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Flames 3, Maple Leafs 0: Big Save Dave steals the show

February 23, 2021, 10:47 AM ET [84 Comments]
Todd Cordell
Calgary Flames Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
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Five observations from Calgary vs Toronto:

1. It’s a miracle. The Flames started a hockey game on time. No, seriously. All it took was a game against the No. 1 seed, and arguably the hottest top line in the NHL, to get going. Sam Bennett got the party started by banging one in on the doorstep less than four minutes in. The Flames managed to see that through while, for the most part, playing a very solid opening 20. They out-chanced the Leafs 8-4 at 5v5 and had the better of the territorial play. While there were a couple penalties mixed in, the Flames managed to keep the league’s most prolific unit off the scoresheet. Realistically speaking, the 1st period couldn’t have gone much better. It was a nice change from the usual sloppy play that generally results in an early multi-goal deficit.

2. Big Save Dave stole the show. He was named the surprise starter a little before puck drop as news broke that Jacob Markstrom would be unavailable vs the Maple Leafs (and for some games to come). Considering Markstrom has been one of the team’s lone bright spots, and consistent players, in the early going that news was met with a ‘here we go again’ train of thought. Understandably so considering how lethal Toronto’s offense is. But Rittich quickly erased the doubt. He made a few really solid stops when tested in the opening frame and that seemed to give him, and the team, real confidence. He offered no reason for that to waver in the final 40. Toronto really pushed over the final two frames (chances were 23-10) but Rittich was up to the task time and time again. Confidence is important to everyone but I think especially to a guy like Rittich. He plays with a lot of passion and has this swagger to him when he’s on. I think that is infectious throughout the team. And, for perhaps the first time, we saw that last night. It sounds like the Flames are going to need to lean on Rittich for at least the immediate future so I can’t stress enough the importance of having a game like that.



3. The funk is over. Prior to the game I talked about the good spot Tkachuk found himself in. He’s a chance generating machine, the Maple Leafs aren’t great at defending around the net, and they were without Jake Muzzin. That spelled Get Right spot for Tkachuk; and it was. He snapped a nine game goalless streak with a nice deflection in front. He had plenty of other opportunities, too, as he had six attempts at net and four scoring chances throughout the game. His on-ice metrics were not good, however, a) score effects played at least some part in that and; b) at this point, I think getting a result (and some confidence) was more important to Tkachuk than a sound process. Now to build on it.

4. The power play is back on track. It was far from a perfect outing as the Flames gave up some really good opportunities while up a man. But they also created a bunch of their own and netted two power play markers. Yes, Muzzin was out. Yes, Frederik Andersen was out. Those absences absolutely helped. But it was encouraging to see the Flames, you know, take advantage of that instead of spinning their wheels on the man advantage.

5. Geoff Ward is coaching for his job. You can tell he is feeling the pressure. When coaches are in this situation, they tend to lean heavily on guys they trust. And it is clear Ward doesn’t trust the depth on this roster. The 4th liners combined for ~16 minutes. The 3rd pairing played ~10 minutes each. Elias Lindholm and the top-4 defenders all logged at least 23:36. I’m not saying I blame Ward. The Flames needed to snap out of this funk, and the Nordstrom line isn’t going to win them games against the powerhouse Maple Leafs. But I think Ward was desperate for a result and if he was going down, he was going down with his guys.

Numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com

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