The Pacific Division leading 27-13-6 Calgary Flames play host to the hot-and-cold 23-17-9 Anaheim Ducks tonight, but first a few notes on last night’s 6-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
A Warm Reception
It was nice to hear the crowd welcome newly arrived right winger Tyler Toffoli with the chant “Tyler Foli”. This would be in reference to an HNIC segment featuring the venerable Don Cherry mispronouncing his name.
Toffoli looked tired but dangerous in his first game as a Flame. One play he would appear sluggish and the next he would turn on the jets and put a Columbus defender on their heels with his change in speed.
Fatigue would be understandable given he was acquired the day after a back to back two days ago then had to fly in to Calgary during his day off to catch his next game.
The former Canadien had several dangerous opportunities and ended the night with a goal in 12:18 of ice time. Linemate Sean Monahan looked invigorated centering his line and finished the night 71% in the faceoff dot.
Defunct defence
It wasn’t hard to put a finger on the primary cause of the Blue Jackets’ middling record this season. Their blue line had serious issues in a number of areas. Staying in front of the attacker, blocking passes through the slot, disrupting the offensive cycle— from the top to the bottom their defensemen aren’t getting it done. A huge reason they rank 30th in GA/GP with a 3.66 mark.
Cole Sillinger
I am a big “what if?” guy when it comes to the draft. While dreaming up fallacious timelines where minor tweaks to the previous season end up with with major differences to the way the NHL season plays out can be a waste of time, I still think it’s fun to share.
Last season finished out featuring a number of games against the Canucks due to COVID postponements. The Flames took all but one game in a four game series to conclude the season.
One game in particular had some interesting consequences.
The Flames led 5-1 heading into the third period on May 16, 2021. As the game seemed in the bag, the visiting Calgary team took their foot off the gas. Two minutes into the third, the Canucks scored their first of four straight on route to taking the game to overtime.
I can bore you with the OT period, but for brevity’s sake, let’s just say Elias Lindholm’s scored.
When the season was all said and done, Calgary finished ahead of the Blackhawks via regulation wins.
Having traded their first in the Seth Jones deal, the Blackhawks first was used by the Blue Jackets to select none other than Cole Sillinger; son of Mike and current third line center in the National Hockey League.
Cole made good decisions with the puck last night. He looks like he’ll be an NHL regular for a long time. The 18 year old was 73% in the faceoff dot.
Whether the Flames would have selected Sillinger or stuck with Coronato had they lost to the Canucks in overtime is unclear, but it’s good food for thought.
The Ducks
Tonight’s game will be another interesting one against a team that mixes veterans and young talent well. The two teams have split the season series 1-1 with both games being decided by a single goal. Following tonight’s match, the two won’t play again until April 6.
Since losing 4-3 in OT to the Leafs on January 26th, the Ducks have been cooling down. They have lost to Detroit and Seattle and barely pulled off wins against Montreal and Ottawa.
The Flames, meanwhile, enter tonight on a seven game winning streak and a record of 9-1-0 in their last ten.
Markstrom expected to start. No other changes to the lineup expected.
Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk
Mangiapane-Backlund-Coleman
Dube-Monahan-Toffoli
Lucic-Ruzicka-Lewis
Hanifin-Andersson
Kylington-Tanev
Zadorov-Gudbranson
Markstrom
Puck drop is at 7:30pm MST.
Trevor Neufeld
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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