Five observations from Calgary vs Florida:
1. What a weird game That Flames vs Panthers contest was one of the stranger games I’ve seen in recent years. Seriously. While both teams struggled to generate shots on target, there were a ton of chances. It felt like *almost* every shot was dangerous. The two sides combined for 62 chances (31 each) and 27 high-danger looks (16 for Calgary, 11 for Florida). Not a lot of point shots were taken. Both sides were patient working into the money areas, and both sides were very effective at doing so. Perhaps that’s why Sergei Bobrovsky and David Rittich conceded a few goals they probably should have stopped. They were so shocked the shots didn’t come from high-danger areas, they didn’t know how to handle it. When looking at the heat maps, it really hammers home how difficult of a night it was for the goaltenders. That feels strange to type in a game where there were 47 shots in 65 minutes of action but it’s the truth.
2. The big guns remained quiet Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, and Elias Lindholm once again struggled to create offense on a consistent basis. At least at 5v5 (they did get some good looks on the power play). Gaudreau had one shot attempt, Monahan had one shot attempt, and Lindholm had three. There were three Grade B chances between the three of them. That’s not nearly good enough. Not for a line that started zero (0) shifts in the defensive zone. Not for a line that spent more than 7 minutes going head-to-head with the opposition’s 4th line. Bill Peters went out of his way to get them in good spots and they just couldn’t take advantage. Gotta be better.
3. 3M came through They gave up a couple opportunities (and goals) to Florida’s top line which, well, happens. It’s tough to slow FLA1 down, and David Rittich not being on his A game didn’t help the cause. They got a lot of it back at the other end, though. Michael Frolik took full advantage of his promotion into the top-6, picking up a pair of primary assists on nice dishes to Matthew Tkachuk in high-danger areas. It’s kind of amazing how 3M can break up for a couple weeks and pick up right where they left off seemingly every time. I wouldn’t be surprised if Austin Czarnik finds his way back onto the line in Winnipeg, though, as Bill Peters won’t be able to control matchups and get 3M out against Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine, and Blake Wheeler. If they’re not being used in a shutdown role, Peters seems more willing to drop Frolik.
4. Short end of the stick I completely understand wanting to put 3M together for a date against an elite top line. I feel for Austin Czarnik, though. Even when playing really good hockey, he never seems to get real opportunity on a consistent basis. He is always the player dropping in the lineup or sitting out entirely. He went from playing in the top-6, and playing well, to playing on the 4th line with Milan Lucic. Unsurprisingly, things didn’t go as well for him. At 5v5 the 4th line was not on the ice for a single shot on goal in ~9 minutes. They mustered up only one attempt so it’s not like they had opportunities and just missed. Brutal. Czarnik did still find a way to make an impact, potting a (lucky) goal on the man advantage. Hopefully he gets away from Lucic sooner than later.
5. Quick hits a) I’ve watched Andrew Mangiapane for what feels like forever (I scouted him weekly during his days in Barrie) but I’ll never stop being amazed by his ability to win puck battles against guys a foot taller than him. He just knows how to work the angles, get body positioning, and push much bigger players off the puck. It’s so impressive.
b) The Flames only took two minor penalties. This after taking just three the game prior. If they can play with this kind of discipline moving forward, they’ll have a much better shot at piling up some wins.
c) Further to my point about how weird of a game we saw: I’m not sure there’s a better way to back that up than defensive defenseman Mark Pysyk playing forward and scoring what looked like it would be the game-winning-goal late in the 3rd period. Let’s hope for more #weirdhockey outdoors on Saturday night.
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