In my old age I find I’m fine with a good hockey game, the result important, but a solid effort with the good guys playing well usually leaves me at least somewhat satisfied.
This wasn’t one of those nights.
I thought the Flames were fortunate to be up two after one, lucky to be tied after a miserable second, iffy in the third and a hot mess in overtime in a 4-3 setback to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night; their last home game before their Christmas break.
Too many unforced errors, too many turnovers, too many mind cramps … not a good hockey game from a team looking to get back in the win column after back to back losses.
They had better get a handle on this soon, or they’ll give away all the gains from the seven game win streak.
Line Up Changes
The Flames may not have won the other night against Pittsburgh, but they did enough for Geoff Ward to keep all 18 skaters in the lineup, and sticking with the lines and pairings they had that night.
A refresher shows Elias Lindholm between Matthew Tkachuk and Andrew Mangiapane. Sean Monahan between Mikael Backlund and Johnny Gaudreau, Derek Ryan between Milan Lucic and Dillon Dube, and finally Tobias Rieder between Sam Bennett and Michael Frolik.
On the blueline no change as well … the old standby of Mark Giordano and TJ Brodie, the constant second pair of Noah Hanifin and Travis Hamonic, and finally Oliver Kylington with Rasmus Andersson.
That leaves the only change, that being, David Rittich getting the start.
Retro Whites
Man what a thrill to see the 80s white jerseys as the home kit on Saddledome ice again. The nostalgia is almost deafening. And no dummies in the marketing department picking the Habs as the visitors reclaiming the look from the 1986 and 1989 Stanley Cup Finals on Calgary ice. Additionally, back in the day the Flames and Montreal always seemed to play on New Years Eve in Calgary, so the timing is almost right as well.
Really hope they make these the full time road jerseys next year as well. I mean how can they not?
Notice the Heritage tag is off the shoulders too, making it a must by for Christmas I’m guessing.
Rittich Start
What can you say about a game like that.
With the team in front of him giving up too much and too often, it’s hard to fault the effort of David Rittich on the night. With that said the two second period goals that wiped clean a 2-0 Calgary lead were both a little iffy. The first, a goal by Brendan Gallagher was from the corner and just went through the goaltender as he tried to seal the post. The second beat him short side unscreened later in the stanza.
Didn’t mind the tip goal in the third, but he has to have the overtime winner from Domi.
All in all hard to fault the guy despite three goals you don’t like given the fact they gave up 43 shots and 20! high danger chances on the night.
Terrible Second
Well that’s three in a row. A total of 60 minutes of play that have seen the Flames out scored 6-0 in the middle frames of the last three games on this homestand.
The first period tonight wasn’t as dominant as the last two openings, but the second period was certainly equally as bad. The shots were 16-7 for Montreal, as the visitors had two powerplays towards the end of the period. The Canadiens enjoyed a 65% shot attempt margin and an 8-4 edge in scoring chances.
The Flames really need to get this worked out.
The good news I suppose was the two first period goals sending the game to the third tied instead of down.
Lindholm Line Finally Gets Rolling
Through the win streak and now mini slump one thing has been constant; scoring throughout the lineup, that is of course save for the top line (is it the top line?).
Tonight finally they got rolling. Matthew Tkachuk scores in the first period on a broken play set up by his linemates. And then Elias Lindholm hits the twine later in the period when he coverts a great seam pass from Tkachuk to make it 2-0.
From there they had a few good shifts with pressure, and were probably the team’s best line on the night.
Fourth Line Firing
This may be the most effective fourth line we’ve seen this season, and perhaps the only one comparable to last year’s Derek Ryan, Andrew Mangiapane, Garnet Hathaway line.
Geoff Ward noticed as well, as the trio moved to almost 12 minutes instead of the eight we saw against Pittsburgh.
A total of four shots on goal and two of the team’s top four performers when it came to possession stats, a good sign for a club looking to use their depth to get four lines rolling.
Jamie Pringle Reviews
I can’t really blame them for that odd situation around the review on Saturday against the Hurricanes, I certainly didn’t pick up the tag up nuance on the first few viewings. But tonight? Sure the Montreal player lost the handle a touch on taking the line, but it wasn’t conclusive enough to risk the penalty with all the momentum with Montreal and the game just getting tied.
They need to sit down as a group and dust up on their challenge triggers. Too touchy right now.
Lucic Non Call
That one I just don’t get.
Two officials on the ice. The biggest guy in the game is carrying the puck, and neither guy notice a stick between his legs to the point where the Montreal defender loses both the stick and a glove in the process?
Simple unbelievable to me.
Counting Stats
Team Stats:
Shots – Flames 27 Habs 43
Face Offs – Flames 52%
Special Teams – Flames 0/1 Habs 0/2
Player Stats:
Points – Tkachuk and Lindholm each had a goal and an assist, while Johnny Gaudreau also picked up two points, both assists.
Plus/Minus – Only one player was a plus on the night, Oliver Kylington with a +1. Noah Hanifin was -3.
Shots – Andrew Mangiapane led all skaters with four shots on goal.
Fancy Stats
The Flames finished the night with only 45% of the five on five shots on goal with period splits of 38% (Bad), 38% (Still Bad), and 63% (Good). Five on five scoring chances were very tight with Montreal having a 13-12 edge on the night. The five on five xGF% fell to Montreal with a 57% mark.
In all situations Montreal had 56% of the shot attempts, 57% of the high danger chances and an xGF% of 57%.
Individually it was a mixed bag for the Flames; some with great nights and some with some miserable experiences. At the top was Michael Frolik with 65%, Sean Monahan with 61%, Sam Bennett and Mikael Bennett both at 59%. TJ Brodie, Travis Hamonic and Tobias Rieder were also on the high side. Parts of the third line, and the third defense pairing were all under 30%.
