Who, exactly are these guys?
World beaters against Edmonton. Complete now shows in Montreal against the Canadiens. And a clinic road game in Toronto tonight against the Leafs in a 2-1 road victory?
The strike on the Flames all season has been a lack of consistency, but tonight they were consistency good in putting on a five on five how to study against the league’s highest scoring club.
They got in trouble down a man a few times, but at even strength they kept the Leafs to the outside and gave David “all star” Rittich a great chance to see every puck.
The win puts the Flames back into first place in the Pacific, tied with the Arizona Coyotes with the same overall record and same ROW tie breaker.
Next up a matinee in Ottawa to complete the schedule before the break.
Line Up Changes
Not a lot of change for the Flames tonight, despite the loss in Montreal three nights ago.
In net David Rittich makes back to back starts after giving up the nets for three straight to battery mate Cam Talbot. A game in Toronto after getting named as the replacement goaltender to Darcy Kuemper of the Coyotes for the all star game was a great chance to prove his worth.
On the blueline no change at all, as the three pairings stayed in check. Mark Giordano pairs up with TJ Brodie, while Noah Hanifin lines up with Travis Hamonic. Finally Oliver Kylington takes the ice with countryman Rasmus Andersson.
Up front one change, with Zach Rinaldo takes a seat for Mark Jankowski. The top three lines stay as is with Elias Lindholm centering Matthew Tkachuk and Andrew Mangiapane, Sean Monahan taking draws between Johnny Gaudreau and Mikael Backlund, and finally Derek Ryan between Milan Lucic and Dillon Dube. The altered line had Mark Jankowski between Sam Bennett and Tobias Rieder.
Ontario Contingent
Nine Calgary Flames call Ontario home, the second highest for the province in the National Hockey League, ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs and just behind the L.A. Kings.
Captain Mark Giordano, TJ Brodie, Sean Monahan, Sam Bennett, Mark Jankowski, Andrew Mangiapane, Cam Talbot and Zach Rinaldo call the province home.
So it wasn’t a shock to see a balanced effort from the Flames from whistle to whistle as the game unfolded.
Maybe they should play all their games in Ontario.
Face Off Woes
Yet another night with the Flames getting fed in the faceoff circle, going 46% on the night.
The Flames are ranked 23rd overall with a season record to date of 48.6%. Last year the Flames finished the season with a third overall record of 52.4%.
What happened?
Sean Monahan has done his job winning 52.8% of his draws. Derek Ryan has recovered from a miserable start to his season as he sits at 51.1% on the campaign.
Every other Calgary player to take a draw has been under 50% on the season, which is puzzling.
The biggest surprise is Elias Lindholm who sat at 53% last year but has won only 48.6% of his draws thus far this season.
It’s a small detail in an overall hockey game, but an important detail in retaining possession and taking the play to the other team.
Treliving Talks
Just loved the job Brad Treliving did in putting to bed Calgary’s side of the Matthew Tkachuk / Zach Kassian affair.
“We want Matthew playing exactly the same way that he always does. And what that is is being, in my mind, one of the top impactful players in the league. He drives the bus for us on a lot of nights, he drags our group into games.”
Which is to say the Flames organisation isn’t embarassed, and tehy’re not about to give the young forward a stern talking to.
If that wasn’t clear he went on to lambaste media from the other city for their over reaction and unprofessional conduct.
“What’s bothered me about a lot of [it], I’m not a big fan of the talk in the media and all the rest of it, some of comments that have been made towards Matthew,”
Yeah no kidding.
Hopefully things get back to normal now with both teams winning since the dust up on Saturday night.
The all star break will certainly be interesting with five players from the two cities having to share a room and be a part of a divisional all star team.
Weak Penalties
The Leafs had four of the six powerplays awarded in the game, and I thought a lot of the early calls were sketchy at best.
The tripping calls to both Elias Lindholm and Sam Bennett were a complete reach, while the interference/slashing call on Sandin was also a reach.
It was a shame, because five on five the game was very entertaining to watch.
Counting Stats
Team Stats:
Shots – Flames 32 Leafs 36
Face Offs – Flames 54%
Special Teams – Flames 0/2 Habs 1/4
Player Stats:
Points – One point each for all of Derek Ryan with the goal, and Dillon Dube and Travis Hamonic with the assists.
Plus/Minus – Dillon Dube, Milan Lucic, Derek Ryan, Noah Hanifin and Travis Hamonic were all tied with a +1 night for the Flames.
Shots – Johnny Gaudrea continues to put pucks to the net, as he leads the way with six shots on goal to pace the team.
Fancy Stats
The Leafs had 55% of the five on five shot attempts with Calgary having period splits of 46%/42% and 45%. When it came to high danger scoring chances the Flame had a 8-9 split five on five overall. The expected goal split actually fell to Calgary five on five with 51%.
In all situations Calgary had 44% of the shot attempts, 54% of the high danger chances and an expected goal split of 52%.
Individually, the Flames were led by their second line with Mikael Backlund posting a 60% night. Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau followed closely with 59% and 54% respectively. Noah Hanifin was the other Calgary player above the 50% mark on the night. The fourth line of Mark Jankowski, Sam Bennett and Tobias Rieder along with Oliver Kylington finished the game under 30%.
