The Flames were pretty piss poor last night against the Buffalo Sabres.
So tonight it was good to see them, to a man, push back and show the kind of game we’ve seen them play for the most part over the last two or three months.
The Flames came out and stormed the Canucks despite playing on back to back nights, running up a 3-0 first period score on route to a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.
Dan Vladar picks up the win, but lost his shut out bid in the third period.
The Flames were solid offensively after being shut out twice in the last three games, and having their lines jumbled by their less than impressed head coach.
The Lineup
Darryl Sutter came off as supportive after his team’s rare lackluster performance last night, but one look at the forward group in the warm ups tonight certainly suggest he wasn’t happy. Changes to all four lines.
The top line loses Matthew Tkachuk with Tyler Toffoli taking a turn with Elias Lilndholm and Johnny Gaudreau. Tkachuk slides down to play on a line with Michael Backlund and Dillon Dube. Calle Jarnkrok centers Blake Coleman and Andrew Mangiapane. And finally Sean Monahan with Milan Lucic and Trevor Lewis.
Have to think he may revert back to things through the game, but we will see.
On the blueline … the regular. Noah Hanifin with Rasmus Andersson, Oliver Kylington with Chris Tanev, and Nikita Zadorov with Erik Gudbranson.
Not a surprise to see Dan Vladar in net. Hopefully they have workable skate blades in Vancouver this time around.
Line Metrics
xGF%
Gaudreau – Lindholm – Tkachuk 62.57%
Lewis – Backlund – Coleman 57.4%
Mangiapane – Jarnkrok – Toffoli NA
Lucic – Monahan – Dube 57.5%
Hanifin – Andersson 58.0%
Kylington – Tanev 58.6%
Zadorov – Gudbranson 57.6%
Goals Saved + Avg
Markstrom +11.0
Who They Playing?
Under Bruce Boudreau the Canucks have seen a decent improvement in many of their underlying metrics, now up to 15th in the league in CF%. Their five on five team offence is ranked 13th, but they still give up a bunch ranked 22nd in CA60. They are 18th in xGF%, with xGF60 ranked 18th and xGA60 ranked 17th. Pretty much a middling team.
Team shooting percentage sits at 30th overall, they just can’t put pucks in the net with any regularity. They are number one in team save percentage however, with Thatcher Demko firmly in the league’s top echelon of goaltending.
On special teams the Canucks have the league’s 14th best powerplay, but a league worst penalty kill.
Statement First Period
The Flames were pretty gawd awful last night, so it was interesting to see how they’d start the game tonight.
Well.
The Flames literally ran over the Canucks in the first period putting up 16 shots and scoring three first period goals to send their hosts off to a chorus of boos from the home crowd.
It’s good to see the players wanting to put an ugly game behind them, and get right back to the kind of hockey they can play.
Genius of Sutter to blender the forward lines to get them on their toes as well.
Jarnkrok’s First Point
Calle Jarnkrok has his first point as a Calgary Flames, making a smart pass to Noah Hanifin midway through the first period, sending Hanifin in on an almost break for a 1-0 lead for the Flames.
Earlier in the period he almost set that mark when he went in on a two on zero with Rasmus Andersson but Andersson was foiled by Thatcher Demko.
Also interesting was his switching hands on his stick for a puck in the slot, not sure I’ve seen that before. He switched hands for a face off in his first game last night but wedging a backhand as a forehand was interesting.
Ugly Shift
That was one ugly shift by the Flames early in the second period.
Blake Coleman and Calle Jarnkrok get hemmed in their own zone along with Erik Gudbranson. Nikita Zadorov and Andrew Mangiapane managed to get off for Noah Hanifin and Milan Lucic, but the first three guys were on the ice for over three minutes and gassed.
So ironic that Lucic heading for his line change when they finally got the puck out caused a turnover that resulted in Tyler Toffoli sending Elias Lindholm in for the back breaking goal.
Talk about bend but don’t break!
Big Opportunity for Dube
The Flames by demoting Trevor Lewis rebuilt their top three lines around nine players with eight being a given and the other being Dillon Dube.
And he had a good game.
Picked up an assist, but was noticeable with his speed and on the forecheck with linemates Matthew Tkachuk and Mikael Backlund.
Getting Dillon Dube going would be a huge win for the Flames.
Coming out of the bubble playoffs it looked like Dube was ready to pop, but he’s struggled in the last two seasons.
Think there is more there, but he needs to be unlocked in terms of confidence.
Matthew Tkachuk Goes Off
Move Matthew Tkachuk off the top line?
No problem … three points.
For a guy that wobbles on his skates and seems to mishandle 50% of the pucks that come near him his results are simply elite. It’s amazing how far hockey IQ can take a hockey player.
Played his usual role behind the net on board rings, scored a goal in the slot and made some great passes to set up Rasmus Andersson and Johnny Gaudreau on a powerplay.
Solid hockey player.
The Lines
Lots to like, but lots to say hmmm on as well.
I liked getting Trevor Lewis down to the fourth line and finding a way to utilize a better top nine.
Not sure I’d break up the top line though, as they are one of if not the best line in hockey this season.
I’d get that trio back together as well as Backlund and Coleman, but beef that line up with someone like Dube instead of Lewis.
Not going to argue with the results though.
Special Teams
Both teams go 1/2 on the powerplay so it looks like a dead heat for picking a special teams champ in this one.
Digging a little deeper though, the Flames had five high danger powerplay chances and their penalty kill gave up only one, so lets give the nod to Calgary.
Standings and Record
With the Flames winning and the Kings losing to Vegas, the Flames move eight points up on the second place Kings and still have two games in hand. This race is pretty much over isn’t it?
The Flames are now 15 points up on the first place team out of the playoffs, so I’d assume a little Red Mile in Calgary this Spring.
Calgary is the 5th best team in the league in terms of win percentage, just ahead of the Penguins, and just behind the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Counting Stats
Shots: Flames 44 Canucks 25
Face Offs: Flames 51% / Canucks 49%
Powerplay: Flames 1-2 / Canucks 1-2
Fancy Stats
Pretty much a dominant effort from the Flames, as they completely controlled the game five on five until the third period where score effects factored in. Five on five the Flames had 60% of the shot attempts with period splits of 76%/61% and 38% respectively. In terms of five on five expected goals, the Flames had 71%, and for high danger scoring chances the Flames had 73%, with a 16-6 split.
In all situations the Flames had x% of the shot attempts, x% of the expected goals, and x% of the high danger splits.
The Flames were lead individually by Mikael Backlund and Trevor Lewis who had 73% of the five on five shot attempts when they were on the ice. Three other players were in the 70s; including Chris Tanev, Matthew Tkachuk and Oliver Kylington. Dillon Dube, Elias Lindholm, Rasmus Andersson, Sean Monahan and Andrew Mangiapane were in the 60s. Only five players were under water; Erik Gudbranson, Milan Lucick, Calle Jarnkrok, Nikita Zadorov and Blake Coleman, all of that coming on that shift from hell.
