.
Phew!
Too Many Man Two Way Street
I’ve never been one to complain about inconsistency in calling games from game to game, but it drives me nuts when the standard changes within the game.
When Johnny Gaudreau spun back towards his blueline with Oliver Kylington heading off on a change it created an avalanche of chaos that resulted in a too many men on the ice call … and a good call.
But later that game we saw the exact same thing on the Capitals side without a call. Why? That can be called by any of the four officials and none of them noticed the puck going to the Capitals bench with guys coming off and on at the same time? Maybe I missed the nuance and the tag ups were correct but it looked pretty inconsistent.
Don’t even get me started on the Wilson cross check on Johnny Gaudreau.
Gap Control
When the Flames have the third forward high, the defense feel more comfortable closing the gaps and the team is almost impenetrable. We saw that in the first period as the Capitals were completely thwarted on pretty much every exit opportunity.
In the second the inevitable push back from the home side came, and with that the Flames completely abandoned their game plan … with the third forward (high guy) cheating offensively and creating a bigger neutral zone gap.
In the third tied up the Flames got back to it and kept the Capitals to five shots on goal.
Overall that’s a good sign as Sutter has them playing a solid two way five on five system, the key now is to get them all bought in under any score situation and play their game.
Lindholm Start
What can you say about Elias Lindholm.
Even is “invisible” games are noticeable on the stat sheet as he does all the little things right and keeps the other team at bay all while being the team’s number one center.
But the man has a shot.
Goals in all three games to start the season, but today he puts up two in the first and the overtime winner to net his second career hat trick.
His second goal of the day, when he out worked Carlsson and took the puck to the net could very well be the Flames goal of the year.
Rough Second Again
As I said the Flames just had a miserable second period again.
I’m sure Sutter is going to jump all over it when the team sits down to digest video before the Ranger game on Monday.
It’s natural for a team down 3-0 to come out hard the next period, and even more so when said team is the home team with disappointed fans. But the team has to be more ready to play a simple game and handle that push instead of coming out on their heels and almost handing chances to the opposition.
Something to work on, but also something every fan base screams about their hockey teams … too inconsistent. Too often we don’t take in what’s happening on the other side.
Mangiapane
Not a great five on five game for the Dube/Mangiapane line as they got hemmed in numerous times.
Andrew Mangiapane did score his third goal of the season (in four games) to get off to a great start, very much matching his torrid finish to last season. Really starting to think this guy is a 30 goal man at this level, and an expensive contract coming up this summer!
I always get a kick out of watching teams that haven’t played against Mangiapane much and the surprise they show when the little guy pushes back to hard in scrums and puck battles.
Vladar Start
Some good and some bad right?
First off I loved his puck handling skills, he’s considerably better than Jacob Markstrom though not in a “I want to handle the puck all the time” fashion like Mike Smith.
His simple plays behind the net dishing the puck were solid, and his pass up the ice in overtime certainly contributed to the game winner.
In the cage he was pretty good on the night, but likely would want the second and third goals back. It’s hard to say you should have had the Ovechkin one given the Great 8’s history of sniping, but over the pad to the lone side is a lot more forgivable than the short side.
Johnny 500
Great to see Gaudreau pick up two assists to push his career total to 500 with some family in the stands, the little guy always delivers on Eastern roadies.
Today though it looked a bit like he was trying to do too much, turning pucks over at both bluelines and putting his team in trouble.
The game almost got away for the team on his last guy back turnover on a second period powerplay resulting in the first Cap’s goal.
East Superstars
Personally I never watch a hockey game without the Flames playing the same way I watch a game when they do play.
I love hockey, put most games on in the background etc when I’m home. But a Caps game against say Boston is interesting, but I don’t focus to the same level and get the same view of some of these star players that Calgarians don’t get to see often.
So it was interesting to watch Ovechkin both on the powerplay and also five on five.
He’s earned it, but the Capitals certainly cater to not having him do much of the work. He loiters in the neutral zone, doesn’t forecheck, doesn’t really back check. He just arrives in the shooting space when he thinks the timing is right.
Great player, but still not the most complete!
Balanced Ice Time
Finally Sutter continues to balance out his ice time through four games on the season.
Today all the defensemen saw 14 or more minutes overall with the big three getting 22 to 24, Kylington 18, and the bottom pair closer to 14.
Up front only Elias Lindholm had more than 20 minutes, and only Brett Ritchie had less than 10. Seven forwards were in the 13 to 16 minute marks.
Counting Stats
Shots: Flames 27 / Caps 25
Face Offs: Flames 51% / Caps 49%
Powerplay: Flames 1-3 / Caps 0-4
Fancy Stats
Well that’s two games with dominance in underlying numbers and two losses, while the two games including today where they are edged out they win. Hockey Gods I guess. Today, five on five they had 49% of the shot attempts with period splits of 53%/39% and 53% respectively. Where the game could have been lost however was in terms of high danger chances and with that expected goal. In terms of five on five expected goals, the Flames had 37%, and for high danger scoring chances the team had 31%, with a 4-9 split.
In all situations the Flames had 49% of the shot attempts, 48% of the expected goals, and 45% of the high danger splits. Much like the game in Detroit, the Flames special teams tipped things in their favour in terms of shot generation and chances, but also in terms of goals with a perfect PK, a shortie and a powerplay marker.
Individually the Flames were led by Matthew Tkachuk who had 69% of the shot attempts five on five, followed closely by linemates Elias Lindholm and Johnny Gaudreau who had 67x% and 63% respectively. The Dube line got absolutely crushed for the second straight game with Dillon Dube and Andrew Mangiapane finishing at 0% on the day, while linemate Brett Ritchie with less ice time finished at 13%. That line just isn’t working.
