Flames 4, Penguins 3 (SO) post-game embers: 10 is zen
7 years ago
What more can you ask of a team, really?
#10
What a ride. Not only last night’s game, but this entire streak.
You’ve probably heard it a few thousand times now, but this is now the best win streak in Calgary Flames history and ties the record for overall Flames history, matching the 1978-79 Atlanta Flames, who also hit #10 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
And here’s the best part: this is not a fluke.
Sure, the PDO is a little bit high: 109.05, mostly boosted by Brian Elliott (and for one game, Chad Johnson) and his bonkers 96.83 5v5 SV%. They’re also shooting 12.22%. Of course, these numbers are not sustainable. But that’s the nature of the win streak. It takes a little bit of good luck to win even three or four games in a row, much less 10. It’s going at a rate of once every 38 years for the Flames.
But here’s the better stats: over this streak, the team is at 52.93 CF% at 5v5, score and venue adjusted, third overall in the league. They’ve scored 29 5v5 goals, the most, and allowed nine (!), the fourth least over the course of this streak. Score adjusted, they’re third in the league in expected GF%. They’re earning this.
And it showed yesterday evening. Against the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team very close to the Flames in the fancystats listed above, the good guys kept neck-and-neck against a great (albeit, battered and bruised) Pens team. They were generating plenty of grade A chances, and really could’ve put this one away in regulation a handful of times.
The magic number is down to 9.5 after L.A.’s loss last night. As we look out into the future, it’s more likely that Flames wins bring that number down to zero more than Kings losses. This is a scary team.
#10 (refrain)
Let’s bring it to the man who got us #10, #10 himself: Kris Versteeg.
This is a game full of unexpected heroes (as we’ll see later), though we probably could’ve expected that. 3M would have their hands full with Crosby. Monahan would be glued to Malkin. That left the bottom two lines to feast on a decimated and depleted Penguins depth.
And the guy who would take charge would be Versteeg. He provided the primary assists on the goals from Wideman and Gaudreau, and then provided the game-winning shootout goal:
The winger brings such immense value that it would be foolish not to re-sign him at the end of the year.
Johnny Gaudreau is magic
He is a wizard man and we are blessed to have him.
That’s a bunch of Stanley Cup champions that now need ankle insurance. Johnny rules and that’s all I have to say.
The unusual suspects
Every once in a while, the universe will provide such random and unexpected yet serendipitous moments which we don’t really understand but cannot help but accept. I’m talking about finding a $20 bill on the sidewalk, hitting every green light, bumping into old friends, Deryk Engelland and Dennis Wideman scoring goals in the same game, and the fourth line taking the Stanley Cup Champions to the cleaners.
Let’s go about this, mini-embers (sparks?) style:
Dennis Wideman:
Well this is odd. Our favourite punching bag, taken out of the press box for one last go, was the best 5v5 CF% player. It’s probably been the first time in forever we could say that. After cutting his lip open after being highsticked (not called, of course) and disappearing down the tunnel, we figured that it might be a short night for Earl.
Not so fast.
The Flames’ bottom pairing defence has not been that great this year, which has been pinned on Wideman, and it’s taken a few bandaid solutions acquired for cheap to at least present it as a functional group. And when one of those bandaids went down, it was back to Wideman.
And he did put in a performance. Against a team that probably would’ve crushed him on any other night, Wideman was the best possession player and added a weird goal to boot.
I guess there were some weird no-calls and a goal that maybe shouldn’t have counted, but we count our blessings.
The fourth line:
While 3M was busy working on Sidney Crosby, the fourth line took their usual duty, and their corsi statline to go with it. At 5v5, Lance Bouma and Matt Stajan each had 0% offensive zone starts, while Alex Chiasson had 16.67% OZS. Each finished with 5v5 CF% above 70%, leading the forwards.
Stajan, as always, has been consistent. In a year where many figure that he’d be eating press box popcorn at this point in the season, he’s been a stalwart on the fourth line. The Franchise is a 0.04 CFrel%, which doesn’t seem like much until you consider that he was a -5.47 CFrel% last year. He put in some heavy PK work and added an assist on a goal he was originally credited with.
Bouma was actually noticeable for the first time in a long time. I’m thinking particularly of a penalty kill play where he was the origin point for a 2-on-1 with Stajan (which he also shot three feet wide on). There’s a lot about Bouma that hasn’t been up to snuff this year, but (again) let’s be optimistic and hope he can keep up the good work.
Don’t forget about Chiasson too, who contributed a primary assist and managed to draw a penalty from Stajan high-sticking him. Frequently miscast as a first liner earlier in the season, he is now being miscast as a fourth liner. He might be due for a minor promotion to third line duty with Bennett and Versteeg, ’cause that line could use a rebuff.
And I’ll leave you on that note.
This and that and then some
[Hello friends! Ari here to round this out for a little dual-author embering, or whatever.]
- It was the guys you normally wouldn’t expect to score last night, except for one: Gaudreau, who picked up his 49th point of the season, and retook the team lead in scoring. The Flames still don’t have a 50+ point guy – they’re one of eight teams in such a situation, and the only playoff team – but they’re getting there.
- With his assist, Chiasson picked up his 100th career point, which is always a neat milestone.
- When your fourth line centre has 21 points on the season, you’re doing alright. When your third line centre has 23 points, you could still be doing better.
- Micheal Ferland came so close to his first assist in 15 games with that little give-and-go with Gaudreau that Marc-Andre Fleury thwarted. He’s scored six goals since being moved up the depth chart – and during this win streak – but has no assists. That’s still a bit of a warning flag, but he clearly has the ability to actually keep up with Gaudreau, so not a big one.
- The Flames had so many quality chances Fleury (or dumb luck) wouldn’t budge on. Of note that Gaudreau and Wideman led the way with four shots each, while Monahan, Giordano, and Engelland had three apiece.
- Big minutes from the top four defencemen, as each played over 20 minutes, sheltering Wideman and Matt Bartkowski (who was entrusted with more ice time than his partner, if you were getting any ideas). Engelland was the biggest winner with 5:12 in penalty kill time, which– well, at least the Penguins only got one powerplay goal.
- It’s absurd how much better the Flames’ powerplay gets the second it’s the 3M line unit with Giordano and Dougie Hamilton out there. It’s absurd they aren’t being utilized as the first unit.
- The Penguins may be injury-depleted, but considering the talent they still have, that was a major test. A good offseason could be massive for the Flames.
- Boston is a bit closer to the Flames’ level – two fewer points in the same number of games played. Good thing it doesn’t matter if they pick up any points on Wednesday, but it sure would be nice to set a franchise record.
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