Remember when trap games were certain losses for the Flames? How, just when you were starting to think that they were getting it together, they would crush your spirit with a horrible effort against a weaker team?
Well, these aren’t your old Flames. There is no quit in this team. There are no traps that can catch these guys. After beating Philadelphia, and Boston, and Detroit, and (almost) Ottawa, and Anaheim, would anyone have been surprised if they had a letdown against the lowly Leafs? Probably not. But again, as they have shown us all season, these aren’t your old Flames. They came out flying. And they dominated the Leafs. To the point where it was a night off – a chance to manage minutes and coast comfortably to another decisive and impressive win. The final score was 6-3 (for the second consecutive game) and it was never in doubt. These Flames are fast, they are talented, they are fun to watch, and they seem destined for the playoffs.
The Flow
Against a team with nothing to play for, you want to get out to a good start. And that is exactly what the Flames did. They came out flying and peppered Reimer with shots. The Raymond-Shore-Colborne line had a great shift of offensive pressure with several chances, and they kept it going while changing off to the Monahan line. The cycle continued and eventually Monahan threw it out front to Hudler. Reimer stopped him but kicked the puck to the side of the net where Johnny Gaudreau was waiting and he slammed it into the open net for his 19th of the season. A couple minutes later, Drew Shore banged in a rebound from right in front for his first goal as a Flames. By the 8 minute mark, shots were 11-1 Flames and they held a 2-0 lead. The Leafs got a PP goal on a pretty soft call to cut the lead in half. Then Bouma got a 5 minute major for kneeing (another interesting call), and it looked like the Flames might be in trouble. But no. When was the last time you saw a two on none break short-handed? Backlund stole the puck on his own blue-line and he and Colborne went in alone. Backlund shot post and in, far side to make it 3-1. Then Brodie got the puck in the corner and Monahan broke into the neutral zone. Phaneuf was caught flat-footed and Brdoie sent a beautiful saucer pass past Phaneuf and onto the tape of Monahan’s stick on his backhand. Monahan went in alone and beat Reimer with a nice move and his usual stick-side shot. 4-1 Flames after two shorties, and this one was over early. Shots were 14-6 after one, despite the Leafs being given 7 minutes of PP time.
The Flames wanted to keep their foot on the gas in the second. A minute in, the Leafs had it in the Flames end for a while and Monahan’s line had been out for a pretty long shift. To relieve pressure, Russell flipped it out to centre. But instead of going for a change, Hudler and Gaudreau found themselves on a two on one. Hudler carried it in and Monahan joined the rush. He hit Monahan and he walked in and beat Reimer to make it 5-1. Booth got one back at the 5 minute mark to make it 5-2. But a few minutes later on the PP, Wideman walked the line and sent a beautiful slap pass in to Hudler for an easy tip in. 6-2 Flames and they could coast from there. And most importantly, they could also manage minutes and have an easy night. Shots were 15-6 for the Leafs in the second.
Booth got his second of the night just 29 seconds into the third, but it was far too little too late. The game ended 6-3 and the shots were 8-7 for the Flames, as they did a good job of just managing the game and winding it down. Final shots were 28-28 but this game was never in doubt. The Flames used their speed and their superior commitment do simply dominate the entire game. They won 65% of the face-offs and blocked 28 shots.
Three Stars
1.Sean Monahan: Two goals and an assist, 5 shots, 16/27 in FOs (59%), 1 takeaway and 20 minutes of ice-time
2.Johnny Gaudreau: 1 goal and 2 assists, and got things going early for the Flames
3.Mikael Backlund: Incredible individual effort on the key short-handed goal, 2 shots, 3 takeaways, and 8 of 13 on the dot.
Big Save
Though it was already 6-2, with about 6 minutes left in the second, Hiller stopped a point shot and Holland grabbed the rebound. He tried to go around Hiller but Hillers right leg shot out like a dagger and robbed Holland of what looked a moment earlier like an empty net and a sure goal.
The Goat
Dion Phaneuf. The Flames were exposing him all night but never more so than on the second short-handed goal. When Brodie got the puck in the corner, Monahan broke for the neutral zone. Phaneuf was far too slow to react so he was left in no mans land, trying to intercept Brodie’s pass. Brodie sent it to Monahan’s backhand – away from Phaneuf – and Monahan was in all alone. For a fragile team like the Leafs, a second shorty, with such a weak effort from the captain, was a death blow. It wasn’t his only gaff, but it was probably the most egregious.
Mr. Clutch
Lots of choices, but the key goal was the first short-handed tally by Backlund. With the score 2-1 and the Leafs on a 5 minute PP, he stole the puck on the Flames blue-line, chipped it up with his skate, raced ahead of the defender, froze Reimer with a stare-down, and then made a perfect shot, off the far post and in to give the Flames a two goal lead. It was a message to the Leafs that they weren’t going to win this one.
Odds and Ends
The top line has been on fire lately. They had 9 points on the night and have 30 points in the last 6 games… Jiri Hudler has 6G and 6A in 6 games. He now has 60 points on the season for the first time in his career… Sean Monahan has 6G and 3A in the last 6. He has 10G and 7A in his last 13, and now has 27G and 51 points on the season… Gaudreau has 5 points in two games, 9 points in 6G, and has caught Forsberg for the rookie scoring lead with 53 points on the season… Due largely to that line, the Flames have scored 25 goals in their last 5 games and are now 5th in the NHL for gaols, at 2.93 per game… They are 20-10-2 since December 22nd, which is the 5th best record in the NHL over that span… They have given up only 4 goals on the PK since the end of January, a 90.5% pace – and have 2 short-handed goals!… Meanwhile, their PP has been running at 26.4% over that span, which is 4th best in the league…They have gotten 11 of a possible 12 points in their last 6 games and their record is 5-1-1 since their captain and leader went down… They are now 5th in the conference with 81 points and are only 12 points behind Anaheim for the President’s Trophy… One of the keys to having a blowout game like this was the chance to keep the minutes down for Brodie, Russell and Wideman. They were all down around 22 minutes while Engelland had over 21, Diaz over 17 and Schlemko was north of 15 minutes. On the front half of a back to back, in the middle of a playoff race, that was huge… In a laugher of a game, the Flames blocked 28 shots. Incredible effort and commitment… They won 65% of the face-offs and every C was over 50%. Stajan was 82%…
Next Up
The Flames are right back at it on Saturday, with a one-game road trip to Colorado. It starts at 8:00 on HNIC.
Lines:
Lance Bouma – Mikael Backlund – David Jones
Brendan Bollig – Matt Stajan – Michael Ferland
Johnny Gaudreau – Sean Monahan – Jiri Hudler
Mason Raymond – Drew Shore – Joe Colborne
Deryk Engelland – TJ Brodie
Kris Russell – Dennis Wideman
Dave Schlemko – Rapha Diaz
Jonas Hiller
