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Five observations from Calgary’s bounce-back win over Vancouver:
1. What a horrendous start. After the way Vancouver handled Calgary for 60 minutes last time out, I expected the Flames to come out with a big-time response. That...didn’t happen. While the Flames actually had the better of the play at 5v5 in the opening frame, it led to zero high-danger chances. They also took penalty after penalty, ensuring the Canucks were put in advantageous situations to create offense and build a lead. A late Milan Lucic goal provided some much-needed damage control but, goodness, the Flames almost took themselves out of the game with a no-show of a period (again!). They really need to find a way to a) start on time and; b) prevent a couple bad shifts from spiraling into a bad period.
2. The Flames are riding their workhorse. I was a little surprised to see Jacob Markstrom start again. I guess I shouldn’t have been. He has largely been excellent, David Rittich’s first couple starts haven’t exactly instilled confidence, and the Flames have played very poorly for long stretches of almost every game. They’ve needed Markstrom to be very good in order to have a chance of winning. He was quite solid once again vs his former team. I wouldn’t say Markstrom stole the game but he was strong when the Flames needed him to be and made sure they were always within striking distance.
3. He did it again. I’m going to start calling Andrew Mangiapane the elixir because he is the answer to all of Calgary’s problems. Any line that’s struggling is instantly boosted by his presence. While the Flames’ top line didn’t dominate at 5v5, they were much more potent offensively than in previous games. They generated 10 scoring chances in less than 14 minutes. Mangiapane, Elias Lindholm, and Matthew Tkachuk all recorded at least two scoring opportunities at full-strength, and Lindholm converted one for the game-tying goal.
4. Stay out of the box. Connor Mackey did some good things in just his 2nd career game. He was solid defensively. He was physical. He picked up a primary assist on Lucic’s goal, which helped jumpstart the Flames. Encouraging stuff. It wasn’t *all* good, though. Mackey took three minor penalties in just over 14 minutes. Three! I get trying to be physical against a rival team. I get being jacked up in one of your first games. But stay out of the box. On an ideal night, a team realistically takes three penalties. Can’t have one player accounting for that many alone.
5. The power play struggled. Calgary tried shaking things up with Juuso Valimaki quarterbacking the top unit. It did not work. The Flames’ puck movement was sloppy and they had a heck of a time getting set up in the offensive zone, let alone actually creating anything dangerous. In fact, they generated zero (0) Grade A looks in almost six minutes on the man advantage. Their shots amounted to only .30 xG. The Flames need to figure out their PP woes sooner than later because they simply have too much talent to be that toothless.
Quick Hits:
• I thought Rasmus Andersson played a heck of a game. He was stout defensively, as usual, and did a nice job of getting up in the play to help create several scoring opportunities.
• Sam Bennett was credited with three scoring chances and his line was plus-2 at 5v5. He's stringing together some solid performances, which should help boost his value. I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually makes his way to Pittsburgh.
Numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com
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