I don’t care where they are in the standings, it always feels good to beat those damn Ducks!
It wasn’t pretty. The Flames had to go cage match against the Ducks in a grind ’em out, muckfest at the Saddledome on Friday night. The two teams managed just 11 shots between them through one period, just one goal each through two periods (both fluky) before a somewhat robust third from the home side and a late Andrew Mangiapane goal for the winner.
The win gives the Flames four straight wins, and points now in five straight. I’m sure Tim and Syd will have a “Calgary is back” segment soon.
Line Up Changes
One lineup change due to injury, as Oliver Kylington misses the game after taking a shot off the boot against the Islanders. In his place of course is Dalton Prout. But what’s more interesting is the double switch of Rasmus Andersson up to the top pairing and TJ Brodie down to play with Prout but on the left side. This had a lot of onlookers thinking punishment for Brodie’s misqueues against Long Island, but I’m guessing it’s every bit as much to do with keeping Prout on his correct right side, something that would have been harder to do if Andersson remained in the pairing.
No changes up front, and Mike Smith gets the start; his 5th straight after going 3-0-1 in his last four.
Smith Starting Again
Mike Smith goes again in net, and I’m sure it’s something I fully understand. I’ve been more patient than most when it comes to the trials and tribulations of Mike Smith this year mostly due to necessity, as relying on an unproven stopper when the team was ready to win now was unpalatable.
But with David Rittich’s strong play for most of November to mid January, I’m not sure I understand the idea of sending him to the sidelines for a full two weeks between action. It’s great that Mike Smith has found some of his game; don’t let the wins fool you though his numbers suggest a great game, a sub standard game, a great game, and then another with numbers that don’t suggest dominance.
I still think David Rittich gives this team the best chance to win, so whatever the plan is, I hope it delivers the guy to an optimal mental level for when it matters.
Smith Does Well
The result? He’s an impact player in the win.
He cost himself his own shutout, but in the end the guy turned away 24 of 25 shots and picked up his fourth straight win, and points in five straight.
To be honest it was a good Smith start visually as well; there didn’t seem to be a lot of that upper torso flop in his game as he stayed square to the puck and just made saves.
I’m not a goalie guy, I’ll never know how much of his erosion is due to age, the change in equipment or confidence, but tonight he looked a lot more like last year’s (first half) Smith than at almost any point this season (maybe that game in Nashville early).
Streaking
The era of the loser point creates some of the greatest swings for teams when it comes to streaks.
Calgary had lost four in a row, but really had two ties (loser points) to break up the string. Then they win four in a row. Since they had loser points in two of the last three losses they can now say points in six of seven straight.
Semantics aside, a solid homestand for the Flames winning all three games, and in a patient process that will pay off down the road. None of the games were particularly high scoring or fire wagon in nature, but the Flames took what their opposition was attempting, countered, and found a way.
Good hockey team.
Preview of Pairing?
Cap management, team building, the circle of life … all lead to guys leaving at some point, usually when they get a little older and often when their contract terms are coming due.
The Flames have a good problem in that they have three young defenseman pushing hard for larger roles, and that should afford them the opportunity to move a veteran asset with some term left for a good return, probably at the draft this summer.
Travis Hamonic has become a pretty important part of the dressing room, so I’m guessing TJ Brodie could be the guy moved when the dust settles. The reason they’d look at said move is the emergence of Rasmus Andersson and his ability to play with Mark Giordano.
Now I make that sound like it’s a tough feat, it’s not … everyone plays better with Mark Giordano, but the point in this case is Andersson doesn’t drag Giordano down as his numbers are similar with both of his partners. The Flames ran the Duck’s show tonight in terms of shot attempts, but Giordano finished with 64% and Andersson 59% as the duo did just fine.
TJ Brodie without Giordano finished with a team low 39%, despite picking up two points (assists).
Top Line Struggles
The top line continues to have a tough time five on five.
Not sure if the book is out on them, their tendencies dissected, their moves predicted, their magic snuffed. Or is it just an ebb and flow to a season and nothing to worry about?
But once again tonight the Flames needed the bottom half of the roster to carry the mail in order to find the win.
Bottom line that’s a great thing to have the bottom six coming up and taking charge, last year the group was a wasteland for non production, but the team would likely be much better off if the top line could find even 80% of what they had before the break.
Eat Bread!
I’ve always felt that the league is full of players that were really close but just never got that long enough look to get their feet under them.
Tweeners that have come and gone over the years but just couldn’t quite find that perch, that role to make things stick on a permanent basis.
Credit Andrew Mangiapane for finding a way to put a foot in the door and keep his NHL dreams alive until he found a way to climatize.
His method was apparent, play a heavy game despite his size and then hope the hands and brain come before he gets dispatched to Stockton once again. That was enough to keep him in the lineup ahead of Austin Czarnik (another good story of late), and then the hands started to come.
Three goals now on the season with the game winner tonight, sure it was a bit of a fluke bounce but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he won board battles, dangled his way out of traffic and had a monster possession game again with Derek Ryan, whom he seems to have found chemistry.
Huge to have a fourth line with two guys finding groove.
Trench Warfare
In a grinding game you look for certain types of players to carry the mail and get things done.
This one featured a great turn from the team’s top four defenders, a solid spin from the fourth line and then noticeable contributions from both Sam Bennett and Mikael Backlund.
Games aren’t always going to go the free flowing way, so it’s this type of player that has to be on the roster to lead the skilled guys towards the promised land.
Speaking of Backlund
The guy now has 15 goals and 36 points in 57 games on the season.
That pace puts him at a 22 goal 52 point season as he continues to come on in the second half of the season. A lot of focus on the club’s top four forwards understandably, but in the second half Mikael Backlund has brought his game to the level of two and three years ago for the Flames.
The team will need depth scoring, so the fourth line rolling, the third line finding some chemistry and Backlund finding his niche is a really good sign.
Standings Implications
The only out of town game that really factors in is a match between Vegas and Winnipeg, where I guess you hope for no loser points. At the moment the Jets are leading the Knights by two with five minutes to play so lets call that a Jet win.
Calgary with two points moves three points back in front of the Sharks with even games played, as the two teams continue to win often and push the pace in the Western Conference. The Flames will move 14 points ahead of Vegas with two games in hand, so that race is essentially over, the Flames will open the 2019 NHL playoffs on home ice.
Winnipeg will win so they move to five points back of Calgary with even games played. The Predators are six back with Calgary having two games in hand.
Other updates …
Playoff gap is now at 20 points.
The Oilers are now 27 points back of the Flames.
Counting Stats
Team Stats:
Shots – Calgary 28 Ducks 26
Face Offs – 51% Calgary
Special Teams – Calgary 0/1 Ducks 0/2
Player Stats:
Points – Brodie 2
Plus/Minus – Many +1
Shots – Backlund 6
Fancy Stats
The Flames weighted the Ducks out, but credit to Anaheim for mucking things up and doing their best to slow the game down. The Flames had 58% of the shot attempts with splits of 62%/50% and 65%. In terms of scoring chances they had 52%, but high danger chances went to Anaheim 11-9 five on five (55%).
In all situations (low powerplay opportunity game) Calgary had 56% of the shot attempts, 52% of the scoring chances and 44% of the high danger chances.
Individually, most guys had a good night as only four players finished under water. At the top of the pile was game winner Andrew Mangiapane with 70%, followed by Hathaway, Hanifin, Ryan, Giordano, Monahan and Hamonic in the 60s. Brodie, Frolik, Prout and Backlund were the guys that were under 50%.
