The contrarian out there would say the rest of the game went well for Mike Smith.
He didn’t face anywhere near as many shots as the guy in the mask at the other end, but when he did he was decently solid and certainly didn’t look particularly ugly on either of the first two Montreal goals.
But that just isn’t the way it works in professional sports. Number one goaltenders can give up the odd bad goal … in a season. However when they become too numerous, too back breaking, too predictable it eventually becomes the turning point for roles, workloads, and the plan for the rest of the season.
The Calgary Flames badly out played the Montreal Canadieans on Thursday night but a dribbler through the pads in the third period was the difference in a 3-2 Hab’s victory.
With the Oilers coming to town on Saturday night it’s pretty clear who should get the cage; at least I hope it is.
Line Up Changes
Coming off a loss it doesn’t come as a surprise that Bill Peters made some adjustments to his lineup. Michael Stone, having sat out seven straight returned for the game in San Jose but returns to the sidelines for Rasmus Andersson on the blueline. Dillon Dube wasn’t quite ready so Austin Czarnik takes his spot on the third line with James Neal and Mark Jankowski, and Sam Bennett moves up to the second line to play with Mikael Backlund and Matthew Tkachuk.
Bennett in the Top Six
For a season that started on the fourth line, things are moving along well for Sam Bennett as he moved up to the second line tonight; that is unless you look at the counting stats. With just two goals and two assists he isn’t exactly lighting the world afire through 18 games this season, but he clearly has caught the attention of his relatively new head coach as his ice time and responsibilities continue to increase.
The results were almost as equally difficult to surmise. Matthew Tkachuk, his linemate, scored both of Calgary’s goals but neither came with Bennett on the ice. The line itself was very good though, with Bennett doing the work down low, freeing the puck for Tkachuk and Backlund which led to many scoring chances.
I’m guessing he leaves the three of them be for a few games to see where it goes.
Getting James Neal Going
Very refreshing to hear James Neal own his relatively slow start in the media over the past couple of days. Maybe I’m just traumatised from the Troy Brouwer experiment, but to bring in a player for coin and have him not be productive is one thing, to hear him never owning up to it is another.
Neal hasn’t been good enough with the team’s top two duos (Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau / Mikael Backlund and Matthew Tkachuk), and with that clearly things haven’t gone as the player or the team envisioned. They keep trying though, as his line tonight gives him the 11th combination with over five minutes of ice time on the season.
Tonight he and his new linemates had a chance or two, but also gave up too much as they were the only three skaters that didn’t hit the 50% mark in possession terms. Perhaps the return of Dillon Dube will help boost the line, but the search may continue.
Mike Smith Looking to Build Off of San Jose Start
Sure he gave up a goal on the second shot and early in San Jose, but after that Mike Smith settled in and played his best hockey game since likely his start at home against Boston in October.
With that it was no surprise they went back to their starter tonight, but the game really had the feeling of the last chance on the early season to hold that role with his backup playing so well. And if that’s the case then I think you can assume a parked Mike Smith for a while given his flub on the game winner, and the way a hockey game turned from Flames domination into a loss at the Saddledome.
Darren Haynes at the Athletic had an article up charting goals on a scale of 1 to 5 by each goaltender, I think you can assume a 2/3, 4 and a very glaring 1 on the three goals tonight, that and a David Rittich start on Saturday against Edmonton.
2nd Unit
It was brief as the Flames had only one powerplay on the night, but the second unit tonight comprised of Neal, Bennett, Czarnik, Backlund and Hanifin looked very good in the minute of action they sustained in the Montreal zone. The second unit has been a complete disaster all season, but if they continue to get looks like they did last night; including a Bennett to Neal short pass with Bennett acting as the net front presence, pucks will go in.
Giving Montreal Little
The Flames did return to the type of hockey that would generally get you a majority of wins if the team managed average goaltending, after a setback in San Jose.
The Flames only gave up 9 high danger chances five on five on the night, while generating 12 of their own.
In San Jose the Flames gave up eight in the second period alone as they returned to the loosey goosey type of hockey that had them in peril in the season’s first ten games. Bottom line if Mike Smith doesn’t let in that late weak goal the Flames probably win the game in overtime, and even that would have been a shame given the edge in play they enjoyed all season.
Standings Impact
The Flames still hold down the third playoff spot in the Pacific despite the loss, but have both Arizona and Edmonton nipping at their heels. The Flames are two games over .500 with 21 points, while the Coyotes and Oilers both have 19 points in the same number of games.
The bigger risk if they get passed though is the Central and Wild Card spots as both current Wild Card teams have 21 and 20 points with even games played.
Fancy Stats
The Flames had the edge pretty much from coast to coast in this one, with a final five on five shot attempt split of 59% on period splits of 58% / 61% and 57%. In terms of scoring chances the Flames had 67% of the play (33-16), and as mentioned earlier a 12-9 split (57%) in high danger chances.
In all situations, the Flames had 61% of the shot attempts, 67% of the scoring chances and 61% of the high danger chances despite having only one powerplay to Montreal’s two.
Individually, the Flames were led by Derek Ryan and Michael Frolik on the fourth line, both at 75%. They were joined in the 70s by Matthew Tkachuk, Mikael Backlund and the third member of the fourth line Garnet Hathaway. Hanifin, Bennett, Hamonic, Lindholm, and Monahan were in the 60s. The third line of Czarnik (26%), Jankowski (30%) and James Neal (35%) had a rough night.
