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Flames beat Wild in overtime, extend winning streak to four games |
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Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
A few notes from Calgary vs Minnesota:
1) The top line went through an extended quiet spell but they sure look to have come out of it. Michael Ferland has been a goal scoring machine – he has scored five goals, all at 5v5, over the last seven games – and recorded two points or more in three of his last four while the latter can also be said about Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. Gaudreau seems to be back to his dynamic, creative self and Monahan and Ferland have been living around the paint and cleaning up the garbage. The Flames need their best players to be, well, their best players if they're going to make a run and climb the crowded Western Conference standings. Lately, they have been and the wins have come as a result.
2) I thought Mike Smith had another strong night between the pipes. He wasn't tested a ton in the first 40 minutes but he was there when needed and made a couple impressive flurries of stops in the 3rd period to keep the Flames in it and ensure they picked up at least a point. I don't know what the deal is but the Flames seem to have a dead period every night – or close to it – and Smith was able to help them weather the storm, and avoid disaster, against Minnesota. Smith has now posted a .914 save percentage or better in seven of his last nine starts and allowed no more than three goals in any of them. He's giving them a chance every night.
3) Andrew Mangiapane generated as many chances (2) in 7:24 with poor linemates as Troy Brouwer did in 17:48(!!) with quality linemates. I'm not saying Mangiapane should be getting 18 minutes of ice, but the Flames could at least give him the occasional shift in the top-6 to a) see how he handles it and; b) give Mikael Backlund and Michael Frolik a break from carrying Brouwer.
4) Mark Jankowski had a quiet night offensively but, to his credit, he was able to make an impact in other ways. As Kelly Hrudey mentioned on the broadcast, he prevented a couple good scoring opportunities from coming to fruition with strong work on the backcheck. It's nice to see that kind of commitment and effort from a young player.
5) Minnesota has a good penalty kill, but it was pretty discouraging to see another handful of lifeless Calgary power plays last night. I don't know that one move will fix everything, but I think putting Dougie Hamilton on the top unit, and actually having somebody right-handed on the ice, could help. I mean, it certainly can't make things any worse.
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Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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