When you win ten in a row it really doesn’t matter how you lose game eleven in my mind, points are points and the team had little to prove in a bounce back game against the Minnesota Wild.
With that said, the Wild are a tough team in the West and the two clubs haven’t faced each other in over two years so it was an interesting measuring stick for both sides as the season moves toward the 3/4 point with the trade deadline and playoff looming.
The Flames answered the bell regardless scoring three first period goals and running up a 5-1 score through two periods before a hectic third period had the game end with a 7-3 Calgary victory.
The two teams play again on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.
Biggest concern is for the health of Oliver Kylington who was held and then spun into the boards in the third period and had to be helped off the ice. Didn’t look good.
The Lineup
Two healthy scratches for the Flames after getting thumped in Vancouver, with Dillon Dube and Adam Ruzicka coming out. Sutter clearly wants to go with a more veteran crew against the Wild, and certainly Dillon Dube has been struggling.
So up front it’s Elias Lindholm with Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau, Mikael Backlund with Blake Coleman and Andrew Mangiapane, Sean Monahan with Milan Lucic and Tyler Toffoli, and a new line of Brad Richardson between Trevor Lewis and Brett Ritchie.
No change on the blue line with Noah Hanifin with Rasmus Andersson, Oliver Kylington with Chris Tanev, and Nikita Zadorov with Erik Gudbranson.
Jacob Markstrom gets the start in goal. Hopefully his skate blades are firmly attached.
Line Metrics
xGF%
Gaudreau – Lindholm – Tkachuk 62.9%
Mangiapane – Backlund – Coleman 65.1%
Lucic – Monahan – Toffoli 33.3%
Lewis – Richardson – Ritchie 37.2
Hanifin – Andersson 58.3%
Kylington – Tanev 58.5%
Zadorov – Gudbranson 59.7%
Goals Saved + Avg
Markstrom +11.5
Who They Playing?
The Wild are a top team, but some of their underlying stats are quite middling. They have a 14th ranked CF% at 50.37%. Their for and against five on five are pretty much dead middle as well. Their expected goals for is also underwhelming, but they do have the 7th ranked expected goals against five on five.
The team, however, can finish. The Wild have the number one ranked five on five team shooting percentage at 10.23%, two full percentage points above the Flames. Their team save percentage is 19th ranked, and five on five they have a 4th ranked PDO; they have gotten some bounces.
Their special teams aren’t all that special with the 16th ranked powerplay, and the 17th ranked penalty kill.
More Offence from the D
Another six point night from the Calgary Flames defensive corps tonight with an Erik Gudbranson goal, two assists from Rasmus Andersson, and single helpers from Chris Tanev, Nikita Zadorov and Noah Hanifin.
The Flames got a lot of push from their blueline in their ten game win streak so it was nice to see more of the same from the group against a tough Wild team on Saturday night.
Toffoli with Multi Point Night
A break out night from the newly acquired Tyler Toffoli as he scores a first period goal and adds an assist before scoring into the empty net in the third for a three point night.
Toffoli now has four goals and a helper in six games in Flames silks to get off on the right foot after the trade.
Thought his linemates Sean Monahan and Milan Lucic had good nights as well.
Good Answer
I honestly don’t think a team that wins 10 in a row has a whole lot to bounce back from when they lose a game, I don’t care what the final score was in said loss.
With that said, there were certainly some eyes on the Calgary Flames given the degree of difficulty of their opponents, and the shellacking in Vancouver on Thursday night.
Case closed.
The Flames give up the first goal of the game before tipping the sheet and running up a 18-4 shot advantage and a 3-1 lead after the first period against a very good Minnesota Wild team.
Mangiapane Causes a Riot
Have to chuckle at Andrew Mangiapane tonight.
He’s always been a bit of a Matthew Tkachuk light, getting under the skin of the opposition, always pushing it in scrums and mixing it up. Tonight there was no “light” in the comparison as he pretty much exceeded the Tkachuk standard by driving the Wild completely nuts.
Jared Spurgeon was the focal point as Mangiapane seemed to target the Wild captain specifically driving him … well … wild.
