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Flames Strike Early, Defeat Red Wings 3-0 |
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The Detroit Red Wings brought a loose game to start yesterday‘s game and the Calgary Flames took full advantage en route to a dominant 3-0 victory. Perhaps it was due to the Red Wings’ 2-0-1 start that they lacked the urgency to get gaps closed and shore up their coverage. Perhaps it was simply a matter of not taking the winless Flames seriously. Darryl Sutter pointed out last year after a loss to Toronto that teams with less talent can’t afford to go blow-for-blow with lineups have more scoring talent — Someone should send that memo on to Red Wings Coach Jeff Blashill. After going up 2-0, Darryl had the trap going the rest of the night. Detroit went almost the entire third without a decent scoring opportunity.
Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk
Contributing to 2/3 of the Flames goals; this line was on top of the Red Wings all night. Other teams simply can’t afford to back off the puck carrier when Gaudreau is in possession. He made a sublime pass into the slot for goal number one.
Coleman-Backlund-Pitlick
Coleman’s speed was on display last night. This combination worked well at winning pucks and generating turnovers. This line led both teams with a 71.43 CF%.
Mangiapane-Dube-Ritchie
Darryl Sutter has to love the chaotic goal scored by Mangiapane with Brett Ritchie posted up out front. Dube is starting to look more comfortable at center. Ritchie was doing a good job throwing hits (3) and getting involved with the play.
Lucic-Monahan-Lewis
Monahan is clearly not skating at full speed, but is playing smart enough to handle his minutes. Lewis was throwing the body around a lot — something very important when playing younger, less experienced teams. Lucic had an overall very solid night and obliged to drop the gloves with Givani Smith prior to the start of play. Fighting the 6’3” 231 pound former Vancouver Giant has seemingly become a rite of passage for younger players looking to prove their fighting prowess. Lucic fed him a big right and let up as Smith fell to the ice.
Hanifin-Andersson
Hanifin made a few mistakes last night. Personally, I’ve never really been a fan of this pairing. The Flames could do with acquiring a top four defenseman so Chris Tanev doesn’t have to babysit one of Nikita Zadorov or Oliver Kylington. Andersson played a more conservative game yesterday and looked good leading both teams in ice time with 22:18.
Kylington-Tanev
Kylington looked great with less puck pressure. He made some nice moves to maintain possession. Kylington tied Erik Gudbranson for most Flames shots(4). Tanev was his same solid presence on the ice.
Valimaki-Gudbranson
Gudbranson has quietly got his arms around his possession game. He made a nice play to begin a sequence that led to Mangiapane scoring against Edmonton and last night he got the primary assist on Mangiapane’s goal as well as a secondary (albeit less involved) assist on Lindholm’s goal. You find yourself saying weird things when talking about hockey. “Mangiapane has good chemistry with Erik Gudbranson” is definitely something weird to say out loud.
Gudbranson’s last two point game was Nov 27, 2018. He led the Flames in PK time with 3:30.
Valimaki was the weakest performer on the Flames blue line last night. Him and Gudbranson failed to clog the lanes on Detroit’s best opportunity, which came in the second period from Nick Leddy.
Markstrom
Markstrom was tested heavily on a few plays in the second and truly earned his shutout. A save off a Nick Leddy one-timer was the highlight of his game.
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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