There was nothing pretty about that one.
Well, except for maybe the result as the Calgary Flames skate away with a 5-4 shoot out victory over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday night, bringing their recent run to a win streak of two after a challenging run of games of late.
The Wild led 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 so this one was never in the stars from the beginning for the Flames. They had a decent first despite David Rittich’s struggles, a terrible start to the second, but good finish, And then a solid third as they tied the game not once but twice and forced overtime.
The overtime featured a Mark Giordano tripping penalty that was somewhat iffy, but the club managed to kill it off, and get the game to a shoot out.
A deep shoot out as they go seven rounds before Dillon Dube wins it on a Beliveau move that would have had Beliveau nodding his head, as he hits the twine on the top of the net with a backhand and wins it.
Calgary is on to Chicago for a Tuesday night game, fathers and brothers in tow.
Lineup Changes
With the Flames winning two nights ago against the Rangers one wouldn’t expect too much by way of change to the team’s lineup.
David Rittich comes back into the net, looking to avenge back to back nightmare starts against the Canucks and the Hawks.
No change up front with Elias Lindholm lining up with Matthew Tkachuk and Andrew Mangiapane, Sean Monahan centering Johnny Gaudreau and Mikael Backlund, A third line of Derek Ryan between Milan Lucic and Dillon Dube. And finally Mark Jankowski between Sam Bennett and Tobias Reider.
On the blueline one change, with Michael Stone coming in for Oliver Kylington and pairing up with Rasmus Andersson. The other two pairings remained unchanged.
The Rittich Comeback
Not a great first period for David Rittich. The first goal was a weak one that he’d love to have back, and then he gives up two more that were certainly not his fault but the bottom line was three goals on the Wild’s first eight shots adding to the nightmare of his last two starts that also featured three goal first periods.
Like the Hawks game though, he wasn’t pulled, and continued to battle, eventually making a huge contribution to the game with a breakaway save with the score 4-3 Wild on a Johnny Gaudreau turnover, and then being stone cold amazing in stopping six of seven in the shoot out.
Goalies go through rough patches, and maybe just maybe this come from behind victory is the tonic to pull David Rittich back to number one status the rest of the way.
Dube Found Gold?
It’s always interesting when a shoot out goes long distance. Teams have three … maybe four guys in mind for the exercize; deep teams maybe five.
But when you go six and seven shots into a shoot out there’s a lot of bench gazing for head coaches in deciding who to send out next. Often there’s not much to be seen by way of future options as you dig your way into the list.
Tonight though shooter number seven was the NHL rookie Dillon Dube who ends the game with a great back hand Beliveau move to the top of the net. On the replay you could see him staring Staloc down as he brought it in and then took the opening.
I like Sean Monahan in the shoot out. Matthew Tkachuk has been good as well. But maybe they move Dube up to the four spot with the result tonight. He looks to have the ice in veins complexion needed.
Lucic Effect
His goal wasn’t a beauty, putting it on off his foot but they all count right.
But what I did like was the Lucic presence after Jordan Greenway had two confrontations with Mark Giordano through the game’s first two periods.
In the third with a scramble around the Wild net, Lucic pushed his way in and was turned back by Greenway who was stood up and then promptly looked the other way.
The game isn’t always about a fight, but sometimes just the threat of said fight.
Some Late Interesting Lines
To spur the Flames on, Geoff Ward blendered pretty much the whole team in the the third period.
He built a line of Mikael Backlund between Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett. Mark Jankowski played with Tobias Reider and Andrew Mangiapane. Leaving the old top line reunited with Monahan centering Gaudreau and Lindholm. All four lines added some spark at that point.
Additionally, Ward moved Brodie down to play with Michael Stone; an interesting wrinkle with both players playing their off sides more often than not. While Rasmus Andersson moved up to play with Mark Giordano.
Big Points
Given the Flames foibles of the last week and a half, it sure looks good to see back to back wins heading into Chicago instead of losses in three of the past four games.
The Flames were full marks for pushing hard in the third period, and not folding the tent when the Wild went ahead again less than two minutes after the Flames had tied it. With pretty much every team in the West winning games right now the Flames need the points.
Hopefully it’s the start of a run.
Hamonic On It
Quite the noticeable game from Travis Hamonic tonight.
A goal, four shots on goal, three blocks and he leads the team with almost 26 minutes as Ward clearly identified the player as a guy feeling it early.
He jumped up in the play often, including his first period goal, and was solid both in his own zone and in keeping pucks in and forcing the play offensively.
The Standings
With the win the Flames move into a tie with Edmonton for the first wild card spot ahead of Winnipeg who has two games in hand.
The Jets were a classic example of a team winning early despite numbers that suggest they shouldn’t be … those things tend to correct themselves.
Calgary is one point back of Vancouver, though the Canucks have two games in hand. And are three points back of the Coyotes with even games played.
Counting Stats
Team Stats:
Shots – Flames 37 Wild 34
Face Offs – Flames 50%
Special Teams – Flames 2/4 Wild 1/2
Player Stats:
Points – Johnny Gaudreau and Mikael Backlund led the way, each with two assists in the game.
Plus/Minus – Dillon Dube, Derek Ryan, Milan Lucic and Mark Giordano all finished +1 for the Flames.
Shots – Mark Giordano led all shooters with six shots on goal tonight.
Fancy Stats
Solid night for the Flames in terms of possession stats.
In five on five shot attempts the Flames had 54% of the attempts with period splits of 55%/51% and 56%. Scoring chances were 14-8 Calgary five on five for a percentage of 64%, and the team’s xGF% five on five was 55%.
In all situations the Flames had 55% of the shot attempts, 67% of the high danger chances and an xGF% of 58%.
Individually, the Flames were led by Derek Ryan (67%) and Noah Hanifin (61%). Other players with solid nights included Mark Giordano, Travis Hamonic, Andrew Mangiapane, Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. Only Michael Stone, Mark Jankowski and Rasmus Andersson finished under water.
