The Flames have scored the first goal of the game in their last four games and lost them all.
They had third period leads in each of their last three games and lost them all.
Tonight they scored the game’s first three goals and had a tense third period, but righted the ship on a Connor Zary goal and held on for a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.
The win snaps a losing streak and sets the stage for a Matthew Tkachuk game on Monday night.
The Lineup
Looks like the Flames are sticking with the same lineup for the third straight game.
Little surprising that they’re not looking to give Illya Solovyov another look, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
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, and the same three pairings. The go to pairing will be Noah Hanifin with Rasmus Andersson. Mackenzie Weegar gets Jordan Oesterle, and finally Dennis Gilbert with Nick DeSimone.
Dan Vladar in the the cage for his second straight start.
Line Metrics Coming In
xGF%
Mangiapane – Lindholm – Sharangovich 47.1%
Huberdeau – Backlund – Coleman 49.4%
Zary – Kadri – Pospisil 64.0%
Greer – Ruzicka – Dube 44.4%
Oesterle – Weegar 44.4%
Hanifin – Andersson 38.8%
Gilbert – DeSimone 66.7%
Goals Saved + Avg
Markstrom +2.2
Vladar -6.0
Wolf -5.2
Trend Tracker
Digging in on the Flames powerplay before today’s game.
I’m a little surprised that they’re not at the absolute bottom in some of the categories.
So the obvious one, their powerplay percentage. The Flames are ranked 28th with a 12.1% effective rate. The Flyers, Blackhawks, Capitals and Blues are worse. Those numbers, as somewhat expected, are mirrored exactly in goals / 60 minutes with the Flames in 28th.
In generation they’re a bit better sitting 19th with 7.77 goals expected every 60 minutes. With about 5 minutes of powerplay time per game that amounts to 1/12 of 7.77 or roughly two powerplay goals every three hockey games.
In terms of shooting percentage the Flames 26th with 9.09%.
It’s interesting to point out the other poor powerplay teams are worse both in generation and shooting percentage.
The summary? Calgary’s powerplay isn’t good, and they likely deserve their fate.
Fast Play
The Flames played an amazing brand of hockey tonight … for two periods.
Lots of touches.
Everyone moving their feet.
Strong on the forecheck.
Overall just a high energy, never standing still game plan that left the Lightning completely befuddled.
Fun to watch.
Tampa found their game in the third and put a tonne of pressure on the Flames, which was inevitable. But their play through two periods could be the recipe going forward.
Adding to the Core?
The longer the offensive output from Yegor Sharangovich and Connor Zary go on the more you have to wonder if they’ve stumbled onto to two unexpected additions to a go forward core.
Unexpected in a sense at least.
Connor Zary was a first round pick, so ideally he’s part of the core going forward. But late round picks are far from a given, and his pro career got off to an odd start with a bubble AHL season and then an injury.
Sharangovich signed through next season with an all but agreed to extension in place according to some, continues to stake a claim to a go forward spot with the Flames with his nose for the net.
Retools can go very well if there are already key pieces in place when things roll over.
Vladar Start
Dan Vladar was very very good.
Shutout through two periods and then beat in the third by Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos on chances that were impossible to fault the goaltender.
Great outing, and solid win.
His expected goals were at 2.1 so he gains a whopping +.01 in the goals saved above average stat.
Game Flow
Very tidy first period from the Flames. They controlled the puck most of the period, gave up very little, and played a tough Eastern opponent very tough in the opening 20. Calgary got a two on one and a breakaway but didn’t get a shot on either chance. Dan Vladar has to face a couple of tough ones at the end of the period, but the first 20 wrap up with doughnuts.
What can you say about that middle frame? Simply dominant by the Flames as they skated the Lightning into the ice. AJ Greer with a goal of a Lightning defender’s stick opens the scoring. Minutes later it’s Mackenzie Weegar, and then another one by Yegor Sharangovich as the Flames build a 3-0 lead and hold onto it through the full 40 minutes.
The Flames looked to be shutting it down nicely through the first four minutes of the the third period. Then the house caved in. Tampa scores back to back goals and the game had every bit the look of a complete collapse. But then Connor Zary comes off the bench and wills a goal on his own to put the Flames back up 4-2 and they pretty much cruised from there.
Odds and Sods
With Jacob Markstrom close to returning and Dan Vladar starting tonight, you’d have to think it’s Dustin Wolf back to the AHL, and the trade watch continues. Similarly Chris Tanev is close to returning, so a defenseman will have to be dispatched. Sure good to see Tanev back though, you never know with a concussion (assumption), and with his UFA status that could have been a disaster of sorts. … Great seeing Martin Pospisil bringing that agitation element on a nightly basis again. That’s the key to his game. When he’s under the opposition’s collective skin he affects the game. … Yegor Sharangovich won’t score every game, but this isn’t happening by bounces. He gets the puck to the net and shoots to score when he releases every time. His one timer tonight was money, but he had a few other chances as well. Always around the net and always finding open ice. … Haven’t been a huge fan of Jordan Oesterle since he joined the Flames, but give him a tip of the cap for his first two points in a Flames jersey tonight. The Flames are doing well to stay in games down basically three defensemen, which has to say something about Ryan Huska’s coaching ability.
Special Teams
Pretty quiet night when it came to special teams.
Each team had a chance with the powerplay, Tampa scoring and Calgary coming up empty.
Quiet night as I say, but Tampa wins the special teams battle.
Standings and Record
The win moves the Flames up a few notches in the overall standings.
Coming in they were the 6th worst team in the league, now they are in 8th with a .468 win percentage.
The Oilers are the 9th worst team.
Counting Stats
Shots: Flames 26 Lightning 32
Face Offs: Flames 36% / Lightning 64%
Powerplay: Flames 0-1 / Lightning 1-1
Fancy Stats
The Flames, with a stellar first 40 minutes held an edge in most of the underlying stats for the night. Tampa tipped the scales back in the third to make most of the numbers a lot closer. Five on five the Flames had 52% of the shot attempts with period splits of 65%/55% and 35% respectively. In terms of five on five expected goals, the Flames had 55%, and for high danger scoring chances the Flames had 50%, with a 7-7 split.
In all situations the Flames had 48% of the shot attempts, 63% of the expected goals, and 50% of the high danger splits. The all situations expected goal totals came out at 3.61 to 2.10.
Individually the Flames were led by the fourth line with all three members; Adam Ruzicka, AJ Greer and Dillon Dube posting a xGF% of 88% on the night five on five. They were joined in the 80s by Nick DeSimone and Nazem Kadri. Connor Zary and Dennis Gilbert were in the 70s. Only four Flames under water; Yegor Sharangovich, Elias Lindholm, Andrew Mangiapane and Noah Hanifin.
