With October right around the corner, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to find out that ghost sightings are trending.
On Friday night, the Calgary Flames and their supporters bore witness to a ghastly spirit indeed. But how were they to identify it?
Well, it involved the team vastly outworking the opposition for two periods and then following that with a sloppy third period.
Hmm.
Two Flames goals were called off in the final two minutes of play. One due to goaltender interference and one just barely missed the final buzzer.
Alright, this seems
familiar.
Possession for the majority of 3-on-3 overtime, an unfortunate bounce and a breakaway goal against to seal a game that Calgary surely should have won?
Ah, it’s the
Ghost of the Calgary Flames 2022-2023 Regular Season rattling it’s chains to the tune of a soul-crushing collapse. Good stuff.
A few observations on the 2-1 comeback win for the Edmonton Oilers.
Statement Game
While many shrug off the preseason as simply conditioning skates, it felt like this game had higher stakes than most would give it credit for.
Edmonton head coach
Jay Woodcroft brought a C-Squad to Calgary to play the majority of Calgary’s A-Squad and had his team play tight-to-the-belt neutral zone management style hockey in order to give the team a chance. Luck sided with Woodcroft and the plan worked. Dylan Holloway tied the game with 1:40 remaining on the clock and
Brad Malone sealed the game with a breakaway backhand five-hole tuck 2:24 into overtime.
This was the first showdown between Woodcroft and Calgary rookie head coach
Ryan Huska. Let’s hope the rivalry continues to build.
Three Horse Race
It appears that
Jordan Oesterle maintains a hold on the inside track in the race for the #6 spot on defence. The 31 year old offensive defenseman brought crisp passing, solid transition work and finished the game with four shots in 20:46 of ice time.
Hopefuls
Ilya Solovyov, 23, and
Jeremie Poirier, 21, made a decent case for themselves. The two registered assists on Lindholm’s second period tip-in goal. Poirier was originally credited with the tally.
To add to that, Poirier had an assist on Backlund’s goal that was eventually called off for interference. Solovyov also played some penalty kill paired with
Chris Tanev and Poirier played the second most power play time among blueliners at 2:33.
On the eye test, it looks like Solovyov will edge out Poirier for #7 at the time being. Poirier, who led all Wranglers blueliners in offensive production last season with nine goals and 41 points in 69 games, just doesn’t look 100% yet after missing most of training camp while recovering from knee surgery.
Here is what the future NHLer had to say on returning to action.
“My body felt good for the first time in a long time, so for me just to get out there and feel comfortable is encouraging.”
Great to hear he’s feeling good again, but he has work to do to get his conditioning where it needs to be. Check out the body language on Lindholm’s goal.
Dennis Gilbert is skating again after an awkward fall last Sunday from a Nils Hoglander body check. His return makes it a four horse race.
A Captain’s Debut
Mikael Backlund was robbed of a goal, but still put together a solid performance in his first game as captain of the Calgary Flames. Second in ice time among forwards at 19:02, six shots on goal, and 24-6 (80CF%) in shot attempts while playing at even strength.
Finding His Place
It appears that
Matthew Coronato will start the season in the top nine of Calgary’s forward group. The question now is who will he play with?
Building chemistry on a line takes time, but there didn’t appear to be much worth pursuing skating with
Nazem Kadri and
Dillon Dube. The 20 year old Harvard product recorded one shot in 14:01 of ice time.
Goaltender Derby
Daniel Vladar certainly can’t be blamed for the collapse. The lanky, 6’4” Czech saved 26 of 28 shots for a .929 save percentage. Four of those shots were either breakaways or partial breaks.
Hometown Holloway
Accounting for two of those breaks was Calgary kid
Dylan Holloway, who looked dangerous all night. Playing in front of friends and family, Holloway scored the game-tying goal with 1:40 left on the clock. The 14th overall pick in 2020 looked particularly dangerous when driving the outside. It looks like the Oilers have another weapon ready in their arsenal.
Yegor Sharangovich
The speedy winger moved the puck well in transition, but otherwise put up a quiet game. His near-goal at the final buzzer would have been a nice touch.
Walker Duehr
Another strong game from the South Dakotan. He caused headaches on the forecheck and at one point won a 1-on-2 on the penalty kill to buy extra time.
The Flames play their next preseason game on Monday against the Winnipeg Jets. Be sure to stop in for a rundown.
Trevor Neufeld
@Trevor_Neufeld
Stats via ESPN, naturalstattrick.com and eliteprospects.com.
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