The dream season continues.
The Flames, a club figured to be a bubble team coming into the season just continue to add believers to the bandwagon both in town and across the hockey world as they rack up win after win after win.
Tonight we hear they bolstered their lineup further with a huge acquisition of Calle Jarnkrok before the game, a move that sent the expected line up spriraling before puck drop.
But no matter, the Flames roll out another methodic, dominant victory against a lesser light, handling the Devils 6-3 on Wednesday night.
Expect we’ll see Jarnkrok on Friday night against the Sabres, as the Flames try to keep the chemistry rolling towards the playoffs.
If you’re young and you don’t remember 1989, this is about as good as it’s been.
So much fun.
The Lineup
Some change to the Flames lineup tonight, both due to health and the trade.
Oliver Kylington returns to the lineup after missing two games with a lower body injury, Michael Stone comes out. Originally the plan was to see Adam Ruzicka back into the lineup after he was banished to the AHL (on paper) to get an insurance policy on the blueline into Calgary.
But with the trade, Ruzicka had to go to Stockton which required the team to mix things up on the bottom three lines for tonight’s game; and of course things will change again on Friday when the Sabres are in town with Calle Jarnkrok in the lineup.
So look for Elias Lindholm to center Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau, Mikael Backund to pivot between Blake Coleman and Trevor Lewis, Sean Monahan moves up to center Andrew Mangiapane and Tyler Toffoli, and Dillon Dube between Milan Lucic and Brett Ritchie.
Is that the best forward group they can ice with the current roster? You’d have to think so. Some would argue on some AHL replacements, and Trevor Lewis is a bit of an offensive black hole, but in rolling lines that’s the four trios that get you in the least trouble.
On the blueline we will see Noah Hanifin with Rasmus Andersson, Oliver Kylington with Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov with Erik Gudbranson.
In goal Jacob Markstrom returns to the cage after sitting out the last one in Denver.
Line Metrics
xGF%
Gaudreau – Lindholm – Tkachuk 62.5%
Lewis – Backlund – Coleman 55.4%
Mangiapane – Monahan – Toffoli NA
Lucic – Dube – Ritchie NA
Hanifin – Andersson 58.0%
Kylington – Tanev 58.0%
Zadorov – Gudbranson 57.6%
Goals Saved + Avg
Markstrom +12.5
Who They Playing?
The New Jersey Devils haven’t delivered in the standings this year, but they’re not a bad play driving team five on five. Their CF% number is 11th in the league on the strength of the circuit’s 8th best five on five offence, and 16th best five on five team defense. They have the 7th ranked xGF60, and the 17th best xGA60 so the quality of shot attempts they give up pretty much matches the volume in terms of average.
They’re not a finishing team, ranked 19th in team shooting percentage, and they’re only above Seattle for team save percentage with the carrousel of goaltenders they’ve had through their roster with injuries.
They have the 23rd ranked powerplay, and the league’s 10th best penalty kill.
Jarnkrok Trade
First off I’m glad the Flames are all in.
We were all hesitant in believing this season was for real, but the longer the consistency went on the more Calgary fans and the league as a whole (media around the circuit) took notice.
They’re contenders, and pretty much top four or five in every list of teams that could win it all.
They don’t have enough cap space this season or space at all next season to bring in a player with term, so a rental was ideal.
Positionally I’m glad they’re trusting their blueline (as it stands, they could still add) and not going all in for Chairot who pulled a first, another pick, and a B prospect from Florida. Getting a guy that can play center or wing, and upgrade the top nine is a huge need for the team.
Add in the chemistry angle of being Elias Lindholm’s cousin, another Swede on the roster, and the guy that stopped to see if Backlund was ok when Seattle was in town and pretty much seems like destiny.
The price?
I’d call it fair. I think Jarnkrok on his own was going to fetch a 2nd … maybe a touch more, but not a first. Getting 50% retained has value to and is likely the third round pick.
The fact that Calgary was able to push the picks out over three different drafts helps too.
Great add … guessing he slots in between Andrew Mangiapane and Tyler Toffoli.
More on the Deal
So that’s an entire NHL caliber second line added to the team this year when you think about it.
Blake Coleman as a free agent in the off season, and then the back to back Tyler Toffoli and Calle Jarnkrok deals in the last 5 weeks.
This in a season that if you forced me to wager big on the team I’d bet on selling before buying.
Amazing what Darryl Sutter can do to a core.
Brett Ritche Scores!
One of the biggest running Calgary Flames fan social media point outs is finally over.
Not only has Brett Ritchie ended his pointless streak, he ended his goalless streak as well.
In all fairness the player has been very good for the Flames if you measure a player against his role. He has near top of the team xGF% splits and generally doesn’t get in much trouble defensively when he’s on the ice. He’s a big physical guy that can move, and a good teammate.
But thank God that Vladar has more points than Ritchie thing is over.
Dillon Dube with some Jump
Even before Dillon Dube took a Matthew Tkachuk pass and scored in the second period I was thinking the player was having a standout night.
