That certainly wasn’t perfect, yet in it’s flawed way it was a very good sign.
The Flames were under siege at times from a team playing off a raucous building opening crowd, and took far too many penalties early, but every time they looked to be on the ropes they were able to stabilize and get back to their structure.
In the end it was an edge in special teams and some late empty net goals that fueled the team’s 5-2 victory opening the UBS Arena in Long Island (really Queens) on Saturday night.
The Flames, of course, of the Atlanta breed, opened the last real home for the Islanders (not going to count the Barclay Center), with a similar result, and in fact the exact same score before Calgary added two empty net goals.
The Lineup
The Flames lineup changes have really become one seriously boring exercize this season.
Sure the goalie changes once in a while, and maybe this year more than most with the excellent play of Daniel Vladar, but other than that it’s been two changes to the blueline, and a total of three changes up front … and that’s in 17 games!
Tonight as expected … you got it, no change.
Jacob Markstrom starts in goal, won’t say what he’s looking to do as it’s bad luck, but you all know the record and what he’s done.
On the blueline we see Noah Hanifin with Rasmus Andersson, Oliver Kylington with Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov with Erik Gudbranson. Life is never that perfect science experiment, but I’d really like to know how the alternate universe where Juuso Valimaki isn’t quoted in a Finnish newspaper saying the fact he’s not playing is stupid would look. Does he get in for a game or two on this trip?
Up front the Flames may be as well slotted as we’ve seen all season with greater roles for Blake Coleman and Andrew Mangiapane. Elias Lindholm between Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk is your first line. A second line of Mikael Backlund between Coleman and Mangiapane; they were great in Buffalo. Sean Monahan on the third line with Dillon Dube and Tyler Pitlick, and a fourth line of Brad Richardson between Milan Lucic and Trevor Lewis.
Line Metrics
xGF%
Gaudreau – Lindholm – Tkachuk 61.3%
Coleman – Backlund – Mangiapane 72.7%
Dube – Monahan – Pitlick 50%
Lucic – Richardson – Lewis 60%
Hanifin – Andersson 52.2%
Kylington – Tanev 63.7%
Zadorov – Gudbranson 55.8%
Goals Saved + Avg
Markstrom +10.5
Note: Don’t think I’ve ever seen all four lines, all three defense pairings, and the goaltender all in positive territory.
Brad Richardson Christens Building
Always the trivia question … who scored the first goal in building “X”?
Well the UBS Arena now has the unlikely Brad Richardson forever etched in their history as the Flame’s fourth line center picks up a terrible Islander turnover and beats Varlamov in the first period.
Penalty Trouble Early
Yikes what an ugly first period in terms of discipline.
The Flames take four first period penalties and then another early in the second as they completely negated their solid five on five play and put themselves behind the eight ball.
Some great penalty killing and some solid play by Jacob Markstrom forged two points for the club tonight.
Mangiapane Story Continues
Just insane isn’t it?
Two more goals tonight with the slight wrinkle that both were powerplay goals (and tips) instead of his usual road five on five schtick.
That’s now 13 goals in 18 games putting him on an unbelievable pace … think Joe Nieuwendyk, think Lanny McDonald like pace. The club record of course has always been Lanny McDonald’s 1983 record of 66 goals.
Way too early to start tracking that but the little guy just keeps on ticking.
Kylington Gets PP Time
Good to see Oliver Kylington get some powerplay time tonight, as the breakout blueliner logged 2:25 of extra man time.
He distributes the puck well, but had trouble getting the one timer off.
Regardless it’s good to see Sutter recognizing his five on five success and giving him a look with the man advantage. The Flames have a great second wave of offence coming with Mangiapane and Kylington, using that wave only makes the Flames a tougher team to prep for.
Markstrom Just Air Tight
Honestly if his teammates didn’t take the puck to their own net twice for Brock Nelson goals the big guy may have posted yet another shut out.
As we’ve seen all season, Markstrom was moving extremely well, using his extreme size down low to make the opposition lift the puck, and then being sharp with the mitts and his torso to take the only openings away.
He was huge on the PK in the first half of the game, or this one could have had a different finish.
Living up to his contract in year two for sure.
Bend Don’t Break
As I said in the opening, I was pleased to see the Flames stabilize after Islander goals or momentum swings. They didn’t get trapped chasing things when the game wasn’t going their way.
Too often in recent seasons an early third period goal with a two goal lead would have spelled the end of things with fans hoping for a point as the game was destined to overtime.
Tonight both times the Islanders scored the Flames were able to get things back to their details and settle things down relatively quickly.
Special Teams
The Flames basically won the game with their special teams.
Tonight the visitors managed to score twice on four chances while killing five of the six opportunities provided to the Islanders.
Some great goaltending and solid PK work got it done on one side, and the Flames powerplay moved the puck very well on the first unit but came up empty, with Andrew Mangiapane getting it done on unit two.
Standings and Record
The win gives the Flames a 10-3-5 record for points in 15 of the team’s first 18 games. That’s crazy especially when you consider the road to home split in their schedule.
I was optimistic that things would even out in the karma tank from last season, but didn’t see a start like this.
With Edmonton winning we can assume the Oilers will hold first in the Pacific, but the Flames continue to rack up those early season points. How strange is that for Calgary fans?
Counting Stats
Shots: Flames 31/ Islanders 36
Face Offs: Flames 49% / Islanders 51%
Powerplay: Flames 2-4 / Islanders 1-6
Fancy Stats
If you thought Jacob Markstrom looked pretty good tonight you’d find the underlying numbers would back that notion 100%. Five on five they had 47% of the shot attempts with period splits of 52%/55% and 38% respectively. In terms of five on five expected goals, the Flames only had 39%, and for high danger scoring chances the team actually had 29%, with a 5-12 split.
In all situations the Flames had 47% of the shot attempts, 45% of the expected goals, and 25% of the high danger splits.
Individually the Flames were led by Rasmus Andersson with 63% of the five on five shot splits. Milan Lucic, Tyler Pitlick and Noah Hanifin had solid nights with numbers in the mid 50% area. Brad Richardson, Oliver Kylington and Trevor Lewis were all at 50% exactly. Erik Gudbranson, Blake Coleman and Nikita Zadorov had a rough ride with numbers in the 30s.
