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Flames left wanting more following dominant showing vs Canucks |
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Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
1) I know the Calgary Flames didn't get the two points they were after but it's hard to be disappointed with how they played. Regardless of who was on the ice, the Flames were creating chance after chance and dominating play territorially. It was a complete team effort and every player on the roster was on board.
For visual learners, this will help put in perspective how dominant of a performance the Flames put forth on Saturday night.
That the Flames didn't get two points, and the Canucks somehow kept their (slim) playoff hopes alive, is absurd given how one-sided this game was. Give Ryan Miller credit, he was great.
2) Alex Edler's goal had more spin on it than a Clayton Kershaw curveball so I'm not going to get on Brian Elliott too much for allowing that to get by him. It happens. Obviously, you'd like to a stop there but he more than made up for it with a few Grade A saves as the game progressed. The Flames took a ton of penalties and he was the main reason they didn't pay for it. He's only allowed three goals in his last two starts and his play finally seems to be trending upwards.
3) The one issue that keeps flaring up is the Flames' inability to stay out of the penalty box. Sure, a couple calls went against them. They still didn't help their own cause, though, and put themselves in position to take some unnecessary penalties. Sooner or later that's going to cost them some points, which may end up the difference in making the playoffs or missing them.
4) I thought Matt Bartkowski looked good in his Flames debut and solidified the bottom pairing, at least on this one night. He looked confident with the puck on his stick and didn't try to do too much. He took the easy passes that were available to him, got the puck moving in the right direction and lived to see another day. I thought he did a nice job in the limited ice (10:55) he was given.
5) Sean Monahan is suddenly riding a bit of a cold streak having been held pointless in four consecutive games. He has recorded 18 shots in that span, though, so it's not as if he isn't creating opportunities for himself. I expect he'll snap out of this sooner than later.
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