That has to hurt.
Two goal lead heading into the third period last night in Denver and lose in regulation.
One goal lead heading into the third period tonight in Vegas, and they lose in overtime.
At least this time they scored the tying goal with the goalie pulled to secure a point.
Road trip winds up with another long flight to Minny for a game on Thursday.
The Lineup
Back to back games, so you knew there would be a goalie swap. Additionally no one was surprised to see Chris Tanev isn’t available today. But additional change to two of the the four lines as well.
Basically back to what we saw on the homestand; Elias Lindholm with Andrew Mangiapane and Yegor Sharangovich, Nazem Kadri back with Connor Zary and Martin Pospisil, Mikael Backlund with Jonathan Huberdeau and Blake Coleman, and finally Adam Ruzicka between AJ Greer and Dillon Dube.
One the blueline it’s Tanev and Illya Solovyov out, creating three new pairings. The go to pairing will be Noah Hanifin with Rasmus Andersson. Mackenzie Weegar gets Jordan Oesterle, and finally Dennis Gilbert with Nick DeSimone.
Dustin Wolf with his third start in four games, and second career start on the road.
Line Metrics Coming In
xGF%
Mangiapane – Lindholm – Sharangovich 43.4%
Huberdeau – Backlund – Coleman 50.3%
Zary – Kadri – Pospisil 62.3%
Greer – Ruzicka – Dube 44.8%
Oesterle – Weegar NA
Hanifin – Andersson 41.4%
Gilbert – DeSimone 50.0%
Goals Saved + Avg
Markstrom +2.2
Vladar -7.2
Wolf -2.8
Trend Tracker
With the Flames blueline taking on water (Zadorov trade, Tanev injury) we take a look at the Flames ice time this season.
Five on five the Flames rely on Rasmus Andersson the most with an average of 18:12 per game. He’s closely followed by his pairing mate Mackenzie Weegar at 17:40, and then the other top pairing with Noah Hanifin at 17:38, and Chris Tanev at 15:15.
Interesting to see Zadorov with more ice time five on five than Tanev this season.
On special teams it’s Rasmus Andersson again at 6:00, followed by Hanifin at 5:30, Weegar at 4:29 and Tanev at 3:21.
Putting it altogether Andersson clearly gets the top spot at 24:10, Hanifin at 23:08, Weegar 22:05 and Tanev at 18:39.
I wouldn’t have thought Chris Tanev would be so far back from the rest of the pack.
Moving forward it looks like they have a little more trust in Illya Solovyov as he’s averated 14:59 of ice time (1:05 killing penalties), Dennis Gilbert at 13:02 (0:25), Jordan Oesterle at 12:55 (0:14), and Nick DeSimone at 12:44 (0:01).
Getting by with four was tough in the wake of the Zadorov trade, if they have a spell with just three they may spring a leak.
Bowman Bench
We’ve seen Ryan Huska shorten the bench all season, but usually it doesn’t come until the third period, if at all if it’s a back to back game situation.
Tonight however, after Andrew Mangiapane took his second hooking minor in the first period we didn’t see the player again the rest of the way through the first stanza.
In this case though, he lets the benchee escape, as Andrew Mangiapane returns to his regular line in the second, all forgiven.
I thought the Flames were getting an easier touch behind the bench with Darryl Sutter moving on, but Ryan Huska has proven to be no push over when it comes to dolling out ice time.
Wolf Start
Kid is just so damn calm.
Just goes about his business.
Moves well in his crease, doesn’t seem to every over commit and battles for every tip through body position.
I think he’s an NHL goaltender.
A late goal, and an overtime goal hurt his stats again, but he had no chance on either.
Expected goals against say he should have given up just under three, and he gave up five. Flames goalie story continues!
Conroy Fleeced HuH?
Quite the week for that Tyler Toffoli trade.
Yegor Sharangovich scores twice tonight and is now on a just over 25 goal pace on the season, and Suniev gets named NCAA rookie of the week.
Maybe that wasn’t a fleecing afterall?
All kidding aside, it’s great to see Sharangovich get in a groove and comfortable with his new surroundings. Emerging, and could be an important piece in what looks to be a bit of a retool.
