This week was a treat. Five Flames games in seven days.
It feels like it’s been ages since the most recent Battle of Alberta concluded in a 3-1 victory for the red team. Two goals for Toffoli. Leon Draisatl played 24:00 and only recorded one shot. Ah, the good old days.
No, that was only last Monday.
Can you imagine trying to keep up with Nathan MacKinnon at the end of that kind of week? At the tail end of a back-to-back no less.
No, thank you.
Perhaps a bit of clemency is appropriate here. While the Flames lacked a step last night, it’s not like there isn’t a reasonable explanation.
Still, it would have been nice to see one of the many high quality point shots from the Flames blue line find it’s way through traffic and past Avalanche goalie Darcy Kuemper.
The 31 year old Avs starter does deserve some credit for a few ten bell saves. If Rasmus Andersson doesn’t get absolutely robbed on the doorstep by a diving stick save in the mid-third period— we might be talking about a 4-1-0 week instead of one that concluded 3-2-0 for the Calgary Flames.
Now it’s five days in Calgary where they play the Devils and Sabres before heading to Vancouver for a Saturday game.
You know it’s been a long week when you see a back-to-back coming up and think “ah, a rest week….
That’s exactly what will happen on Friday. Friday night Sabres, then off to Vancouver to play the Canucks for the 8pm slot on Hockey Night in Canada.
It’s probably fair to say that the Devils, Sabres and Canucks over a week won’t be as physically taxing as the Avalanche, Capitals, Lightning, Red Wings and oh— a Battle of Alberta in the same amount of time.
Six games in nine days. Five in seven. Call it what you will. The now 36-16-7 Calgary Flames will rest up and prepare for the Devils on Wednesday.
Can’t blame goaltending Daniel Vladar had to be getting worried. In his last eight starts prior to last night’s game, he had only recorded two appearances above a .900 save percentage. That includes the Canucks fiasco where he had to go in during a power play and without a warmup. He got lit up.
So, while the result wasn’t great, a solid individual effort resulted in a .935 save percentage on the night bumps him from .900 on the season to .903. Not much, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Speaking of goalies With a 3-0 win against the Red Wings on Saturday, goaltender Jacob Markstrom swept the season series to the tune of two shutouts. It’s rare that one sees a goaltender hold any team scoreless over a season; even if it’s just two games.
There certainly may be some merit to the idea that Swedish players go out of their way to excel against a team that once rolled out Niklas Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom and Johan Franzen to name a few. Elias Lindholm scored a goal in each game against Detroit this season as well.
Faceoff Folly Two Flames players had rough nights at the dot.
Mikael Backlund got routed. 2 for 12. One of his wins was over Mikko Rantanen— a winger who moonlights as a center and who wins about 45% of his draws.
The other Flames player that had issues with faceoffs: Dillon Dube. 4 of 11. Although he won 2 of 3 against Nazem Kadri. Of the six faceoff wins the two shared: four of them were over Kadri or Rantanen.
One has to wonder if Dillon will be in the lineup on Wednesday. If he does dress for the game it will most likely be as a winger.
Trevor Neufeld
Follow me on Twitter @Trevor_Neufeld