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Five observations from Calgary vs Edmonton:
1. The Flames hung around
Given the circumstances – a road back-to-back vs a rival team while playing without some key players – I thought the Flames handled themselves pretty well. Though they were understandably slow coming out of the gate, they continually improved as the game progressed. There were not many points where they really dictated play but they didn't give the Oilers much to work with either – particularly over the final 40 minutes. There wasn't much crispness to the game for either side. It was one of those nights where it'd take a dirty goal to get on the board and the Flames threatened just enough to make it feel like they might actually get one. They didn't, of course, but they were in the game until the final whistle under less than ideal circumstances. It's hard to be upset with the effort.
2. The Flames neutered their offense
I understand *why* the Flames dressed Anthony Peluso, Dalton Prout, et all. I just don't know that it was a good idea last night. In a B2B without a pair of high-end two-way players in Mikael Backlund and Mark Giordano, it was obvious creating offense was going to be a problem. The Flames only worsened it with some of their lineup decisions.
For example, they sat Austin Czarnik (a possession driver who ranks 5th on the team in 5v5 scoring chances per 60) in favor of Peluso. Then played him 2:28. Yes, 2:28. They hurt the team's offensive depth by not playing Czarnik *and* made life tougher on the other tired forwards who had to eat up extra shifts because Peluso was glued to the bench.
Dressing Prout over Valiev is a lesser foul. Still, we *know* Prout is going to spend a lot of time hemmed into his own zone every night. It's at least possible that's not the case with Valiev. He may not produce much offensively, but perhaps he'd help the Flames spend a little more time in the OZ. That has value.
I'm not going to fight dressing one of the gritty guys in a grind-it-out, pace-down game against a rival. I don't think both were necessary, though. If they wanted a fighter in, they could have gone solely with Prout – he's danced with Milan Lucic before – and perhaps benefited from Czarnik's offense.
3. Big Save Dave did his job
Again, it seemed likely, if not certain, the Flames would struggle to generate offense last night. That made it pivotal Rittich provided the team with a quality start and he did just that. His workload as a whole wasn't that difficult (he faced 30 shots and nine high-danger looks). What made it tough was the wiggle room he had to work with, which was non-existent. He had to play borderline mistake-free for the Flames to have a shot. That's what he did. It was nice to see him bounce back after a couple underwhelming starts. Whether he's the lead man or not, the Flames need both goaltenders going.
4. Rasmus Andersson is so steady
I have been Andersson's biggest supporter for years. I gave him a 1st round grade in his draft class and ranked him ahead of Lawson Crouse (at the time, that was a hotter scouting take than having Crouse above Mitch Marner – crazy, I know). Like anyone who makes projections on a lot of players, I'm wrong sometimes too. I am feeling pretty good about my call on Andersson, though. The guy is just so steady out there. Offensively, he looks very comfortable with the puck and has contributed whenever the opportunity has arisen. Defensively, his calming influence has really shown up. On a couple occasions, plays broke down and it looked like the Oilers would get a really good opportunity only for Andersson to recover and turn a dangerous situation into nothing. He's already a very sound player and he's only going to get better with time. The Flames have a good one here.
5. The 3rd line was awful
It'd be an understatement to say the Andrew Mangiapane - Mark Jankowski - James Neal line had a disastrous night at the office. They combined for just one scoring chance at 5v5 and were caved in possession-wise from start to finish.
Regardless of the center, Mangiapane and Neal have mostly played well together. That was far from the case in Edmonton.
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