Six takeaways from the first Todd Cordell Bowlâ„¢ of the 2017-18 season::
1) The Calgary Flames were hosting a beat up New Jersey Devils team -- they were missing three top-6 forwards in Marcus Johansson, Kyle Palmieri, and Travis Zajac -- and took advantage of it.
While the result was in doubt until the very end, the Flames were the better team for much of the game and deserved the two points.
They out-chanced the Devils by 10 at 5v5, and eight overall, and were able to open up a shooting gallery right in front of poor Keith Kinkaid.
2) It was another good night for the 3M line but I thought Michael Frolik, in particular, stood out. He was relentless in his puck pursuit, forced several turnovers, and was a consistent offensive threat as he finished with a goal, an assist, and a game-high seven(!) scoring chances. He caused all kinds of problems for the Devils, regardless of the game state, and was probably unlucky to only have two points to show for his efforts.
3) I was concerned about Michael Stone stepping up into the top-4 -- he's been hit and miss this season -- but I thought he played a real strong game. He didn't get into much trouble defensively and was actually very involved on the offensive side of things tallying a game-high six shots on target and having a goal to show for his efforts.
4) In a truly shocking turn of events, Matt Bartkowski posted the worst possession numbers on the Flames and was on for a pair of goals against in less than 12 minutes of ice. If Travis Hamonic is going to miss more time, I'd like to see Rasmus Andersson get into the lineup. Not only is a player missing, but it's a right-handed shooting player so the Flames could insert Andersson into the lineup on his natural side and see what they have. Crazy idea, I know!
5) Mike Smith had one of his worst games of the season conceding four goals, a couple of which came off *huge* rebounds, to a very watered-down Devils team. Still, he fought through it and did make some big stops late, and the skaters took care of the rest. Smith has bailed out the Flames several times this year so it was nice to see the team return the favor when he wasn't at his best.
6) Few things are as beautiful to watch as Sean Monahan shooting the puck. My goodness, that guy can rip it -- and so effortlessly.
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