The Calgary Flames entered Friday night's game in desperate need of two points and they came away with just that.
The Flames scored the game's first two goals but seemed to go in cruise control after taking a 2-0 lead and they almost paid for it as the Washington Capitals tied things up and forced overtime.
Luckily for Calgary their big dogs came through in extra time as Sean Monahan potted his 2nd of the game on a nice feed from T.J. Brodie.
Some notes on the big win:
1) For my money that was Karri Ramo's best showing of the season. From start to finish he was locked in and he made a plethora of Grade A stops throughout. You can't give up 36 shots and 31 scoring chances and expect to win very often but the Flames did just that in large part because of Ramo's stellar performance. Ramo seems to finally be turning a corner as he's posted a .920 save percentage or better in three of his last five starts after doing that just once in his first five appearances.
2) Another guy the Flames needed to step up was Sean Monahan and he did just that. He was just under 50% in possession on a night when many Flames were far worse and he managed to contribute two goals while recording a game-high five scoring chances. He started the season slowly with two goals in 14 games but has since tallied four in four games. He's getting hot at a time when the Flames desperately need him to be.
3) Another game, another highlight of the night caliber play from Sam Bennett.
Sam Bennett might have a future. https://t.co/OWOjDFjuVA
— Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell) November 14, 2015I know the Flames would prefer him to play center but I think he's just fine on the wing with a pair of capable two-way players in Michael Frolik and Mikael Backlund. With so much depth down the middle there is no rush to convert Bennett into a center at the NHL level; at least there shouldn't be,
4) T.J. Brodie logged an absurd 29:23 against the Caps. I know he's playing well and is fresher than most players due to missing some time with an injury but it'd probably serve Bob Hartley and co. better to distribute the minutes a tad more evenly. I mean, Dougie Hamilton played 14 of a possible 65 minutes. GM Brad Treliving didn't trade three top-60 draft picks for him to play 3rd pairing minutes.
5) The Flames have been getting better results of late but there's a caveat: their possession numbers are terrible.
The Flames have generated less than 50% of all even-strength shot attempts in five consecutive games. They've been a 46% possession team or less in four of those five games. That's not a good recipe for success.
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