Moving his feet, getting in on the forecheck, finding his teammates, and playing a pretty solid center position between Milan Lucic and Ritchie.
I’ve certainly seen many suggest that he’s a better hockey player at center than on the wing, and tonight was certainly some ammo for that argument.
With depth up the middle now with tonight’s trade, he likely doesn’t see that position again this year, but it’s something to keep in mind.
Another Zadorov Penalty
What is that? Five straight game taking minor penalties for Nikita Zadorov?
He’s been great on the team’s third pairing, and I think Sutter is a fan overall, but Sutter also hates players that take penalties and if the stated goal is only three minors per night it’s probably best not to rack one per game (or more) yourself.
The fact that Calgary added another forward today speaks volume of the teams trust in their third pairing to make a difference come playoff time, but I’m sure the coach has an eye on Zadorov and his penchant for taking stick foul penalties.
Fourth Line Pops
Great night for the fourth line as all three forwards on that unit score goals and end droughts.
Ritchie as I mentioned above, but also Milan Lucic and Dillon Dube with strikes in the game to provide some secondary scoring.
One little, tiny caveat though on the fourth line scoring three goals story line …
Two of the goals were scored during the time between all three forwards completing a change.
Dillon Dube scored when he came off the bench for Elias Lindholm and took a pass from Matthew Tkachuk.
And Milan Lucic scored when Dube was already off the ice for Mikael Backlund.
Doesn’t take away from the fact all three scored goals, but there is some context in saying the fourth line scored three goals as a complete statement.
More on the Jarnkrok Deal
It’s funny, you get that feel that they should move Jarnkrok up for Trevor Lewis and improve the top six.
But then you consider the fact that that line may not be in the top six if you have Jarnkrok with 30 goal man Andrew Mangiapane and the other acquisition Tyler Toffoli, who has 14 points in 15 games in Flame’s silks.
The Flames may now have a different top six with the Backlund/Coleman line being a true third line that provides shut down.
Bottom line, if you can’t figure out the difference between your second and third lines it’s either a really good or really bad sign.
I’ll let you guess which one it is.
Backlund 804
I pretty much told my Backlund story on his 800th game, but still another milestone tonight with Backlund at game 804 now passing Al MacInnis and taking over the lead in most games in a Flames uniform for a drafted player.
The three guys ahead of him in games played include Jarome Iginla and Robyn Regehr who were acquired in trades, and Mark Giordano who was a walk on free agent signing.
Thought Backlund had a solid game for game 804 as well.
Top Line Night Off?
Not to pick on Kelly Hrudey, but his notion that the top line had a tough night might have been a bit off the mark.
The trio had five scoring points on the night including a three point night from Matthew Tkachuk as the off night certainly contributed to the final score.
I get it though, it was a depth scoring night and not an evening where you ride your top line, but to suggest they were quieted would be a huge stretch!
Special Teams
Odd night for special teams with the Devils getting all four powerplay opportunities.
The Flames killed all four of those chances though, so they clearly win the special teams battle despite not having a chance of their own.
Some fun stats about the Devil’s powerplay? They had nine shot attempts to the Flames three shorthanded, but were even in shots at three three, and were behind in scoring chances at 0-2 and also behind in high danger chances at 0-1.
Great night on the penalty kill!
Standings and Record
This Flames season is getting pretty surreal.
With the win tonight they move to 81 points in 60 games for a .675 in percentage and a seven point lead in the Pacific over the LA Kings. And they still have two games in hand. Teams with a .675 record with two games in hand get just under three points, so that’s a 10 point prediction buldge.
Who knows where this goes, but it’s certainly starting to look like the Flames may be able to sit some players down the stretch to rest up.
Worried about the playoffs? The Flames have a 14 point lead over Dallas for the final wild card spot.
Red Mile Ignite!
Counting Stats
Shots: Flames 40 Devils 33
Face Offs: Flames 44% / Devils 56%
Powerplay: Flames 0-0 / Devils 0-4
Fancy Stats
The Devils hung around in the first half of this one, but it was never really close once the Flames found their legs again after two days off. Five on five the Flames had 64% of the shot attempts with period splits of 65%/56% and 73% respectively. In terms of five on five expected goals, the Flames had 64%, and for high danger scoring chances the Flames had 63%, with a 10-6 split.
In all situations the Flames had 59% of the shot attempts, 68% of the expected goals, and 61% of the high danger splits, despite spending eight extra minutes down a man.
The Flames were lead individually by Oliver Kylington who had 75% of the five on five shot attempts when he was on the ice. Tyler Toffoli, Sean Monahan and Chris Tanev were also in the 70s. Eight different players were in the 60s including; Matthew Tkachuk, Andrew Mangiapane, Elias Lindholm, Johnny Gaudreau, Noah Hanifin, Blake Coleman, Rasmus Andersson and Trevor Lewis. Not a single player was under water on the night.
