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Flames 4, Oilers 3: Kassian hands Calgary 1st place

January 12, 2020, 11:47 AM ET [57 Comments]
Todd Cordell
Calgary Flames Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell

Five observations from Calgary vs Edmonton:

1. Another day at the office for No. 19

Matthew Tkachuk is very good at getting under the skin of all opponents. I’m not sure there’s a player in the league – no, not even Drew Doughty – more susceptible to being baited into ridiculousness than Zack Kassian. He lost his marbles on Tkachuk after the play last season, jumping Tkachuk and swinging while he was down. History repeated itself last night. Tkachuk took a healthy run at Kassian and put him on the ice. I think it was clean – clearly the NHL does too as there was no penalty or hearing scheduled – but Kassian went after Tkachuk, tossed him on the ground, and chucked 10+ punches at him anyway. It led to a pair of power plays, in which the Flames capitalized scoring the eventual game-winning goal.

The Flames, despite a horrendous start to the season, now sit atop the Pacific Division. Meanwhile, Kassian likely cost his team a point (or two) they could really use. The Oilers are just one point clear of the No. 9 seeded Winnipeg Jets.

I’ve seen a lot of tweets to the tune of ‘maybe Tkachuk will learn his lesson and stop doing that.’

Stop hitting opponents and sucking them into power plays? Yeah, I doubt it. He sure doesn’t seem too concerned about what Kassian did.



2. The Flames defended Connor McDavid well

That probably sounds crazy to say because if you turn on Sports Centre you’re going to see the highlight of McDavid’s end-to-end goal on loop. Beyond that, though, the Flames did about as well as they possibly could have. Hear me out.

At 5v5, here is how the Flames fared with McDavid on the ice in several key categories:

Attempts –– 18-13 Flames
Chances –– 8-8
Goals –– 1-1

McDavid is the best player in the NHL. He’s also one of very few on the Oilers you really have to worry about. If you can play the Oilers even when he’s out there, you take that and run each and every time.

3. Johnny Gaudreau looked like Johnny Gaudreau

He’s shown flashes in recent weeks. He *really* looked like Johnny Gaudreau last night, though. He had the puck on a string in the offensive zone and the ice was almost always tilted in Calgary’s favor when he was out there (No. 13 finished with a ~75 xGF%). Most importantly, though, is some production came along with that flash. Gaudreau made an awesome play eluding a defender just inside the OZ before picking the top corner on Mikko Koskinen. It was the kind of play we saw so frequently in 2018-19; one where Gaudreau didn’t have space but was able to create some and take advantage, as opposed to being sealed outside or deferring to a teammate. Hopefully it is a sign of things to come because the Flames are very tough to slow down when he’s able to make something out of nothing.

4. Cam Talbot stayed hot

Statistically speaking it wasn’t the craziest of starts for Talbot. He finished with a .906 save percentage, which is a hair above league average this season. He was strong, though, particularly in the 3rd period. The Oilers pushed pretty hard after conceding early in the final frame. They out-chanced the Flames 13-7 (6-1 in terms of Grade A looks). It didn’t matter because Talbot slammed the door shut. He made a few awesome saves, with the headliner probably being a post-to-post stop on a heavy Leon Draisaitl shot.

Last night’s win actually hurt his season numbers but Talbot now owns a .922 save percentage – *way* above league average – through 16 games played.

Mike Smith, if you’re wondering, owns a .900 save percentage. I’d say the Flames got the better of that goalie swap, so to speak.

5. A Captain’s performance

McDavid scored a spectacular goal – against the 3rd line and 2nd pairing – but otherwise was kept in check as much as realistically possible. Last year’s Norris winner deserves a lot of credit for that.

Mark Giordano went toe-to-toe with McDavid for upwards of 12 minutes at 5v5. The Flames gave up three chances in that time. Three. I think every team in the league would be happy holding the Oilers to one chance every four minutes with the most dynamic player in the league on the ice. Giordano’s offensive totals may not be as eye-popping as a season ago but the guy is still playing great hockey. This is just another example.

numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com

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