It feels like this run the Flames have been on – the one that made them look like they might be serious contenders for the Western Conference crown – began with a 4-2 come from behind win over the Oilers back in November. They haven’t let up since. And the more we see the Flames…
Entering the third Battle of Alberta of the season, Mikael Backlund had 298 points. With a deft assist to Oliver Kylington and a beautiful goal off of a turnover he himself caught, he made it to 300 points in his his 589th game.
The Flames only got 13 of a possible 14 points in their seventh seven-game segment of the season, so I guess you could say it could’ve gone better. In their first seven-game segment, they were 4-3-0. In their second, they improved to 4-2-1. In their third, they were once again 4-3-0. In their fourth, they improved…
Why bother leading for any of the game when you can just swoop in right at the end and take the win then and there? The Flames had a pretty rough night, but of course, they got it done anyway.
Since Elias Lindholm turned out to be a natural fit alongside Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan, the Flames haven’t had any problems with their first line. Their second line, though, has featured a rotating cast of right wingers – one that Michael Frolik seems to have laid a claim to, however long that lasts.
Sometimes the game just goes against you. Usually it isn’t to the extent of a team’s final three shots all going in, though. The Sabres probably couldn’t repeat that even if they tried.
So far through the 2018-19 season, Mike Smith has had quite a journey.
Sometimes, a really good team plays a mediocre-to-bad team (depending on how much stock you want to take into said team’s rather sizeable injury list) on the second of a back-to-back. This was about the result one could expect.
One day, the Flames taking a substantial amount of time off from a game (in this case, the first period) is going to come back to bite them. Friday was not that day.
In a delightful twist of fate, the Flames capitalized a bunch of times off of a goalie playing poorly. It might have been more fun to watch them do that if they had been playing well overall, but there’ll be more time for that later. And it’s definitely way, way more fun than being on…
This season, the Flames are a top team in the NHL. They have some of the league’s top scorers, they have one of the best records, and they have some of the best underlying numbers. This continues to beg the question, though: are the Flames a true Stanley Cup contender? And if they are, is…
The Flames aren’t playing perfect games, but they’re getting the right results. It’s those results now that can ensure we’ll be worrying about just how well they’re playing later on. Say, in the springtime.
