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Flames 5, Oilers 0: A good stomping |
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Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
A few thoughts from Calgary vs Edmonton:
1. The Flames took advantage. It was a very good schedule spot for Calgary. Edmonton was playing their fourth road game in six nights vs a rested team and, well, it showed. They just didn’t have any sort of jump and, for once, Calgary capitalized. They didn’t feed into Edmonton’s issues by making life easy for them. They didn’t give the Oilers easy offense via an abundance of power plays or poor puck management. They played a smart, (mostly) mistake free game and that allowed them to sit in the driver’s seat from start to finish. Even while the score was still close, it always felt like Calgary was going to get the two points. That hasn’t been the case very often this season.
2. A goaltending win. Jacob Markstrom started the season strongly but it’s been a rough ride over the last couple months. More often than not he’s been out-played, which is not exactly ideal considering the money he makes. Given his struggles – and the fact Mike Smith ranks among league leaders in goals saved above expectation – it seemed like a spot where Edmonton had the edge in goal. That certainly didn’t prove to be the case. Markstrom wasn’t tested a ton but he made the saves he had to and didn’t give the Oilers any life by allowing a softy. It was a much different story at the other end. Smith was really fighting the puck and allowed some goals he’d want back. Generating offense against a low event team that’s sitting on a lead is difficult, especially when you don’t have legs. Smith had to play well for the Oilers to have a real shot and, well, he didn’t.
3. The top line struggled. Johnny Gaudreau and Elias Lindholm produced but not as a unit with Matthew Tkachuk. In ~10 minutes together at 5v5, the Flames didn’t record a single high-danger chance. Not one. Oh, and shots were 7-1 Oilers in that time. Darryl Sutter talked about Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau playing together on the PP since Christ was a child so he figured they’d be fine at 5v5. While that might prove to be the case – one game is one game – it certainly wasn’t last night. They didn’t spend much time in the OZ and generated nothing. Go figure.
4. New life. Rasmus Andersson has not played up to expectation this season. Oddly enough, all it took was being reunited with Noah Hanifin to get back on track. I thought that duo was fantastic against the Oilers. They played a near perfect game together. Calgary out-scored Edmonton 2-0 with them on the ice, their xG share was over 80%, and they gave up absolutely nothing despite spending the majority of their time against Leon Draisaitl’s line. Their gaps were excellent and it seemed like the Oilers just didn’t have the energy to get the puck back after Andersson or Hanifin killed a possession, which was very often. Getting Andersson back on track is honestly one of the most important things the Flames could do down the stretch. Let’s hope this is the start of a corner turn.
numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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