On Saturday night a disallowed goal against the Vancouver Canucks kept a game that should have been a blow out close, resulting in an eventual overtime loss when Calgary saw their collective game skid in the latter half of the contest.
Tonight the Flames were more resilient, turning another controversial call that went against them into a rallying point that set up a solid finish to the second and a dominant third as the team skated away from their provincial rival San Jose Sharks to the tune of 8-5.
The win gives the Flames points in three straight games, two of which came against key West opponents, and points in four of their last five games, erasing a pre-Xmas slump and setting the table for the second half of the season.
Line Up Changes
Given the way the Vancouver game wound down, it would come as no surprise that Bill Peters sat Austin Czarnik in order to insert Micheal Frolik.
Once in the lineup Frolik moved back up to the 3M line with Backlund and Tkachuk, forming a new third line of Mark Jankowski between Sam Bennett and James Neal. No change to the first and fourth line, no change to the blueline, and David Rittich started again in goal.
Neal Breaks Streak
It went off his skate, not his stick, but hopefully the third period “snipe” by James Neal will do the trick and get him off the snide going forward.
The marker was important, as the goal turned out to be the eventual game winner, and came soon after the Sharks had brought the game back to within a single strike at 5-4 in the first minute of the third period.
I was curious if the goal would stand as he directed the puck into the net, but without a kicking motion.
No Goal
Speaking of goals standing, I simply will never be on the right side of a goalie interference review; this much is clear to me now.
The Flames had what looked to be a big goal by Sam Bennett towards the later stages of the second period, but the goal was called back when the officials team deemed Bennett had interfered with Aaron Dell. The replay showed some contact, but with Dell coming out and doing some of the contracting himself, then it appeared he had time to set himself again before the puck slid underneath him.
I was convinced it was going to be a good goal given the shared responsibility for the bump and the time before the puck went in. Why? The Dallas Star over time winner on Rittich a few weeks ago.
I honestly don’t get it.
Francis On Neal
After the second period Eric Francis did his usual bit with Ryan Leslie and during the set, he suggested James Neal had somewhat of a bad attitude, and without a good attitude he wasn’t going to get opportunities and with that production.
Have to wonder if this is an inside knowledge situation, or just throwing things out there as the writer did when he questioned Sean Monahan’s will to win last season not knowing the center was requiring four surgeries.
From a distance I’ve felt Neal’s body language and facial expressions have shown he’s been on board with the team completely, with his only frustration when he clanked a cross bar, or missed a good scoring opportunity.
Things in the Neal’s first season change considerably for me if he’s a problem in the dressing room, and not just a sniper struggling to find the net.
Big Game Bennett
I said it after the Winnipeg game, but it needs to be said again.
Sam Bennett simply loves the big games, something that makes him a very intriguing player for a team that looks to be bound for the playoffs. A goal and an assist against the Lightning, a physical game in Winnipeg getting under their skin, and then tonight an assist, a breakaway, a disallowed goal, and then a late hit and fight at the end of the game that sent the Sharks into a rage.
Good guy to have on your side in a rivalry.
Limiting Chances
When watching games of late, it’s hard to not notice the Flames are bleeding more chances.
Part of that comes from the opposition as they’ve played a lot of the league’s top clubs in the last two or three weeks. I had a look at the Boston Bruins game results from last season, and the same could be seen. Tight, tight, tight team for mot of their games, but some blemish games against teams that are just naturally too talented to completely contain.
The difference this year is the skill level of Calgary is able to finish on a clip that is equal or above the opposition on most nights so they can get it done in a chance swapping track meet.
Top Line Back
The top line ran over the Vancouver Canucks in the first half of Saturday’s game, but failed to find the net, a huge variable in an eventual overtime loss.
Against San Jose tonight it looked the same script was going to be followed as good chances were finding a way off their sticks instead of into the net, with Johnny Gaudreau leading the way in having a tough night. In the first he had an easy pass get away from him, in the second he put a one timer pass to Elias Lindholm away from his wheel house creating a flubbed shot.
So it was quite a shock to see the group catch fire towards the end of the second and into the third, putting up 12 points between them in routing the Sharks in the final stanza.
With a sharper start, Gaudreau could have had a 6 point night instead of the two goal, two assist, four point game that he posted (he had a five point game at one point, but an assist was taken away).
Night of Pluses
The Flames out scored the Sharks 7-3 five on five, so with that came a night of huge plus swings upward for a few Calgary players. The old dusty plus/minus stat has come under fire in recent seasons, but it’s still a boasting point for players that move up towards the top of the league in the stat.
Mark Giordano was +4 on the night, his partner TJ Brodie was +3, Matthew Tkachuk was +3, while Mikael Backlund and Michael Frolik were both +2.
As a result, Giordano now leads the NHL at a +26, Elias Lindholm is in fourth spot at +23.
As a team the Flames are now +29 on the season, good for third spot behind Tampa (+51) and Toronto (+35).
Standings Implications
The win keeps the Flames tied with the Winnipeg Jets at the top of the conference, as the Jets toppled the Oilers in Edmonton. Both teams have 52 points with the Jets having a game in hand. Both Vegas and San Jose have moved by the Predators in the conference, putting three Pacific teams in the top four.
In the division, the Flames are two points up on the Knights with two games in hand, and three points up on the Sharks with a game in hand. The Ducks are finally falling off, now seven points behind the Flames with Calgary having a game in hand.
For anyone involved with “I bet you Edmonton will get more points than Calgary this year” bets with Oiler fans it’s getting pretty close to strut time as Calgary has now moved 13 points up on the Oilers with Edmonton having a game in hand.
Fancy Stats
The Flames were on the under side of the five on five shot attempts battle posting 45% on period splits of 48% / 31% and 55%. In terms of scoring chances the teams were dead even at 24 apiece, while the Flames had the edge in high danger chances with a 13-11 split (54%). In all situations the Flames had 47% of the shot attempts, 52% of the scoring chances and 59% of the high danger chances.
Individually, the Flames were led by Derek Ryan and Garnet Hathaway, both around 55% but with limited minutes (nine). The only other players above the break even mark were Frolik, Dillon Dube and Backlund. Monahan, Gaudreau and Neal were all under the 40% mark on the other end of the spectrum.
In terms of scoring chances the Flames were led by Jankowski and Bennett who enjoyed a 7-1 split in high danger chances in the game, Giordano and Brodie just back with 6-2 and 5-2 marks.
