Derek Wills is the Calgary Flames radio play-by-play announcer on Sportsnet 960 The FAN. He shares his views about the Flames’ latest game.
The Flames started stronger, were more disciplined and looked more in sync on Saturday night than they did in any of their first seven games of the season. They outshot the Wild 37-32 and outchanced them 14-9. The only problem? The Flames fell 4-2 to a Wild team playing a tough Winnipeg-to-Calgary back-to-back, playing without four of their top forwards and starting their No. 2 goaltender.
1. MESSAGE RECEIVED
After being called out by their head coach, primarily for their lack of discipline in the first seven games, the Flames responded with what Glen Gulutzan called “probably the best game we’ve played all season”. Shorthanded 35 times in their first seven games, the penalty kill was only tested three times on Saturday night, surrendering a goal when the Wild had a lengthy 5-on-3 power play. While I didn’t love Dougie Hamilton’s slashing penalty, the team, as a whole, was much more disciplined.
2. MONEY HANDS
Sean Monahan has been scoring machine in his first five NHL seasons. The four-time 20-goal scorer who tallied a career-high 31 times in his sophomore season, leads the team with five goals in eight games this season. Even though there has been a revolving door on the right side of the first line this season (Micheal Ferland, Curtis Lazar and Jaromir Jagr have all spent significant time there), Monahan and his left-winger Johnny Gaudreau continue to be one of the most-dynamic duos in the NHL. Both players started slowly last season after missing all of training camp and most of the pre-season. But a happy Gaudreau, who unlike last season, didn’t have to wait for his agent and general manager to work out a new contract, and a healthy Monahan, who unlike last season, wasn’t recovering from an off-season back injury, have hit the ground running this season.
3. JAGR OUT
When Jagr signed with the Flames on Oct. 4, the 45-year-old admitted that it was going to take some time for him to get up to speed after missing all of training camp and the pre-season. The hockey legend didn’t play his first game with his ninth NHL team until last Wednesday, but has looked better and better by the day … until he left Saturday’s game late in the first period with a lower-body injury. He didn’t return to the game, but did join Scott Oake on “After Hours” on Hockey Night in Canada at the conclusion of the contest. Flames assistant coach Martin Gelinas told Pat Steinberg, Peter Loubardias and me during our post-game show that Jagr is “day-to-day.” That’s good news because the last thing the league’s oldest player needs is a setback.
4. FRESH BLOOD
Gulutzan made three lineup changes for Saturday’s game against the Wild. The Flames bench boss replaced forwards Tanner Glass and Matt Stajan with Lazar, who played his fifth game, and Freddie Hamilton, who dressed for just the second time this season. On defence, Brett Kulak made his 2017-2018 debut, replacing Matt Bartkowski. Lazar looked good once again. I like his speed. I like his energy. I’d leave him in an allow him to try to build some momentum. Hamilton was fine, probably a bit better than Stajan has been. To be honest, I didn’t really notice Kulak. That’s a good thing. Kulak is younger and has a higher ceiling than Bartkowski, so at minimum, I’d like to see those guys get equal time on the team’s third pairing.
5. A BETTER BROUWER
After scoring 13 goals in the first season of a four-year, $18-million contract, Troy Brouwer became a whipping boy for Flames fans. I get it. After scoring at least 18 goals in each of the previous seven seasons and eight goals in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Brouwer was brought in to be a top-six forward, which he wasn’t last season. The bad news is he hasn’t scored a goal and has hardly played on the Flames’ top two lines this season, either. The good news is he has played an important role as a bottom-six role for the team. Brouwer has been one of the team’s best penalty killers this season and has done a decent job as one of the net-front guys on the first power play unit. After struggling to keep up last season, Brouwer came to training camp significantly lighter – and he looks faster as a result. After putting in a lot of work during the off-season, Brouwer has continued to work hard during the season, constantly staying out after practice to skate and work on other areas of his game.
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