The Sabres have surprised a few teams to start the season including the Edmonton Oilers about a week ago in forging a record a game over .500 coming into the game against Calgary.
But even still, it was tough imagining a successful road trip after the loss in Montreal without finding two points in Buffalo on Thursday night.
So it was a good sign to see the Flames literally give the Sabres little chance in turning a 1-0 lead into a commanding 5-0 victory on the strength of Johnny Gaudreau and Andrew Mangiapane’s two goa performances and yet another shut out from doughnut king Jacob Markstrom.
The win gives the Flames a 2-1-2 record and six points through five games on the seven game road trip with back to backs to come on Saturday and Sunday against the Islanders and Bruins.
A point or two gives them a .500 or better trip, which isn’t a the 5-0-0 trip we saw earlier, but not bad for a team that has spent most of it’s schedule not only away from home, but two time zones away.
The Lineup
No change as to who is in and who is out for the Flames tonight as they go with the same 18 skaters and starting goaltender.
There is a slight tweak when it comes to forward lines however.
In goal Jacob Markstrom who’s had his nightmares in extra time this season losing four times in four tries, but otherwise posting great numbers and off to a great start. With back to back games this weekend I imagine we will see both goaltenders to conclude this 7 game trip.
On the blueline no change again as Noah Hanifin lines up with Rasmus Andersson, Oliver Kylington lines up with Chris Tanev, and Nikita Zadorov paired with Erik Gudbranson. Lots of discussion around the lack of play for Juuso Valimaki, but even with Zadorov having an average outing in Philly the pairs stay the same.
Up front he same first line with Elias Lindholm with Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk, but the second and third line get a switch up. So Mikael Backlund moves up to center Andrew Mangiapane and Blake Coleman, while Sean Monahan drops back to play with Dillon Dube and Tyler Pitlick. The fourth line is unchanged with Brad Richardson between Milan Lucic and Trevor Lewis.
Line Metrics
xGF%
Gaudreau – Lindholm – Tkachuk 62.7%
Coleman – Backlund – Mangiapane NA
Dube – Monahan – Pitlick NA
Lucic – Richardson – Lewis NA
Hanifin – Andersson 52.8%
Kylington – Tanev 64.0%
Zadorov – Gudbranson 54.9%
Goals Saved + Avg
Markstrom +8.8
Solid Start
The Flames were a little loosey goosey in Philadelphia in the final 40 minutes so it was good to see them get back to a more structured attack in period one in Buffalo.
Granted they’re playing the Buffalo Sabres, who despite being off to a plus .500 start to the season are still the Buffalo Sabres, but structure is structure.
The Flames were money in games 2 – 12 playing winning hockey with details, they’ve gotten away from it of late.
Top Line Goes Off
The top line had a solid night in Philly but weren’t rewarded as Johnny Gaudreau put up 10 shots on goal but came away with only an assist.
Tonight they found the back of the net.
Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and two assists while Gaudreau had two goals and an assist to pace the team in terms of points.
The top line was missing in action to start the trip, something that factored into the team’s 1-1-1 start, but have been great as the trip has soldiered on.
Marksrom Bored Stiff
Another shut out for Jacob Markstom, but the goalie didn’t have a heck of a lot to do in the first 40 minutes.
That’s five shut outs for Markstrom and six for the team in only 17 games, remarkable.
Through two periods Markstrom had only 16 shots, and two high danger scoring chances to contend with.
Mangiapane Keeps the Legend Rolling
Two more even strength road goals for Andrew Mangiapane in Buffalo adding to the torrid start to his season.
He now has an even strength goals/60 of 3.15, the next closest player that has been on the ice for at least 100 minutes is Kyle Connor and Vladimir Tarasenko with 2.05 and 2.01 respectively.
When you look at road games only Mangiapane has 4.35 goals/60 and is almost double that of Connor at 2.23.
This kind of start won’t last, but the start is now at 17 games and no longer a handful.
The little guy is going to get paid.
Still can’t see him making Team Canada but he’s going to be in the discussion with the start he’s had.
Special Teams
A quiet night when it comes to special teams with each team getting two chances and the Flames scoring once.
This trip has featured most games with the Flames having roughly 25% of the powerplay opportunities, so it was good to see some discipline return to the Flames game.
Scoring the only powerplay goal wins a lot of games, they may not have needed it in this one, but getting it productive again will help as early as Saturday.
Standings and Record
Both Edmonton and Calgary won leapfrogging both outfits over the Anaheim Ducks in the Pacific Division.
The Flames at 9-3-5 have 23 points, one point back of the Oilers who have a game in hand, and even with Anaheim who have played one additional game.
Amazing how little breathing room has been created with an above average start. If the Flames had their usual October they’d be a long way back at this point.
Counting Stats
Shots: Flames 33/ Sabres 27
Face Offs: Flames 57% / Sabres 43%
Powerplay: Flames 1-2 / Sabres 0-2
Fancy Stats
The Flames came ready to play, started pushing the play early and honestly never really let up. Five on five they had 59% of the shot attempts with period splits of 67%/54% and 56% respectively. In terms of five on five expected goals, the Flames only had 55%, and for high danger scoring chances the team actually had 56%, with a 9-7 split.
In all situations the Flames had 56% of the shot attempts, 54% of the expected goals, and 59% of the high danger splits.
Individually the Flames were led by the newly formed second line with Mikael Backlund, Blake Coleman and Andrew Mangiapane running roughshod over the Sabres with 80% of the five on five shot splits. Erik Gudbranson had a solid night with 71%. Noah Hanifin, Nikita Zadorov, Milan Lucic and Trevor Lewis all had 60%+ nights. The new third line of Monahan, Dube and Pitlick struggled with numbers in the 30% range.
