Now that’s a bounce back!
The Flames seemed to be almost written off by the city after a shaky, sloppy and in some opinions disinterested game two loss to the Jets yesterday.
They didn’t score first again, no news there, that’s been the case in all three games in this series.
But they outplayed the Jets significantly in the first 35 minutes of the game, scoring four times on the strength of their powerplay in cruising to a 6-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets.
In league history of game five series tied 1-1, the winner of game three has gone on to win 75% of the time. The Flames have two kicks at the cat to add to those numbers starting on Thursday night at 830 pm.
Line Up Changes
The fourth line was a tire fire in game two, and it didn’t take a lot of forensic work to dig in and find a culprit. Zach Rinaldo was 4% in xGF% through two games, while his linemates were 21%. They only played seven minutes together. Clearly Rinaldo had to go.
So go he did … Geoff Ward makes the one change to the lineup with Rinaldo exiting the lineup and Mark Jankowski coming in. The top line stays in tact with Sean Monahan between Johnny Gaudreau and Elias Lindholm, Mikael Backlund between Matthew Tkachuk and Andrew Mangiapane, Sam Bennett with Milan Lucic and Dillon Dube, and finally Derek Ryan with Jankowski and Tobias Rieder.
No change to the blueline as the top pairing remains Mark Giordano with TJ Brodie, the second the surging Noah Hanifin and Rasmus Andersson, and finally the poor man’s second pairing which is Calgary’s third with Erik Gustaffson and Derek Forbort.
In goal Cam Talbot starts his third straight despite the game two loss and back to back games.
Team Discipline
After giving up 13 opportunities in just two games, the Flames held the Jets to just two chances on the night in comparison to having four cracks at it themselves. (That 4-2 discrepancy was later described by Blake Wheller as “they had a lot more chances that we did tonight”, I guess he didn’t see the disparity in game one.
Staying out of the box showed up in a noticeable step up in cohesion and flow for the team five on five, and a chance to get everyone into the game.
The Special Teams Battle
Calgary made good on their four chances scoring three times, after getting blanked in six chances the day before.
The Penalty Killing won the day in game one of the series, but this time it was the powerplay.
Good to see the second unit getting on the boards as well with Milan Lucic’s double whiff insurance goal in the third period.
Disallowed Goal
Generally my instincts are pretty much always wrong when it comes to goalie interference reviews. I like to consider myself a common sense guy but I’m amazed how often I’m wrong.
Tonight I got it right though.
Dillon Dube was certainly assisted into the crease by Cody Eakin, there is little doubt about it. But he didn’t do everything he could to get out of the situation and he certainly impeded the ability of Hellebucyk to make the save.
Good call, and nice to agree for a chance.
More Injured Jets
More walking wounded for the Jets on the night as Tucker Poolman took a puck in the face, but returned, and Nicolas Perreault left the game and didn’t return on a hit by Sam Bennett.
The Bennett hit should have been a penalty as it was late and Perreault was in a difficult situation. Not sure I’d go as far as Brian Burke who suggested it could have been a major and the league may look at it.
It wasn’t to the head, and it wasn’t from behind so I think that’s a bit of a reach.
Point Per Game Lucic
“It’s been a lot of fun since Wardo has taken over.”
Always interesting to hear some of the Bill Peters commentary still leak out of the team. Milan Lucic has an established role on the third line and more confidence because of the confidence Geoff Ward has shown in him through the last half of the season.
Tonight he scored a “fortunate” goal to give him a goal and two assists in the series. He also has had a disallowed goal and a blue chip chance at the game winner in game two but was foiled by Hellebucyk.
Calgary fans have suggested that Lucic’s season this year was leaps and bounds ahead of the impact (positive) that Neal made on the Flames last year. That trend is continuing into the playoffs.
Backlund Shooting the Puck
Very good sign to see Mikael Backlund with five pucks to the net tonight.
He had only two shots through the first two games which just wasn’t his game down the stretch when he was one of the most impactful skaters in the league.
It comes as no surprise as that alteration helped both the player and his line as Backlund recorded a goal and an assist and his line picked up a total of five scoring points.
Mangiapane Setup Man
Two points in game one, and two more tonight, but in a more noticeable direction.
Andrew Mangiapane was one of the players discussed for late game lack of discipline and used that as fuel to bounce back expertly tonight. His two huge assists to his linemates change the game, as Calgary went ahead for the first time, and then pretty much iced the game on his helpers.
The player is a top six winger in the lineup, but his production in the play in series is matching his torrid pace down the stretch cementing him in that role.
Counting Stats
Team Stats:
Shots – Flames 32 Jets 35
Face Offs – Jets 59%
Special Teams – Flames 3/6 Jets 1/2
Player Stats:
Points – Sean Monahan had three points to lead all his teammates on a goal and two assists.
Plus/Minus – Calgary’s second line of Backlund, Tkachuk and Mangiapane were all +2 to lead the team.
Shots – Both Mikael Backlund and Johnny Gaudreau had five shots on goal.
Fancy Stats
The Jets finished on top in five on five shot attempts with 57% on period splits of 42%/55% and a score effected 84%. In terms of xGF% though the Flames had 54% to the Jets 46%. The high danger chances were 6-5 Winnipeg five on five.
In all situations the Flames had 47% of the shot attempts, 56% of the high danger chances and an xGF% of 66%, pretty much describing the win on special teams.
Individually, the second line lead the way with Matthew Tkachuk pacing the group at 65%, followed by linemates Mikael Backlund at 62% and Andrwe Mangiapane at 61%. Noah Hanifin in the team’s top four again at 52% on the night. On the other end of the spectrum a rough night for the first and third lines as Gaudreau, Monahan and Lindholm were all under 30%, and Bennett, Lucic and Dube were in the 30s.