The fact that he scored a goal and then drove the Flames into a powerplay chance to start the third was icing on the cake.
Not an easy guy to play against.
Zebra Shame
Speaking of which, … I thought the Flames were given a lot of room when it came to starting scrums tonight making we wonder if the review of the officiating from the Vancouver game had both guys wondering if they did get it somewhat wrong on Thursday.
Mangiapane was able to start scrums and pop Wild players in the face on numerous occasions, and I thought the Flames were a little lucky to be four on four with the Matthew Tkachuk – Kaprizov entanglement in the second period.
Could be some guilt and feeling shame.
Or could be completely unrelated.
Fourth Line Solid
I’m the last guy to dump on “nothing bad happens when they’re on the ice but they don’t generate a hell of a lot” NHL hockey players.
They have a place.
But even I was pretty concerned to see the constructed third line tonight of Trevor Lewis, Brad Richardson and Brett Ritchie. I honestly thought they’d be a black hole.
They were not.
Not a single shot attempt against in the first period, and then serviceable the rest of the way as they kept the puck as far from Jacob Markstrom as they could in their limited ice time.
A hockey game features about 500 little battles, when your fourth line wins about 50 of them it goes a long way towards a win even if they don’t register any points.
Targeting Kaprizov
Have to think it was a game plan to physically get after Kaprizov tonight as we saw it over and over again … to the point that Wild coach Dean Evason was losing his … well crap.
Andrew Mangiapane and Matthew Tkachuk in jousts with the player, later Brad Richardson.
All told they took him off the ice twice in coincidentals and looked to have him off his game for most of the night.
Kylington Health
Sure hope Oliver Kylington is ok.
No player tries to hold a player into a heavy collision into the boards, so I don’t see any intent at all from Hartman of the Wild.
Kylington has a looseness to his skating that can create falls on his own and in cases like that somewhat spectacular results when someone has a piece of him.
He hit his head for sure, but his head was also bent inward on contact which didn’t look good.
He came to, and got up on his own for the most part but he was pretty wobbly when he was helped off the ice.
Have to think he’s going to miss some time.
Amazing teammate in Jacob Markstrom for skating into the scrum quickly and providing cover for his downed teammate and countryman as well.
Special Teams
The Flames got the best of the Wild when it came to special teams after laying a special team egg in Vancouver on Thursday.
They scored one legitimate powerplay goal, and another into an empty net while blanking the Wild on their two opportunities to win the day.
Good to see Tyler Toffoli adding to the first unit, and a Calgary powerplay with three right handed shots; when was the last time that happened?
Standings and Record
The win moves the Flames to 31-14-6 on the season, and with Vegas losing in regulation to the Colorado Avalanche the Flames now have a three point lead on the Knights with two games in hand.
Additionally with the win over the Wild they move three points up on Minnesota and into a tie with the St. Louis Blues for 2nd in the conference in points at 68. The two teams have played the same amount of games as well, so they’re tied at a .667 win percentage.
The Flames are tied for 7th league wide in win percentage, moving that Montreal pick to 26th overall.
Counting Stats
Shots: Flames 35 Wild 25
Face Offs: Flames 54% / Wild 46%
Powerplay: Flames 2-5 / Wild 0-2
Fancy Stats
The Flames had a dominant first period, the Wild pushed back in the second and Calgary closed things out smarty in the third as they had the overall edge in shot metrics on the night. Five on five the Flames had 65% of the shot attempts with period splits of 81%/48% and 62% respectively. In terms of five on five expected goals, the Flames had 63%, and for high danger scoring chances the Flames had 64%, with a 7-4 split. Despite giving up three goals the Flames literally gave them nothing.
In all situations the Flames had 63% of the shot attempts, 68% of the expected goals, and 71% of the high danger splits.
The Flames were lead individually by Brett Ritchie who had 71% of the five on five shot attempts when he was on the ice; great night for the fourth line as I said. Tyler Toffoli, Brad Richardson, Milan Lucic and Nikita Zadorov also had nights in the 70s. Eleven players had nights in the 60s, and no Calgary Flame had a number under water on the night.
