On Wednesday night the Calgary Flames had their six-game winning streak snapped in disappointing fashion as they fell 6-3 at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
A few notes:
1) The other day I wrote that the Flames weren't playing as well as their record suggested and their win streak wouldn't last much longer if they didn't play better moving forward.
During their 8-1-1 run, the Flames controlled ~45% of the shot attempts at 5v5. In large part, they were winning games because Chad Johnson was stopping an unsustainably high .948% of the shots he faced at full-strength. Johnson is a legitimately good goaltender but he had to fall down to earth sooner or later and that's what happened vs the Bolts.
The Flames controlled 45.33% of the attempts at 5v5 last night, which is almost identical to what they managed in 10 games prior, but Johnson had an off night and they were blown out as a result.
If the Flames don't start playing better at 5v5 they aren't going to keep winning games without incredible goaltending. They have been out-chanced in seven of their last 11 and out-attempted in eight of 11. It's tough to put together wins on a consistent basis when that happens.
2) Despite the loss, there were some positives. Sean Monahan extended his point streak to eight games and fired three pucks on net. Monahan has recorded 3+ shots in consecutive games and 2+ in four straight and eight of the last 10. If he keeps shooting the goals will come.
Also positive: the Flames out-attempted the Bolts 14-7 with Monahan on the ice at 5v5.
If he's at his best on one line, Johnny Gaudreau is making magic happen on the other, and Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik continue to outplay the opposition, although that wasn't the case last night, the Flames will be in good shape.
3) Credit where it's due: I thought the 4th line played a solid game. They were very physical, sustained some offensive zone pressure throughout and capitalized on a turnover with Matt Stajan and Micheal Ferland connecting on an odd-man rush. I'd like to see the latter get some more ice.
4) As I said the other day, Johnson's hot run wouldn't last forever and, at some point, they'd have to get Brian Elliott going because both guys would be needed in the second half. It wasn't ideal circumstances but Elliott came in and stopped 12-13 (.923SV%) in mop-up duty.
They'll probably go back to Johnson on Friday but the Flames have a back-to-back early next week and I'd expect Elliott to get one of those games. Hopefully, his performance last night gives him some confidence.
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