Five observations from Calgary vs Montreal:
1. Defensive woes continue The Calgary Flames have given up a lot of chances this season. It wasn't a pressing issue in the earlier games because they were generating plenty of their own. That's not the case right now. Calgary's offense has looked mostly inept in consecutive games while teams projected to be bottom feeders have poured it on at the other end. The amount of defensive breakdowns is concerning, to say the least.
They conceded 43 high-danger chances against New York and Montreal. The most they gave up in a two-game window last season was 34 and we know how much of a train wreck they were defensively – particularly in the 2nd half.
For perspective of how bad things are right now, the Flames are giving up 2.84 expected goals per 60 minutes at 5v5. Last season the Rangers finished 31st with 2.8 xGA/60.
If the Flames don't tighten the screws defensively, they're going to get lit up over the next few games (they draw Pittsburgh, Washington, and Toronto).
2. David Rittich did his job Rittich was excellent once again stopping 37 of the 40 shots he faced (.925 SV%). While the Flames weren't quite as bad as vs the Rangers – it's hard to be – there were a lot of careless turnovers and breakdowns that resulted in quality looks for the Habs. Rittich continually bailed the team out and kept them in the game a lot longer than they deserved to be.
He should get the nod in goal Thursday night.
3. The power play was awful I predicted we'd see a lot of special teams play in this game. That was the case and it proved to be the difference. The Canadiens converted on two of five power plays while the Flames came up empty on their five opportunities and looked awful in the process.
They generated just four shots on goal in better than eight minutes on the man advantage. The top unit struggled to gain the line and set up shop. The 2nd unit did a little better in that regard, however, their puck movement was painfully slow and predictable. They force-fed Rasmus Andersson one-timers that simply weren't there and had no backup plan. It was ugly.
Geoff Ward power plays are famous for out-performing their underlying numbers but Calgary currently ranks 29th in Corsi For/60 and 28th in Expected Goals For/60. Not exactly what anyone wanted to see after last season's struggles.
4. A James Neal breakthrough seems imminent On the bright side, Neal is finally generating chances on a consistent basis. He recorded just six in his first four games. He has registered 17 in five since, which is really impressive. He has been an elite goal scorer for a long time and his shot is still very good. The goals will come in bunches if he continues to generate looks like he is right now.
5. Mikael Backlund + Matthew Tkachuk dominated Most of the other forwards were struggling, and Bill Peters brought out the blender as a result, but these two were once again fantastic in their short period of time together. The Flames out-attempted the Habs 7-1 and out-chanced them 6-0 in ~4 minutes with Backlund + Tkachuk on the ice. They are scary good.
Numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com and Corsica.Hockey. Recent posts: Rittich steals the show, two points in New York