It was a tale of two teams at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday night. The Calgary Flames looked quite good for the first 10 minutes and last 10 minutes of regulation against the Winnipeg Jets. Unfortunately, their middle 40 minutes and overtime spelled their undoing in a 5-4 overtime loss.
The Rundown
The home team opened the scoring almost midway through the opening period. The line of Elias Lindholm, Dillon Dube and Spencer Foo spent a lengthy shift in the Jets zone. The Jets and Flames raced for a line change after Winnipeg cleared the zone, but the Flames got back into the Jets zone first. Andrew Mangiapane carried the puck below the goal line and found Juuso Valimaki sneaking in from the point and he beat Laurent Brossoit with a wrister to make it 1-0.
GIF time! Here's Valimaki's goal pic.twitter.com/RudFIU7mTj
— FlamesNation (@FlamesNation) September 25, 2018
Just over a minute later the Flames scored again, as Ryan Lomberg was sprung into the Jets zone and beat Brossoit with a low wrister to make it 2-0 – it appeared that Brossoit was anticipating a pass into the slot that never materialized.
and here is Lomberg's goal pic.twitter.com/8WuzXP7LZt
— FlamesNation (@FlamesNation) September 25, 2018
The Jets answered back with 11 seconds left in the period. The Flames got caught standing around in their own end and Sami Niku took advantage of the screen with a wrist shot that beat Mike Smith to make it 2-1. Shots were 11-6 Flames in the first 20 minutes, scoring chances were 10-2 Flames.
The Jets scored a pair in the second period and did a good job frustrating the Flames in the offensive zone. Early in the period they scored on a power play, as Nikolaj Ehlers beat a screened Smith with a quick shot to make it 2-2. Late in the period the Jets took a 3-2 lead after Niku’s point shot careened off Foo’s skate and beat Smith high. Shots were 10-9 Flames in the second, but scoring chances were 5-5.
The Jets extended their lead to 4-2 early in the third period, as the Flames kept whiffing on clearing attempts. Eventually Jacob Trouba found CJ Suess with a nice pass for a tap-in goal. But the Flames answered back with just over five minutes left in regulation, as Dube fed Mark Giordano a pass on the rush and the captain fired one past Brossoit to make it 4-3.
Sweet shot from Gio pic.twitter.com/VAlvWjEAsk
— FlamesNation (@FlamesNation) September 25, 2018
The locals got the game tied up right after, as Brossoit’s attempted clearing pass was intercepted by Morgan Klimchuk, and Klimchuk wristed it into the open net to make it 4-4. Shots were 17-10 Flames and chances were 12-5 Flames.
Goal by Klimchuk, assist from Brossoit pic.twitter.com/unjr2sySwU
— FlamesNation (@FlamesNation) September 25, 2018
And so the ‘Dome was treated to bonus preseason hockey. Ehlers scored his second of the game on the rush 31 seconds into extra time to finish this one at 5-4 for the Jets.
Why the Flames Lost (in OT)
The Flames faded a bit as the game went on, particularly after a power play midway through the first that resulted in zero goals and very little zone time. But they rallied back in the late stages of regulation and managed to salvage at least a moral victory.
Red Warrior
Giordano was a minute-muncher all game long and he was a rock on the back end (as you’d expect). Dube, Valimaki and Mangiapane all also had their moments and factored into the game in key ways.
The Turning Point
Giordano’s goal with around five minutes left in regulation really gave the Flames some daylight, and the Jets couldn’t get anything going until the game was all tied up.
The Numbers
(Percentage stats are 5-on-5, data via Natural Stat Trick)
| Player | Corsi For% |
OZone Start% |
Game Score |
| Ryan | 72.0 | 50.0 | 1.365 |
| Dube | 69.7 | 57.1 | 1.310 |
| Hanifin | 67.6 | 53.9 | 0.825 |
| Robinson | 66.7 | 50.0 | 0.475 |
| Foo | 65.6 | 61.5 | 0.850 |
| Hamonic | 64.9 | 58.3 | 0.750 |
| Peluso | 62.5 | 50.0 | 0.325 |
| Giordano | 62.5 | 44.4 | 2.150 |
| Mangiapane | 61.5 | 44.4 | 1.225 |
| Brodie | 61.3 | 40.0 | 1.125 |
| Lindholm | 60.6 | 61.5 | 0.580 |
| Lomberg | 57.1 | 66.7 | 0.915 |
| Quine | 47.4 | 50.0 | 0.330 |
| Jankowski | 46.2 | 60.0 | 0.350 |
| Andersson | 45.2 | 75.0 | -0.025 |
| Hathaway | 44.4 | 60.0 | 0.415 |
| Valimaki | 43.8 | 75.0 | 1.100 |
| Klimchuk | 39.3 | 75.0 | 0.825 |
| Smith | — | — | -1.650 |
| Parsons | — | — | — |
This and That
Dube led Flames forwards in even strength ice time and only Lindholm played more overall among Flames forwards.
