For the second time in as many nights the Calgary Flames allowed one or less en route to a much needed victory.
Led by Chad Johnson, who was solid once again in goal, and the Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik line, the Flames managed to squeeze out an overtime win against the Arizona Coyotes.
The Good
- The Flames were without their best player in the latter half of a back-to-back, against a fresh team, and they were dominant despite what the scoreboard will tell you.
The Flames routinely spent the bulk of their shifts with possession in the offensive zone and that showed in the numbers.
Every Flames played was on the ice for more shot attempts for than against at 5 v 5, which is quite rare. People always talk about getting a complete team effort but that was certainly the case last night.
- Dougie Hamilton played over 20 minutes for just the second time in the last 13 games and looked really good alongside Mark Giordano on the top pairing. He made a good first pass, was very involved offensively and also had a couple firm checks.
With Hamilton and Giordano on the ice the Flames out attempted the Coyotes 24-10, out shot them 11-5 and out chanced them 8-1. They were fantastic.
- When the Flames signed Chad Johnson they made it clear he wasn't brought in to be the clipboard holder for Brian Elliott. He would start a good chunk of games. To this point the Flames have held true to their word and it has paid off. He just put forth strong showings on consecutive nights and now owns a solid .915 save percentage on the year despite a leaky defense playing in front of him on many nights.
- Matthew Tkachuk continues to be everything the Flames could have hoped for and more. He's physical, he's in your face, he's driving play, he's coming up with big goals, he's in the middle of everything. More often than not he has been one of the better players on the team, which really is impressive. Remember when he was playing 10 minutes a night? Well, he just logged 35 in a two-day span.
The Bad
- The good news is the Flames controlled play for much of the night and had a huge edge in scoring chances (30-12). The bad news is they won 2-1 and it took overtime to get said win. Obviously two points is two points but going to OT, which is basically a coin flip, isn't ideal when you out chance the opposition by 18. The Flames need to do a better job of converting on their good looks.
- I really like T.J. Brodie's game but he needs to start shooting a little bit more. On a couple different occasions he passed up a good shooting opportunity to force a pass that wasn't there and it led to play coming the other way. He's a pass first guy, and that is completely fine, but when the opposition gives you a free shooting lane you have to take it.
- The power play has been pretty bad all season but it looks even worse without Johnny Gaudreau. He is a huge loss, obviously, but the Flames really need to figure things out. More than 20% of the season is over. The adjustment period excuse isn't legitimate anymore.
Stat Of The Game
The Flames out attempted the Coyotes 14-1 with Alex Chiasson(!) on the ice.
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