Game Takes: Sabres 4 Flames 2

November 21st, 2016 | Posted in Game Takes | By: D'Arcy McGrath

Can Brian Elliott ever catch a break?

Sure the guy has had his struggles to start the season along with his teammates, but with things looking up and the club playing better hockey in front of backup Chad Johnson the script was set for Elliott to return with more support and hopefully better results.

Instead the Flames came completely unglued in Buffalo, blowing a 1-0 first period lead by giving the game away in the second period through uninspired play and a complete lack of discipline in dropping a 4-2 game to the Sabres on Monday night.

The loss moves the trip back to 1-1-0 after two games, erasing some of the good vibes generated the night before in Detroit. Any hope that this team has figured things out will need to be put on ice once again.

The Flow

The Flames come out with jump and almost score early when Robin Lehner fires the puck up the boards to Freddie Hamilton who puts it on net but is thwarted by Sabre defenseman Cody Franzon. The Flames do hit the board though when Dougie Hamilton breaks up a great scoring chance with a poke of the stick, sending the puck the other way where Frolik saucer passes one to Mikael Backlund who beats Lehner and it’s 1-0 Calgary. Soon after the Sabres get a powerplay but the Flames kill that off and then almost go up by two when Sam Bennett finds himself alone, but shoots wide in close. The Sabres start to push midway through the period and garner six straight shots after Calgary’s goal, testing Elliott but failing to beat the goaltender who’s been idle since last Saturday. The Flames settle things down over the final 5 minutes of the period and carry their lead into the second period.

Disaster? Pretty much. The Flames came out skating in sand, relied far too heavily on Brian Elliott to bale them out and then went down hard when they took penalty after penalty after penalty in the middle frame. First with the teams playing four on four both Brouwer and Hamilton are called for simultaneous penalties sending the Sabres to a staggered 4 on 3 then 5 on 3. The Flames penalty kill continues to be a dagger to their hearts as the Sabres score on both ends of the two man with Okposo and Larsen both scoring, turning a 1-0 Calgary lead into a quick 2-1 lead for the Sabres. Then seconds later Brouwer takes another penalty, this one a late interference on a Sabre that fell pretty easily and the Sabres score again with Matt Moulsen making it 3-1 Sabres. Calgary gets two late powerplays of their own but fail to score and bring the game closer after two, Sabres take a 3-1 lead to the dressing room.

The Flames sure gave it the old college try in the third period, a renewed interest in the game after I’m sure what was a paint stripping verbal assault taken between periods from the coaching staff. And if you have any designs on coming back from a two goal deficit it certainly helps to score early which is exactly what they did when Matthew Tkachuk got his stick on a Dougie Hamilton points shot, collecting his 5th of the season just as the 2nd period powerplay expired. Those gains were lost a few minutes later when the Sabres renewed their two goal lead with a back hand under the skate of Elliott from Marcus Foligno. Calgary pushed and had their chances but it was too little too much damage done in the second period to turn the game around in the final twenty minutes; 4-2 final Buffalo.

Possession Pulse

First Period – Shot attempts were 24-16 Buffalo, scoring chances 8-3 in the first period.
Second Period – Shot attempts 27-12 Buffalo, scoring chances 7-2 Buffalo.
Third Period – Shot attempts were a staggering 29-8 for Calgary in the third, scoring chances 7-2 for the Flames.
The Players – Dougie Hamilton, Mikael Frolik and Micheal Ferland all topped out at over 60% corsi on the night, all three are no strangers to the top of the list. On the bottom end Derryk Engelland and the top line were all sub 50%, Engelland at 44% to trail all skaters. Alex Chiasson was 2nd worst which is somewhat surprising given that his linemates were both over 50%. The Flames as a whole won the five on five possession battle at 53.4%.

Three Stars
1. Kyle Okposo:Former Islander was on his game scoring once and adding an assist to pace the Sabres.
2. Robin Lehner: Wasn’t tested all that much until the last two minutes of the second period, but from that point on he made many key saves to keep the Flames from coming back.
3. Matthew Tkachuk:Scored a goal, added an assist and was +2 for the Flames in another solid game.

Big Save

Brian Elliott had to be razor sharp at the end of the first period, and at the start of the second to keep the Flames leading 1-0 as he made numerous big stops in succession. His best of the night was a rebound off of Evander Kane when he stuck out his left pad and stoned the controversial Sabre’s forward.

The Goat

Pretty easy pick tonight as Troy Brouwer took two second period penalties both resulting in Sabre’s goals and hurting the Flames badly in this one. If your team can’t kill penalties you’d better not take them unless you’re preventing a breakaway.

Mr. Clutch

Mikael Backlund, such an easy choice on most nights for the Flames. Scored his second goal in as many nights, led the club’s forwards in ice time and was excellent through out again on the team’s most consistent and dangerous line.

Odds and Ends

When I heard Jokipakka was going back in my first thought was for Dennis Wideman, which I was ready to question given the guy’s ice time deployment over the past several games. Earlier in the year it seemed Wideman went from healthy scratch to 20+ minutes to healthy scratch, a head “scratch”er. Instead the target for Jokipakka’s return was rookie Brett Kulak who did struggle a bit in Detroit last night. … Great to see another spirited game from Hunter Shinkaruk. As I said yesterday it’s almost a waste to play the guy on the third or fourth line (I honestly can’t tell which is which these days) but he continues to play with vigour, not afraid to go into the tough areas. Ultimately his role should be in the top six, but his ability to play in the trenches will certainly improve his chances of staying at this level … Quite a delay in getting out announcements in that arena. You could hear the Sabres’ second and third goal announcements 5-10 minutes after they were scored. …. Mark Giordano is really fighting the puck. His play on the Calgary 5 on 3 late in the second was startling as he fanned on one attempt, held on to it too long and then shot it right at Lehner on a second chance, all within seconds. You set up for that one great chance on a two man powerplay but you have to execute when you get them. … Right before the Flames got into penalty trouble Sean Monahan got caught from behind, turning the puck over, creating the Sabres pressure that led to the Sabres game turning 5 on 3 powerplay. He didn’t take the penalties, but if he had showed a little hustle and had his feet moving the puck would have went deep and the whole mess could have been avoided. Hockey is a game of little battles, he lost one there and it snowballed. … When Tkachuk came back from injury I was suggesting they give his spot to Sam Bennett if they were going to convert Bennett to the wing. I had that wrong. Tkachuk is no longer riding shot gun on a line with two very good vets, he’s adding just as much as he’s getting in return. Glen Gulutzan clearly noticed tonight as well as he received over 3 minutes of powerplay time. … Flames continue to be good on draws, now sitting 6th in the league in face off win percentage after winning 59% of the draws against the Sabres tonight.

Next Up

Game three of the six game road trip goes Wednesday night in Columbus against the Blue Jackets. Game time 5pm on Sportsnet.

Lines:


Bennett- Monahan – Brouwer
Tkachuk – Backlund – Frolik
Ferland – Hamilton – Hathaway
Shinkaruk – Stajan – Chiasson

Giordano – Hamilton
Brodie – Wideman
Jokipakka – Engelland

Elliott



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