Game Takes: Flames 4 Jets 0 (Flames win series 3-1)

August 6th, 2020 | Posted in Game Takes | By: D'Arcy McGrath

Just not used to this level of consistency around these parts.

A sloppy game two performance is followed up by a solid game three effort making Calgarians wonder what was up for game four in an elimination opportunity with Winnipeg on Thursday night.

Well wonder no more as the Geoff Ward led Flames deliver another solid effort in blanking the Jets 4-0 on the strength of two empty net goals to win the qualifying series and move on to the actual playoffs in this chaotic, weird, playoff bubble hockey we are watching in 2020.

The Flames move on to play someone … not sure who, but we may capture a better idea tomorrow as the league has six teams facing elimination tomorrow.

Line Up Changes

After a successful game three you wouldn’t expect changes to the Flame’s lineup, in goal, on the blueline or up front.

The change on the fourth line let Geoff Ward roll his full sets, keeping the flow going in the game, and avoiding the taxation of the top nine forwards.

So up front it’s Sean Monahan between Johnny Gaudreau and Elias Lindholm, Mikael Backlund between Matthew Tkachuk and Andrew Mangiapane, Sam Bennett between Milan Lucic and Dillon Dube, and the improved fourth line of Derek Ryan, Mark Jankowski and Tobias Rieder.

On the blueline it’s Mark Giordano with TJ Brodie, Noah Hanifin with Rasmus Andersson and Erik Gustaffson with Derek Forbort.

In goal of course is Cam Talbot as the Flames attempt to put a dagger in the heart of the Jets.

Cam Talbot Workload

Coming into the game there was talk about Cam Talbot being the Flame’s best player, and pricing himself out of the market for next season in Calgary colours.

Not sure that’s on the mark.

It’s been great that Talbot has been solid, as the Flames have had with their duo pretty average goaltending all season; sitting 13th league wide at .906 until the pause. It wasn’t an Achilles heel, but it certainly wasn’t what you’d call a team strength.

Through three games the playoffs have been different as Talbot has carried the load towards a team rank of .924, good for 5th out of the 24 teams still playing.

But digging a bit in shows the team is playing pretty damn well in front of him. The team has the 5th fewest shot attempts / 60 against, the 5th fewest shots against / 60, and 3rd best high danger chances against / 60.

They’re just not giving that much up.

Tonight the Flames only gave up four five on five high danger chances against, compared to 13 in their favour as they just added to the numbers discussed above.

Talbot played a solid series, but so too did his teammates.

Lucic Scrap

Well that was an interesting way to start a hockey game.

Would have to assume the young Jet defenseman Nathan Beaulieu was the one doing the asking, in an effort to work his team into a lather. Lucic accepts and then promptly beats him into the ice to equally get the Calgary bench going.

What more can you say about Lucic in this series though? He’s been productive, animated, and entertaining in adding a scrap to the mix. It’s a far cry from that James Neal debacle and subsequent benching in last year’s smoke show against Colorado.

Classy of Lucic to not throw that final punch, but also pretty classy by Beaulieu to acknowledge it.

Sam Bennett’s Series

I’ve been pretty patient with this player, to the angst of many on the site.

However I’ve also lowered my expectations through the years. From top line player to second line player, to “middle six” player and forever arguing against the notion that he was replacement level and on his way out of the league.

But you had to make a case on intangibles. He was creating chances and not finishing. He was physical and a big game guy. But you couldn’t get past the optics that he over handled the puck and didn’t seem to find his teammates all that well.

Not so in this series for some reason.

Last Spring Bennett was solid but he wasn’t leading the drive with the puck, he was leading it without it.

Through the first four games of this odd post season Sam Bennett has had more smart plays with the puck on his stick than the total of the last four seasons (probably hyperbole). I won’t get burned in calling this a turning point, but I will enjoy every second of it as long as it lasts.

Dillon Dube Coming Out Party?

Such a noticeable game from Dillon Dube tonight.

Sure he scored a goal, but he had so many other chances and really seems to be feeling a confidence rise.

The Flames have had three x factor guys in this series, though that may be turning into five or six. Andrew Mangiapane and Dillon Dube were two obvious ones, add in Rasmus Andersson … all young guys in big roles that are growing and quickly becoming part of the core and not just complimentary players.

We’ve seen Mangiapane produce through three games, and Dube score tonight.

The Flames are a different team to check and cover if you have seven or eight forwards to worry about and not just four or five.

Moving On

Doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to suggest the Flames had a good situation with the freakish injuries to the Jets to start this series. So with that it’s certainly not a shock to see the Flames advance, especially because I honestly saw them advancing against a healthy Jets squad.

However, I have to wonder if the experience in itself, regardless of the situation is a healthy one for the Calgary Flames core.

Sure it’s not really a playoff series, and yes the Jets were injured, but the Flames get to experience a victory, and build off of something, which certainly has to be a different feel from what they experienced last year after a face plant following winning the West in the regular season.

The top line still isn’t firing five on five, but the next six guys are, and they seem to have a tight six on the blue and a guy in the paint that is rising to the challenge.

Will be interesting to see where this goes.

Counting Stats

Team Stats:
Shots – Flames 34 Jets 31
Face Offs – Jets 53%
Special Teams – Flames 0/3 Jets 0/2

Player Stats:

Points – Sean Monahan led the way with a goal and an assist for two points to pace the team.
Plus/Minus – Monahan, Dillon Dube, Rasmus Andersson and Derek Forbort all had a +2 night for Calgary.
Shots – Dillon Dube leads the way with a crazy seven shots on goal.

Fancy Stats

Calgary gets bested in the shot attempts category with a game total of 48% on period splits of 52%/55% and a score effects inflicted 18% in the third when the Jets pushed hard to save their season. On the game the Flames had 13-4 edge in high danger chances five on five (76%) and an xGF% of 65%.

In all situations the Flames had 49% of the shot attempts, 65% of the high danger chances and an xGF% of 67%.

Individually, the Flames were led by Sam Bennett with 71% in shot attempts five on five, with his linemates Milan Lucic at 70% and Dillon Dube at 65% to pace the team. On the flip side the top six didn’t have a great night with both Johnny Gaudreau and Elias Lindholm under 30%.

 



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