It wasn’t the prettiest victory.
Every play featured countless contested open ice pucks. A player would get a stick on it and chip the action to a new area and they would contest it again.
Most of the game involved chipping the puck around. Players made chase to ensure they were on the defensive side of the next chip play. Repeat.
But there were some glorious moments in this Flames two goal comeback win.
Nazem Kadri is a Hilarious Player to Watch After going down 2-0 from goals by Sabastien Aho and Calvin de Haan, the Calgary Flames seemed to be on the ropes. In fact momentum seemed to slide away from the Flames until Brett Ritchie’s unlikely short-side snipe.
Still, the individual effort from Kadri turned this game.
It’s late in the first and the Flames have allowed two. Another goal against could spell death. Amid yet another contested puck on the boards, the 32 year old former London Knight (arguably) fakes being tripped out of a scrum.
On the ensuing powerplay, Kadri finds the far side rebound and puts it away. The gane is suddenly one Brett Ritchie goal away from being tied.
As Is Milan Lucic This shot is just pure gold.
Milan Lucic not letting Jacob Slavin on the ice 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/Clqi5U1Ouj
— Ring of Fire CGY (@RingOfFireCGY) October 23, 2022
Goalie Turnaround? As mentioned before, the game wasn’t a pretty one for the Flames. No skater finished above 50% in shot attempt percentage. Lucic was the worst of the bunch getting out attempted 3-15 while on the ice — or 16.67%.
The underlying numbers are concerning, but the result was satisfactory. Goaltender Jacob Markstrom was the opposite. He had roughly 11 minutes of questionable goaltending before finding his game.
Of course that eleven minutes included another “should have… goal against past his glove, but you have to be happy about his work beyond that.
The OT Winner Tyler Toffoli continues to prove critics wrong.
The group gets a couple days off in Calgary then gets back at it on Tuesday against the 4-0-1 Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins will be at the tail end of a back-to-back having played in Edmonton on Monday night. Might be worth tuning in for that game as well.
Trevor Neufeld
@Trevor_Neufeld
Stats via naturalstattrick.com and nhl.com.