Beyond the Boxscore: Calgary Flames entertain fans in blowout win over Edmonton Oilers

Lights! Camera! Goals! In one of the most entertaining Flames games in recent memory the Battle of Alberta left the northern Alberta neighbours wondering what happened on the wrong side of a 9-5 score. Maybe the most impressive feat was that Calgary got all 9 goals at 5v5. It was back and forth to start but Calgary eventually buried the Edmonton goaltenders with a barrage of attempts – to which they failed miserably to try and stop. The Flames take the last 2021-22 regular season battle of Alberta matchup.

It’s a Team Game – As soon as the Flames stopped parading to the penalty box – which was more frequently than it should have been – Calgary was able to gain control of the game. No matter how close the Oilers got the Flames top line had an answer. Extended 5v5 play completely leaned the game in Calgary’s favour and the third period saw Calgary take a massive possession spike. The Saddledome had a great supporting crowd as well which certainly helps motivate the guys to score some more.

Corsi King – It has consistently been a great line when Andrew Mangiapane (74.15 CF%) gets paired up with Mikael Backlund (72.29%). There were a lot of jumbled combinations after all the special teams in this one, but everyone was largely consistent in being decent. Ryan Carpenter (64.27%) sees the least number of attempts against in his debut – mind you in fourth line minutes. More on him later.

Corsi Clown – Seventh times the charm? Records keep on being set here at Beyond the Boxscore – not that there’s any reward for that. No players below 50% for the seventh time this season (that I can recall off the top of my head).

Taken By Chance – Poor Lucic (27.70 SCF% // 0 HDCF%) was the only guy not to be involved in a high danger chance. He was quite the physical presence on the forecheck though and those effects are felt whenever anyone forechecks. The presence of Lucic makes everyone on the opposition slow down and shoulder check before going into the corners. On the flip side we may not have Beiber jerseys but we do have Johnny Gaudreau (57.09% // 65.32%) Matthew Tkachuk (51.96% // 60.79%) and Elias Lindholm (52.06% // 60.79%) had 10 high danger chances as a unit tonight. Astronomical offence from them.

xGF% – Noah Hanifin (70.63 xGF%) and Rasmus Andersson (68.25%) are both just 25 years old having the best seasons of their career. Oliver Kylington (56.57%) has been lights out in his first full season in the NHL. 2 of those guys were drafted and developed by the Flames organization. Dillon Dubé (63.09%) and Andrew Mangiapane (79.75%) were also homegrown talents. You don’t become this strong of a 5v5 team without the help of fantastic drafting – something that had been vacant from the Calgary market for a long time. It also helps when you have a coach that understands how to teach players how to use their tools to succeed.

The Oilers as a team were not really bad until the third period kicked in. Their goaltending was bad all night but they had some fight until the seventh goal went in. Honestly I’m still just glad we were all treated to that mess of chaos – the entertainment value was great. Long term i don’t hope to see the Flames let 5 in, but you have to be able to win in different ways and Calgary can now check off outscoring the Big Duo.

Game Score – Over 10 Flames finish with a score over 2.00 which will happen when you rack up 9 goals. Gaudreau (6.16 game // 1.80 average), Tkachuk (5.13 // 1.74), Hanifin (5.00 // 0.96), Backlund (4.59 // 0.79), Lindholm (4.12 // 1.49), Tanev (3.98 // 0.90), Toffoli (2.78 // 0.61), Mangiapane (2.72 // 1.01), Andersson (2.32 // 1.07), and Dubé (2.14 // 0.38).

I’ve said some semi-nice things about the Oilers but the second period – and especially the third – they fell apart. It was an adequate start they just quit playing defence. Was it because the goalies couldn’t stop. anything or because Calgary was relentless with their puck possession and attack? Doesn’t really matter now – this ones in the ledger and the ink has dried.

In The Crease – I absolutely love Markstrom’s numbers when you take the power play out of this game. 2.47 expected goals against (high for one game) with only 2 high danger chances allowed. A 5v5 SV% 0.913% to tag along with it. If you go down shorthanded against the Oilers with those two big guns in the other room, they are going to burn you – the team in front of Markstrom outscored the Oilers power play 3 times over tonight at 5v5. No weak goals and kept his team in it when they needed saves – not a pretty win but one he contributed too.

Today’s Specials – The Oilers power play is lethal – no matter how good the Flame penalty kill has been. Draisaitl is one of the purest natural goal scorers in the entire NHL and he gets the best playmaker on the planet to set him up. Take a man off the ice and good luck. Calgary did not need their own power play tonight to score on Edmonton but some games their going to need it to pot a few to get the W.

Player Spotlight – Andrew Mangiapane – I’m going to be a bit of a party pooper and point out that Mange has one goal in his last 12 games. He hasn’t needed to be that secondary scoring option as consistently as he was needed earlier in the campaign, but it is a fair bit of a slump for a guy that has 30 goals this season. He’s due for a couple to come his way here soon – he’s certainly got some solid numbers in possession and chances over this stretch, just a matter of time in my opinion.

 

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