The Calgary Flames extended their winning streak to three games on Friday night as they picked up an overtime win in the Todd Cordell Bowlâ„¢.
A few notes from the win:
1) Sean Monahan has been playing some fantastic hockey over the last few weeks and that continued in New Jersey. He scored a beautiful power play marker to give him nine goals in 10 games and easily could have had more with the five shots and handful of chances he had. Unfortunately for Monahan, Cory Schneider took a couple away (like the one below).
Pretty sweet save by Schneider on Monahan, who has nine goals in his last 9.5 games. pic.twitter.com/Sv2EO0lBxW
— Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell) February 4, 2017
2) Monahan gets the headlines because of this crazy goal scoring streak he is on, but the top line was fantastic as a whole. They spent most of their shifts in the offensive zone and seemed to create a never ending wave of chances. Johnny Gaudreau was darting all over the ice, Monahan was a one-man shooting gallery and Troy Brouwer put together his second consecutive strong game alongside these two stars.
If you didn't catch the game, or look at the boxscore, these numbers are a pretty good indication of how well that trio played.
The Monahan line cooked the Devils tonight. pic.twitter.com/dRJ0YdKWwZ
— Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell) February 4, 2017
3) Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of the game, besides picking up a big two points, was how well T.J. Brodie played. He hasn't looked himself at times this season but he was spectacular from start to finish. He was all over the ice, his puck movement was great, he didn't hesitate to jump into the play and used his elite skating ability to his advantage. There was no better example of all these things than his game of catch with Mikael Backlund in the extra frame.
Brodie and Backlund duet in OT results in a beauty: pic.twitter.com/ZrCZatHioQ
— AOL KEYWORD: Mike (@mikeFAIL) February 4, 2017
4) Let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we? Remember at the start of the season when the Flames' power play was an absolute disaster? Remember when gaining the line with possession and maybe getting one shot was considered a step in the right direction? Well, now the Flames are putting together shifts like this.
Flames had the puck for 80 seconds before scoring. pic.twitter.com/pwUJ45viW9
— Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell) February 4, 2017
The Flames were in control for 80 seconds and they just may have registered more scoring chances than the Devils did touches in that span. It's crazy how much better the power play is now than it was a few months ago.
5) The good news: the Flames only took three minors in what was surprisingly a very physical game. The bad news: the Flames allowed two goals on the three power plays they gave up.
6) Obviously special teams' goaltending isn't to be ignored, but Brian Elliott stopped 19 of 20 shots he faced at even-strength. That's encouraging.