Game Flow
The Flames didn’t look like the tired team to start things tonight, putting in a solid first ten minutes and getting the lead when Mackenzie Weegar converted a Mikael Backlund rebound. That’s not to say they were immaculate, Dustin Wolf had to make a few key saves including short handed breakaway to keep his team in the lead. The Knights tie it up on a skill play by Stevenson with Mangiapane in the penalty box. Goal doesn’t appear to phase the Flames though as they get right back to it five on five.
The second period plays out a lot like the first, pretty much even. Calgary gets back into a lead when Connor Zary takes a pass from Martin Pospisil and lets it go towards the net. I think it was going two feet wide, but it his Nazem Kadri and goes in. The Knights tie it when Barbashev gets a loose puck in the slot and beats Wolf. Seems like the Flames ran out of gas at the halfway point of the second as Vegas takes it to them the rest of the period but it’s Calgary who scores when the Lindholm line scores on an odd man rush after icing the puck and getting pinned in their own zone; Sharangovich with the honours.
Vegas continues the territorial edge in the third period, but Calgary does a decent job at keeping them to the outside. Then Mackenzie Weegar is called for tripping (more on that later) and Stone scores the tying goal, slipping the puck through Wolf’s armpit. Calgary starts to generate a little more offensive time as the period winds down despite the back to back. But it’s Vegas finding the go ahead goal when Jordan Oesterle turns the puck over after a won face off and it’s 4-3 Vegas. Game over right? Not tonight! Yegor Sharangovich with his second on a tip to force overtime.
Overtime doesn’t last long. The Flames have the puck for the first minute but fail to generate a shot or chance. Then a turnover sends Stone in alone and that’s that.
Odds and Sods
What a steady start by Dustin Wolf; kid is starting to make a believer of me. That isn’t to say I was against the kid, just worried the size wouldn’t translate. … Andrew Mangiapane has to change the way he tracks opposing players with the puck. Far too many penalties this season from putting his stick in the opposition’s mitts. … Huska split the ice time by his defenders in the first period by giving the top three eight minutes and the bottom three five minutes apiece. Not a bad pace as it would put them at 24 minutes at the top and 15 at the bottom. … Dillon Dube has taken a lot of heat in this market of late, but hard to miss the return of some of his confidence in the last two evenings. He’s back to carrying the puck with speed and looking more calm with the puck again. Hopefully he’s shaken the shakes. … … Jordan Oesterle pulled ahead of other 6-7 level defensemen in the second, as he continued to be paired with Weegar. …. Gary Lawless doing his best Craig Conroy impersonation after the second period. Ten second question from Ryan Leslie = 10 minute answer from Lawless. … Stinky penalty on Mackenzie Weegar. Their feet collide, he goes down and slides into the Vegas player who trips over him. That is not tripping. Huge point in the game too. …
Special Teams
Flames lose the special team battle yet again.
Broken record right?
The Knights score twice up a man and the Flames don’t hit the board again.
Standings and Record
The Flames get a well deserved point, but not the two they were after.
Lets face it, the playoff race isn’t as important right now. I could be again with a run, but the real number is the lottery position at this point and that remains at 6th spot despite picking up a point.
Counting Stats
Shots: Flames 31 Knights 39
Face Offs: Flames 59% / Knights 41%
Powerplay: Flames 0-2 / Knights 2-4
Fancy Stats
The underlying stats read more volume from the Knights, but more of the high quality nature from the Flames. Five on five the Flames had 46% of the shot attempts with period splits of 48%/33% and 57% respectively. In terms of five on five expected goals, the Flames had 53%, and for high danger scoring chances the Flames had 67%, with a 6-3 split.
In all situations the Flames had 47% of the shot attempts, 52% of the expected goals, and 56% of the high danger splits. The all situations expected goal totals came out at 2.54 to 2.32.
Individually the Flames were led by Nazem Kadri’s line with all three (Kadri, Zary and Pospisil) posting a xGF% of 90+% on the night five on five. Only two other players were above water; Nick DeSimone and Dennis Gilbert. Adam Ruzicka, AJ Greer and Elias Lindholm were all at 14%. Rough night!