This was the third time in seven games the Flames have gone to overtime in the preseason (and the second time against the Jets). They’ve lost all three games that went long.
Up Next
The Flames are back at it tomorrow night with their final preseason game of this year when they’ll host the San Jose Sharks at the Saddledome.
Lindholm looking like a 3rd line center…. Janko should be move up.
Dube should replace one of the vets mid seasons like Janko did last year
GFG
Yes very unimpressed by Lindholm so far. Especially on that OT goal.
Ha ha ha! Yeah not sure what he was thinking
The top 2 forward help hasn’t been too impressive so far, but the other 2 has been a pleasant surprise. Still a few more preseason games to work out the kinks.
I’d like to see Jankowski play with more urgency. Maybe it is because he is tall but he looks like he is coasting too much and not moving his feet.
The announcer called him Ryan jankowski. Maybe he switched with his brother?
Ryan is Mark’s uncle, a born and raised Calgarian, and a prominent figure with Hockey Canada, maybe that’s why the announcer thought of him.
They played for Carolina and had lousy numbers. Pretty easy to predict the results.
Everything is going to be okay soon. It may not be today, but eventually, it will be okay.It may not be tonight. It may not be tomorrow or on the next day. But I am pretty sure that everything will soon turn out to be okay.they just have to fight through the bad days that have been happening in order to earn the best days.
So, you’re saying…
You come exactly as advertised
Di you think everything will be ok….or?
I was somewhat pleased with Ras and Vali tonight. Mangi has looked good the entire preseason, don’t think he deserves to go back to the AHL but I could be wrong. Fun game though!
I think Stockton is gonna have a good team
I don’t think Mangiapane deserves it either, but it’s a numbers game and Dube has been slightly better on the whole. That said, I question the accepted wisdom that it’s bad for players to sit a few games instead of logging big minutes in the AHL. Even if Dube and Mangiapane split time in the NHL, they are still getting ~ 40 games each. If either plays the whole season in the AHL, they are getting max 68 games. It’s not that big of a difference, and I think there is room to get both players into the mix at the NHL level. Mangiapane really has nothing left to prove in the AHL, but he may be recovering from his injury still (which may be why he looks a step behind Dube right now).
It makes me think that the Neal (and perhaps Ryan) signings weren’t necessary. Treliving and his staff are good at drafting, but they are so – soooo hesitant to have any faith in their youth unless they are top 10 picks.
I think the best course of action is to bury Lazar and Hathaway to make room for both Dube and Mangiapane, and even if they don’t get a full 82 games, I think the team and their development as players will benefit.
Neal hasn’t done much but maybe that works out. He also hasn’t played as much as others so not as much opportunity.
Ryan has been a pleasant surprise. Just a smart hockey player that was never over-hyped. To me, the biggest surprise of the pre-season.
They will likely not be protected in expansion draft and flames can protect the better prospects if that’s how it plays out, but either way it will fix it self .
Goaltending was suspect in my eyes..
Smith wasn’t exactly lights out in pre-season last year either, when the season starts he’ll flip the switch
Exactly,I’d rather smith was easing into these games instead of doing some high stretch saves or putting himself in an unprotected valunerable position and get hurt in a preseason game . This is just practice, there not the full rosters , let’s just get out of preseason with out any injuries that’s the main goal ,safety first !
I was disappointed that they didn’t play Parsons in the 3rd. I hope he gets a chance to shine in Stockton.
They lost another preseason game. Clearly they are doomed.
It’s still pre-season….If they are going to drop games now is the time. The main thing is that they are mixing up the lines to see what they may or may not have. Also, it has been an a-typical training season thus far. Patience…things will come together and so far I like what I see compared to the last few disparaging seasons.
….and that Dube guy….if more players had his mindset we would be a nightmare to play against. The guy doesn’t stop. That’s the type of attitude this team needs to adopt.
Energizer bunny…
Anyone pay much attention to Brodie moving back to the other side/hand? I thought fora moment at beginning of a power play he was confused. But also the only D. But still made me curious about the transition back that I haven’t really paid attention to.
Lots of changes this season. Adjustment required, and expected.
Brodie looks a lot better on the right side both offensively and defensively. He turns so much better to his right that he looks natural rather than the uncomfortable guy of last year.
The guy that Peters is going to have to work very hard with is Hamonic. Several times a game he loses the puck along the boards in his own end. It looks like he wants to defend the puck rather than move it. That is a real problem if everyone is expecting a quick breakout because they are thinking attack and he is left alone defending.
It looks like he is not fast enough to the puck but it may just be a process of decision making. A good example is the Jet’s third goal where he lost a puck battle because the third guy to the puck was a Jet. However quicker decision making would have avoided the puck battle and the Flames would have transitioned to the attack. Hopefully this is just a slow adaption to the new system of quicker breakouts.
Last night was my first opportunity to see him, live. I thought he looked pretty good; even in command on a few shifts. If nothing else, the change seems to have helped is confidence – or, he was just playing against less veteran forwards? I’m going to choose to believe the former, for now.
