Some thoughts on the Calgary Flames' 11-game home winning streak being snapped by the Anaheim Ducks:
1) For much of the night the Flames were completely inept offensively and the Ducks' neutral zone defense is a big reason why. They were sitting on the stretch pass all night and were able to intercept several outlets as a result. Even when the Flames' outlets hit the intended targets in the neutral zone there were a couple Ducks ready to seal off any lane and force a turnover. The Flames seem dead set on living and dying by the stretch pass and it certainly didn't pay off in this game.
2) Speaking of neutral zone play I really liked something Sam Bennett did early on. Bennett had the puck in the neutral zone, tried to gain the opposing line but the Ducks' defender kept a tight gap and forced him into a dead end towards the wall. Rather than dumping the puck into a dead zone where the Ducks would easily retrieve it Bennett elected to turn around, regroup and ensure the Flames kept possession. They ended up drawing a penalty moments later.
3) Nothing came of it on the scoreboard but I loved this play from Johnny Gaudreau.
Pretty much routine creativity from Gaudreau but I love this criss cross. Creates confusion and a decision for the D https://t.co/vOAPUfn0B9
— Bob Roberts (@BobRbrts) December 30, 2015The Ducks had two players back to defend a 2-on-2 and one of them was a forward in Jakob Silfverberg. That's obviously not ideal for the Ducks.
As Bob Roberts pointed out (I recommend following him, by the way) Gaudreau's criss cross forced a forward playing defense to read/react quickly and he didn't make the right choice. As a result one of the league's best players was able to get a good shot off from a dangerous area.
4) Joe Colborne's struggles were very noticeable in this game. He bobbled several pucks, turned it over at the opposing blue line, and struggled to make even the simplest of plays on a pretty routine basis; particularly in the defensive zone. Even when he was able to make a nice play - like eluding defenders and gaining the line with possession - he struggled to follow it up with anything positive. Despite his struggles he still played ~16 minutes and was used as an extra attacker with the game on the line.
5) Jiri Hudler was once rather ineffective offensively against the Ducks. I don't want to beat a dead horse here but I thought the Flames should have sold high on Hudler in the summer as his regression was predictable. They elected to hang onto the veteran and to this point it hasn't paid dividends. If and when they try and trade him the return will presumably be remarkably less than it would have been a few months ago.
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