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A few notes from Calgary vs Vancouver:
1) Geoff Ward completely shuffled the lines in hopes of giving the offense a much-needed spark. It worked. ENG included, the Flames found twine on six occasions for just the second time this season – the last came in October – and they were full marks for it.
The Flames generated chance after chance within a few feet of Jacob Markstrom, and there was often plenty of traffic. Calgary ended up mustering up 5.06 expected goals, the highest total of the season and just the third time they finished with more than 4.00 xG.
Importantly, Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan were at the forefront of a lot of the offense. I thought Gaudreau showed the true dynamic ability that’s been missing for much of the season, and Monahan was there to clean up the garbage as usual.
2) While it was nice to see Gaudreau and Monahan show flashes offensively, I thought Matthew Tkachuk was the best player on the ice by a landslide. He only found the scoresheet once but he was in the middle of absolutely *everything* for the Flames.
Tkachuk caused all kinds of havoc around the net and was able to consistently get good shots off from high-danger areas. He also created some opportunities for his linemates, dropped the mitts with J.T. Miller to spark the team after conceding on the opening shift, and posted awesome underlying numbers (he finished with a ~75 xGF%).
Top tier performance from a top tier player.
3) All season it has been top-6 or bust for the Flames. They’ve gotten almost nothing out of bottom-6ers not named Derek Ryan. You wouldn’t know it watching last night’s game because everyone was contributing in meaningful fashion.
Milan Lucic used his big frame to get positioning in front and deflected in a power play marker. Dillon Dube was a full-blown rover in the offensive zone and picked up three points. Ryan notched two points of his own, and Tobias Rieder netted the empty-netter.
Even Mark Jankowski stood out in a positive light. He didn’t find the scoresheet, because of course, but he easily could have. He made an awesome play to create a Grade A opportunity for Gaudreau on the doorstep, which wasn’t converted on. In the dying minutes he made another to give Noah Hanifin a great look at an empty-netter. Again, it wasn’t converted on. Jankowski very easily could have had a couple of assists and somehow came away with nothing. It’s just been that kind of season for the poor guy. He was excellent though (set up those chances and finished 4th in Corsi For%) and will be rewarded sooner than later if he can start to put forth efforts like that.
4) The Flames picked up a big win, but they also (potentially) suffered a big loss. Travis Hamonic left the game and did not return. That, in turn, led to Michael Stone playing more than 21 minutes. It did not go well as the Flames were out-attempted 25-13 and out-chanced 9-5 with him out there at 5v5. Him playing on the 3rd pairing is bad but at least you can somewhat hide him. That’s never going to be the case if he’s in the top-4. It’s absolutely imperative Hamonic is OK, or the Flames find a way to buy low on an undervalued defenseman elsewhere, because Stone in the top-4 for any amount of time will be disastrous.
Numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com
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