After getting thumped by the Penguins on Thursday, the Flames picked up an important point versus the Capitals on Saturday going into back-to-back games against Toronto and Buffalo this week.
MARCH OF THE PENGUINS
With a 5-0-1 record in their last six games against the Penguins, the Flames were a confident team going into Thursday’s contest versus Sidney Crosby and Co. That confidence was crushed before the end of the opening period.
Leading by a field goal following the first period and a converted touchdown after the second period, the Penguins tallied two more times in the third en route to a 9-1 win at Scotiabank Saddledome.
The loss was the Flames’ most lopsided on home ice in two decades. From the goaltender out, the Flames were equally as bad as the Penguins were good. While a win is a win and a loss is a loss in the standings, Thursday’s embarassing setback in front of their fans was one that could prove to be a turning point early in the 2018-19 season.
BACK TO WORK
Following Thursday night’s loss, it was back to work on Friday morning.
While it was business as usual as far as the daily schedule was concerned (there was no players-only meeting, as some have speculated), the team watched video prior to taking to the ice for an intense 40-minute practice, which focused on defensive zone coverage and featured a lot of battle drills.
After the skate, head coach Bill Peters had one-on-one conversations with a number of his veteran players, including T.J. Brodie, Mark Giordano, Travis Hamonic, James Neal, Derek Ryan and Mike Smith. While Peters — who is as direct with his players as any head coach that I’ve come across in my nearly two decades calling professional hockey games — addressed his team following Thursday’s loss and before, during and after Friday’s practice, it’s important that a team’s coaching staff and veterans are on the same page.
At times, messages can be as, if not more, effective delivered indirectly through the leadership group than directly from coaches to players.
IMPORTANT POINT
While the Flames didn’t win Saturday’s game against the Capitals, from start to finish, their effort and execution in the 4-3 shootout loss was significantly better than it was versus the Penguins two nights earlier.
Despite a pretty strong start on the ice, the Flames found themselves in a two-goal hole before the 15-minute mark. But, just when it looked like it was going to be another long game for the Flames and their faithful, just 15 seconds after the Penguins took a 2-0 lead, Travis Hamonic cut his team’s deficit in half.
It was a special moment for the Flames defenceman. Hamonic’s daughter, Charlie — who will be six months old later this week and was at her first-ever NHL game — got to see her dad score his first goal in 71 games, dating back to Oct. 14 of last season. Pretty cool.
Elias Lindholm tied the game at two with his team-leading seventh of the season before the end of the first. The Penguins, who were the only team to tally in the second, took a 3-2 lead into the late stages of the third.
But with their goaltender on the bench, an extra attacker on the ice and just 1:33 remaining in regulation time, Matthew Tkachuk tipped a Rasmus Andersson point shot past Penguins goaltender Pheonix Copley to tie the game at three. For Andersson, who has shown steady improvement since being recalled from the AHL’s Stockton Heat on Oct. 5, it was his first-career NHL point.
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The bad news for the Flames was that Calgary couldn’t complete their comeback in overtime or the shootout. Nicklas Backstrom scored the shootout winner for the Capitals, who, after falling 4-1 to the Oilers on Friday, split their two-game trip to Alberta with a 4-3 shootout victory over the Flames on Saturday.
The good news was that after being embarrassed by Crosby and the Penguins, the Flames were much, much better versus Ovechkin and the defending champion Capitals, picking up an important point and some much-needed confidence.
JET LAG
After spending just under four hours in the air flying from Calgary to New York last Saturday before making the approximately one-hour trip from New York to Montreal on Sunday, and then the just-over-four-hour jaunt from Montreal to Calgary on Tuesday, the Flames unpacked their bags on Wednesday and played games on Thursday and Saturday — before packing their bags again and boarding their charter for a four-hour flight from Calgary to Toronto on Sunday.
While there are quirks in the schedules for all 31 NHL teams, making two separate trips east to play four games in the span of 10 days has meant more time in the air than on the ice for the Flames, making it tough to find a balance between getting the necessary work done and getting sufficient rest.
The 5-5-1 Flames will face the 8-3-1 Maple Leafs at the newly-named Scotiabank Arena on Monday. Following the game, the Flames jump on the bus and travel two hours to Buffalo, where they’ll take on the 6-4-1 Sabres at KeyBank Center on Tuesday. Hopefully, the Flames won’t look as jet-lagged against the Maple Leafs on Monday as they did versus the Penguins on Thursday.
MATTHEWS-LESS MAPLE LEAFS
Going into Sunday’s games, the Maple Leafs’ 41 goals for were tied for most in the NHL. Unfortunately for the Leafs (and fortunately for the Flames), Auston Matthews will miss at least the next four weeks with a shoulder injury sustained in his team’s 4-2 triumph over the Jets on Saturday.
Even without Matthews, who, in my opinion, is already one of the top 10 forwards in the game at just 21 years old, and William Nylander, who remains unsigned, the Maple Leafs still boast one of the deepest forward groups in the league. Matthews, who has a team-high 16 points in 11 games, is one of four Leafs who have produced more than a point per game this season, along with winger Mitch Marner (15 points), defenceman Morgan Rielly (14 points) and centre John Tavares (13 points).
The Flames, who haven’t left Toronto with a pair of points since a 2-1 shootout win on Jan. 15, 2011, will try to snap a six-game road losing streak versus the Maple Leafs with a win on Monday.
SABRES SHARP
It looks like the constantly-rebuilding Sabres may have finally turned the corner. With a talented young core featuring 2018 first-overall pick Rasmus Dahlin and second-overall picks Jack Eichel (2015) and Sam Reinhart (2014) — and a good group of veterans including off-season addition Jeff Skinner, who leads the team in goals (six) and points (12) — the fifth-place Sabres are just three points behind the first-place Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division.
The Flames snapped a three-game losing streak in Buffalo with a convincing 5-1 victory over the Sabres on Mar. 7 of last season.
