Five observations from Calgary vs Winnipeg:
1. Andrew Mangiapane is cooking. I know the counting totals aren’t overly impressive yet but Mangiapane’s play has been nothing short of spectacular this season. Whatever line he is on...it’s going. Simple as that. I think last night was his masterpiece, though. He was absolutely everywhere from start to finish. He won tons of battles and was all around the net. The Flames absolutely cratered the Jets with him on the ice. Attempts were 20-4. Chances were 9-0. High-danger looks were 7-0. His xGF% was 92.27. 92.27%! That line was dominant and he was the biggest reason why. It is amazing the impact he has made on his teammates. It’s always been positive but this year is a whole different level. Milan Lucic, who otherwise looks completely washed, has new life with Mangiapane. Mikael Backlund suddenly looks like a $5M player again (without Mangiapane, he does not!). He’s making Calgary’s 3rd line much more than that.
2. The Flames were steady. There were hiccups, as always, but that was the closest thing we’ve seen to a 60-minute effort. They out-chanced the Jets in all three periods and were largely in control. Their forechecking caused all kinds of problems, and they spent plenty of time on the front foot in the offensive zone. Puck management could’ve been a little better at times. Better finishing would’ve been nice, too. But the Flames largely were the better side and, when they weren’t, they didn’t allow things to spiral out of control. They’d bounce back after a poor shift or two; there were no extended periods of falling asleep at the wheel.
3. Jacob Markstrom was solid again. The Flames did a good job of making sure most of Winnipeg’s possessions were one and done, however, Markstrom still deserves credit for his performance. He made a couple top-end saves going post-to-post and, simply put, did what he was supposed to do. There were no clunkers or juicy rebounds to pounce on. He didn’t give any reason to breathe life into the Jets. The Flames don’t need him to steal two points every night. They just need to make sure he isn’t giving them away. He certainly is not.
4. Juuso Valimaki continues to impress. I really liked what I saw from the youngster last night. He made a couple nice defensive plays off the rush where he took away passing lanes and/or got a stick on the puck to erase any danger. He showed a bit of bite, finishing opponents off after driving them to the outside. And he picked up yet another primary assist on a deflection play. Like all young players, there will be some bumps and growing pains along the way. But, at 5v5, this kid leads the team in primary assists and owns a 57 xGF%. That’s impressive for anybody; let alone somebody coming back from a year-long injury.
5. The top line struggled. I know Elias Lindholm scored the game-winning goal. I just thought, for the most part, the top line was too quiet. They looked out of sync and simply weren’t able to sustain pressure in the offensive zone on many occasions. Lindholm, Matthew Tkachuk and Dillon Dube combined for only one high-danger chance at 5v5; on a night where Calgary won that battle 12-1. They posted the worst xGF% of Calgary’s four lines, and Tkachuk - Lindholm - Dube are now sitting at 42 xGF% on the year. I know it can take time to build chemistry and adjust to new linemates but I’m just not sure this is a winning recipe.
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