Good feedback. I just saw him towards the end of the game and realized I hadn’t paid him much attention.
Listening to Rebar post game makes me feel sooooo much better than listening to GG. Rebar clearly isn’t happy with some stuff from our team, which is good.
While I still feel that last season was not everyone faltering just cuz, but rather mutiny, it’s still definitely apparent that the players needed a better coach.
We will see how the systems play out (any thoughts so far?), but regardless of that, nonsystem things like effort, discipline, team solidarity, etc etc will likely improve. And ideally, consistency. I’ve liked how after going down a couple goals we haven’t really crumbled yet, but have tried to fight back. These are the signs I’m looking at as indicators of change.
One strong positive in the new system is that they are engaging the rush in the neutral zone. Last year they backed off the blueline and allowed easy entry into the defensive zone. The other teams will go offside a lot more this year if this keeps up. It would be nice to see one of the defensemen start hitting at the blueline but that might take a way a while.
Anyway it looks like the years of losing the puck and giving up three zones automatically are over.
That may be however the group of forwards out there last night had no line chemistry at all and were too rag tag. Lots of rushes started well and often ended up with someone trying to “do it all by themselves”. I also thought time after time it was forwards who failed to help out on break outs and coughed up turnovers. Clearly very few of that forward group will be staying up.
Chucky I couldn’t agree more. That purposeful defensive strategy of skating backwards to rush into the collapsed box thing really wasn’t working for me. Not to go back to Hartley, but one of his greatest strengths was coaching us to attack and forecheck hard, and keep the forwards at our perimeter. You know, the basics. Also, it works so well for a lot of our guys.
What I’m wondering is how Rebar can handle Sam. Because he is the poster boy of rag tag and doing it all by himself, GPD. It will be interesting to see.
Jobu remembers the players reaction when GG threw the stick into the stands. They laughed it off. Clearly the message wasnt sent. I think in Peters’ case there would be some serious a$$ kicking if that happened (i.e. “The bag skatings and benchings will continue until morale improves”).
I’m hoping they get down two at the most 25 bodies for the last three games of the preseason. It’s time to give the whole group a time to play together and gel
Glad the boys fought back after going down 4-2.
Not overly surprised OT didn’t work without our top 2 lines in the lineup.
Same with first OT loss to the Jets.
WW
BYNG and Czar would be fun in OT, maybe with Gio.
WW
Not a lot of love for Foo last night but Nigel begs to differ. Six shots on goal doesn’t tell us the quality of his shots but it does tell us that he had a scorer’s mentality last night. For a club that was so destitute of scoring last season, especially from the bottom 6, Foo showed exactly what we want to see from our forwards. I want our forwards to think shoot the puck first rather than pass it. Take a look at the names on the list of the guys who had the most shots on goal last season and you will see the finest offensive talent in the league. Not saying Foo will ever reach that status but the kid sure was thinking the right way last night getting all those pucks on net.
If he accepts that pass from Andersson out of the corner cleanly it is a goal.
What a pass!!
I’ve liked Foo so far, and think all 3 of Foo, Dube, and Mangi would make last year’s team, and are ready, but may have to start the year in Stockton.
Foo may not be as noticeable as Mangi, but I think he’s more physically mature.
I’ve also liked Klimchuk, unspectacular but steady.
So I missed the game last night but have watched the highlights and listened to BP’s interview. I thought Smith would like at least 3 of 5 goals back. We scored 4 goals off of the rush 2 by D getting into shooting positions; that is a good sign. My question for those who watched the game how did we look on the forecheck and did we have any good long possessions?
Watched the game and our forecheck is 100 times better than under GG. Brodie goes sleeping and his guy tips one in. What is with our goalies including Smith in a butterfly early and so deep in the paint? Dube looks like one of our best forwards so far, he drove play and right now is to good to be sent down, he looks like he will be here to start the season. Lindholm gaffed on a pass then doesn’t come back to cover and it’s game over but he forechecked very well during the game. Our D I think lost almost every board battle against Lowry….he is big and strong. We are a small team that needs to play bigger but I like what I see compared to the GG era. Better special teams play, better goaltending which I’m sure will happen, a more physical game with grit on the boards and we will be way better than in previous years. The systems of BP looks good.
Brodie missing that man is also on Dube he was not deep enough nor in a position to communicate to Brodie who had his head turned to puck. Help side defense is never just one players issue.
I notice, “on paper”, a lot more shots coming from the defencemen. This is a good sign.
It’ll be interesting to see what we do with Stone/Kulak/Andersson/Prout. Who will be the #7? I think this is more of a question, and more important, than the 13/14 forwards debate.
Not much of a question at all. Stone will be the #5, Kulak to Stockton since he already cleared waivers back in July, Andersson and Prout in the 6 and 7 roles respectively.
Does Ras get to play on the right side then? Would make sense cuz stone is the vet to switch him?
x