Quite a home stand.
A loss against Montreal that should have been a win, followed by three straight explosive wins that saw the Flames score 17 goals and move up to 4th in NHL goals scoring and 7th in goal differential at +9.
Tonight a similar recipe to the game against Vegas by scoring five goals in the first period and then perhaps sitting on said lead a little bit, this time against a scarier opponent that pushed hard to make it interesting.
But David Rittich stood tall in a strong second period to give the Flames the win, and first place in the Pacific Division heading into that magical cut off point of American Thanksgiving.
Line Up Changes
Not a one, at least that was the plan.
Bill Peters leaves it be for the third straight game (two wins) with David Rittich in net, Michael Stone watching two rookie defensemen from his seat above, while a late scratch to Michael Frolik meant that the normal designated sitter Austin Czarnik drew in in his place.
The Flames sent Dalton Prout to Stockton on a conditioning stint yesterday. The fact that they deemed it conditioning suggests he’ll be back which to me is odd given the fact that a) he’s the 8th defenseman and b) I don’t see a whole lot of risk in exposing him on waivers.
If you want to add some intrigue, perhaps the team is close to moving on a Michael Stone deal making Prout’s role more substantial.
Quarter Poll
It’s always interesting to look at hockey teams and how they’re faring at the quarter poll. In fact Peter Maher eloquently stated that you never know what you have in a team until they’ve played 20 games.
Heading into tonight’s game (22) it’s actually the perfect time to dissect the first quarter into two distinct halves, with that face plant game against the Penguins marking the halfway point of their first quarter.
| Win% | CF% | CF60 | CA60 | SCF60 | SCA60 | HDF60 | HDA60 | SH% | SV% | PDO | |
| First 10 | 0.500 | 53.41 | 5 | 15 | 7 | 28 | 7 | 31 | 9.44 | 90.94 | 1.004 |
| Last 11 | 0.682 | 55.93 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 4 | 6.01 | 92.31 | 0.983 |
A pretty remarkable turnaround when you see it in tabular form.
The defensive ranks in the league (CF, SC and HD) went from 15th-28th-31st to 1st-1st-4th as the team buttoned down the play in their own zone and became a much more difficult team to play against.
The save percentage in the latter group went from a pedestrian .909 to an elite .923 on the back of David Rittich (Big Save Dave), but the shooting percentage fell by almost four points, the lone blemish in that segment.
Bennett Arrival?
The kid was playing better. He was finding a role through physical play, rounding out his game defensively and creating all kinds of scoring chances.
But when push came to shove the production just wasn’t there. Be it a waived off goal, a cross bar, or a muffin of a shot in a blue chip scoring chance the pucks just weren’t going in. Assists were third assists which don’t count in the stats package. The guy just kept coming up empty.
Give coach Bill Peters credit for seeing the details however. Bennett just kept getting elevated through the line up. Fourth line to start the season, then to the third line for 15 games and then this week, four straight game on the second line.
A point against Edmonton, a goal off his dumper against Vegas, and then tonight a goal and an assist to finish off a first period that featured Bennett sticking up for his captain and rocking Ehlers with an open ice hit.
Slow start, but he’s now on a three game point streak and a pace for 36 points which would tie his career best.
Dube Pots (Get it?) His First
Great to see Calgarian (sort of) Dillon Dube finally score his first of the season, in a week where discussion has started on his being sent to Stockton for some seasoning and confidence.
The goal was a big one too. Winnipeg opens the scoring just 15 seconds into the first period, and then Calgary’s fourth line gets them back on even terms, triggering a run that would have the Flames up four goals by the end of the period.
Dube now has a goal and two assists on the season; it will be interesting to see if it gives the youngster some confidence.
Rittich Stands Tall In the Second
With back to back five goal first periods, David Rittich has had that great but uncomfortable mixed feeling that comes with a great cushion but also a team playing in front of you that has pretty much put the game in park.
The Vegas Knights didn’t do a whole lot with that situation on Monday night, but the Jets pushed back furiously in the second period, aided by three powerplay opportunities. David “Big Save Dave” Rittich was more than equal to the challenge however, holding the Jets off the scoresheet until Laine ripped one home as a late powerplay expired.
The Flames recovered in the third and Rittich wasn’t tested quite as much, but all in all another quality start for the team’s unexpected starter.
Which brings the question; when does a short term run become a full time job?
Someone on the site suggested the Chad Johnson run of 2016-17 as a good measuring stick so I had a look. Chad Johnson went 13 games as the Flames starter before sputtering and then losing the net back to Bryan Elliott. At the time many including 960’s Ryan Pinder was convinced he was the heir apparent to the Flame’s crease and that he should be locked up.
So lets see how we feel after 14 games? Rittich is 8-1 on the season and likely to start his tenth game on Friday. Won’t be long.
Odd Goal Challenge
I get a challenge on close plays, especially if a goal is scored and a goalie is interfered with. Generally the officials didn’t see the interference so why not give it a crack? But Paul Maurice throwing the challenge flag when the officials met and discussed the fact that Rittich had his feet kicked out? That just doesn’t make sense. Really doesn’t make sense given the fact that the coach saw the same video we all saw that made the result pretty much a given.
They likely didn’t need the time out anyway, but that had literally not chance of succeeding.
Standings Impact
First place baby!
With the win the Flames move past the San Jose Sharks and into sole place of first in the Pacific Division. Lots of talk about how terrible the division is this season, but those in San Jose and Calgary shouldn’t take it too hard as they’re doing their part in adding pride to the group.
The Flames are now five games over .500 with 27 points in 22 games, one point ahead of the Sharks with even games played.
The Canucks lost their 7th straight and slid out of third and a playoff position with their victors the Ducks taking their place. For the Flames they now sit five points ahead of the 4th place Canucks with two games in hand as they continue to add some space past the quarter poll of the season.
Fancy Stats
They call it score effects for a a reason, but man oh man did the Winnipeg Jets serve notice that they were less than happy with their first period performance. I wouldn’t say the Flames held on to win, they played a much more calm third period, but the second period was a clinic in how not to protect a lead.
With that you have an interesting stat board with the Flames only managing 45% of the shot attempts with period splits of 65% / 18% and 48%. Scoring chances were actually in the Calgary column with a 21-20 edge for 51%, and high danger chances were 8-6 Winnipeg, 43% Calgary.
In all situations (Calgary didn’t have a powerplay and Winnipeg had four) the Flames only had 38% of the shot attempts, 44% of the scoring chances and 35% of the high danger chances.
Individually it was a tough night for some as you’d expect. Only Mark Jankowski 58%, Mark Giordano 53% and Sam Bennett 52% finished above the break even mark with Dillon Dube and TJ Brodie finishing at 50% exactly. Jusso Valimaki and Elias Lindholm both finished under 40% on the other end of the spectrum.
