Something had to give, right?
The league’s best defense in terms of goals against per game against the league’s second best offence. Would the Islanders be able to grind things to a standstill or would the Flames manage to turn it into a track meet?
Give the nod to the locals as the Flames badly out shot, out chanced and out played New York in a game that was tied 2-2 in the third period with the shots on goal 24-8 for the Flames. The right team won the game in the end, but it was in doubt a lot later than it should have been.
Calgary gets goals from Mikael Backlund, Travis Hamonic, Austin Czarnik and Johnny Gaudreau in winning their third straight game. It’s interesting how a team can go from four straight losses to points in five of their last six in just three games.
Line Up Changes
No change in goal, as Mike Smith makes his fourth straight start in the Calgary cage, the second time he’s done that this season after the first was registered in the team’s first four games.
On the blueline TJ Brodie returns to the fold after sitting out the Arizona game with an undisclosed injury. As a result Rasmus Andersson returns to the third pairing and Dalton Prout exits the lineup once again.
No change in the forward group, at least if you’re barometer is the second and third period of the Coyote game. Peters ran his lines today like the changes he made mid game on Monday with Matthew Tkachuk lining up on the top line and Elias Lindholm patrolling the right side of the second line. Not sure how long that will stay together.
James Neal Update
We found out today that James Neal is week to week with a lower body injury, making those that guessed knee correct and those that saw shoulder wrong from the Florida game last week.
But what does week to week mean? Logically I’d assume anything less than a month, which puts him back between next week and the third week of March.
Also good to see Michael Stone hit the ice today even in a caution jersey. He’s pretty much exactly the type of player you’d think the Flames would be looking to add for depth at the deadline, so getting him some games down the stretch when he’s cleared would be a huge add to the team’s blueline. Dalton Prout takes some abuse from fans, but he should have been the 8th defenseman this year, not the 6th.
Does that Change the Deadline?
In a depth standpoint yes, but in a top six sense not really.
Neal hasn’t been all that productive this year so replacing his actual stats isn’t all that difficult to handle. If he was chugging along at his normal 20 goal clip then there’d be a hole that needs filling.
I still maintain the forward acquisition had better be a better player than Sam Bennett, Michael Frolik and a healthy Neal or there’s no point if the cost is at all exorbitant. Calgary has five top six players that never move, so upping their current options for player number six has to be the goal. Otherwise it’s depth and depth shouldn’t cost all that much if Treliving can wield his magic.
Does this Change the Deadline?
Brad Treliving doesn’t have a whole lot to say for the most part, ok he may say a lot but he essentially says nothing if you know what I mean.
Tonight before the game he took to the airwaves to do a 960 interview and dropped this little tidbit;
“This is the first time since I’ve been here that I can see us being in the rental market”
Wow.
For a guy that never tips his hand, it sure looks like he’s preparing the Calgary market for a rental deal of substance or why say it? He also hinted that a player or players that would be rentals may be signed, which could mean Mark Stone is coming off the table.
What Does the Smith Start Mean?
It’s never time well spent to try and get into the brains of a hockey ops or coaching staff; too hard to know all the parameters or see the different lines of thought.
But I’ll persist.
I had thought the Florida and Arizona games were defined backup starts and with that saw no surprise in Smith starting them. The Pittsburgh game seemed like a deviation from the plan, but one that was justified considering how rough David Rittich’s numbers look in his last three starts (pulled against San Jose, iffy against Vancouver, and bested six times by a dynamic Tampa team).
Tonight though would have been my return to the starter, or David Rittich, so I was pretty surprised to see them going with Smith.
Is it win and you’re in? Or do the Flames see Smith as their man and a return to the plan to begin the season? Or is this just a way to take some pressure off of Rittich and get him back into that tandem/backup mindset?
Top Six Scramble
Bill Peters has had an excellent season for swapping out lines, dropping down to nine forwards, or swapping defense pairings.
His latest is the Tkachuk to the top line, and Lindholm to the second line swap made against the Coyotes in the second period and continued into tonight’s game against the Islanders. The idea I’m sure was to get Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan going, but the opposite has happened with Lindholm/Backlund and Frolik flying, as the trio has combined for three five on five goals and a second powerplay unit tally in the game plus they’ve been together.
With the playoffs and matchups on the menu in a month and a half, it’s good to come up with some other looks that can give opposing coaches fits.
Austin Czarnik Comes of Age
With a great preseason it was something we were expecting, offence from the free agent signing from Boston Austin Czarnik, but it just wasn’t coming. In the lineup for a spell, out, in again, out for a long stretch, then back in. But with every appearance he just wasn’t making an impact. A player without a lot of size that doesn’t play a physical game has to generate offence or he just wouldn’t stick; and he wasn’t.
Three games and three goals. Sure two of them are of the fluke variety, but at least he’s hitting the scoresheet. More importantly he’s noticeable, something he hasn’t been all year, on a line with Jankowski and Bennett, and seems to fit well with his speed.
The Backlund Call
I wasn’t there to hear what was said, but I didn’t like the potential outcome altering way that the officials handled Backlund’s response. If they deemed his fall to be embellishment then make the call. If they didn’t like his disagreement give him 10 minutes, but why give him two and ten and send the Islanders to a powerplay in a two goal game; especially when the original call was against New York.
Didn’t have to go down that way.
The call itself is common, but I’ve never liked it. Call one or the other and not both, that’s the best and in my opinion the only way to get diving out of the game. If it’s a trip it’s a trip. If it was nothing and a guy goes down send him off.
Standings Implications
A pretty good night for the Flames could get better, as the Bruins and Knights are tied 2-2 in the third period. The Jets were throttled by the Avalanche, so with Calgary’s two points they now move five points ahead of Winnipeg with even games played. Nashville is six points back but Calgary has two games in hand.
The true battle as it’s becoming more clear however is with San Jose for the conference and division. Calgary moves three points up on the Sharks with even games played.
If you’re looking at playoff spots Calgary now has a 20 point lead on the Hawks, the current 9th place team in the West. For home ice they have a 13 point lead with soon to be two games in hand (Vegas final pending), and on the Oilers it’s 27 points with the Oilers having a game in hand.
Counting Stats
Team Stats:
Shots – Flames 32 Islanders 19
Face Offs – Flames 57%
Special Teams – Islanders 0/2 Flames 1/3
Player Stats:
Points – Mikael Backlund 2
Plus/Minus – Backlund, Frolik, Hamonic and Noah Hanifin +2
Shots – Johnny Gaudreau 7
Fancy Stats
Only some late score effects made this one even remotely close as the Flames pretty much ran their show from coast to coast in this one. In terms of five on five shot attempts the Flames had 60% on period splits of 66%/65% and 44%. Scoring chances fell 62% to the Flames and high danger chances were 70% Calgary. The Flames only gave up six high danger chances against all night.
In all situations Calgary had 59% of the shot attempts, 59% of the scoring chances and 68% of the high danger chances.
Calgary had only Derek Ryan on the underside of 50%, a rarity as the player almost never posts numbers that are sub .500. Austin Czarnik led the way at the top with 81% of the shot attempts, followed by Jankowski, Backlund, Bennett, Brodie and a host of others that posted numbers in the 60s.
The third line (Jankowski, Bennett, Czarnik) and the third defense pairing (Kylington and Andersson) were dominant all posting perfect night in terms of high danger splits.
