Flames beat Flames in up-tempo second scrimmage

The Calgary Flames took to the ice on Tuesday afternoon for their second of three intrasquad scrimmages. In a more up-tempo affair than Sunday’s game, Team White beat Team Red by a score of 5-2.

Here’s the scoring summary via Pat Steinberg:

(Giordano was traded from Red to White mid-game.)

Derek Ryan was back after being unable to participate earlier this week. Glenn Gawdin and Matthew Phillips were both unable to participate. Other than that, these are the exact same lines and teams as Sunday’s scrimmage. (Functionally-speaking, Ryan replaced Gawdin on Team White.)

First and foremost, it was a faster, crisper game with less of the rust and clunkiness that punctuated Sunday’s contest. Not to say there was no clunkiness, but it was the exception rather than the rule. More specifically, the Flames’ top guns looked like their top guns for the most part.

Ryan’s return on a line that wasn’t between Milan Lucic and Dillon Dube begs the question of whether there’s a race between Ryan and Sam Bennett for the third line center spot. The answer so far is unclear, as Ryan hadn’t practiced in a week prior to being inserted into the scrimmage and his return on a random line was likely as much about keeping everybody else in their rhythm as it was about keeping Bennett in a good spot. That said, Bennett played in Ryan’s spot when Ryan was sick mid-season and looked good, and if Ryan can get the fourth line jumping (like he did in the 2019 playoffs) suddenly the Flames are a deeper, better team. (In a short series, the team that has depth and can make adjustments will probably be the team that wins.)

Meanwhile, the goaltending duel is still clear as mud. Interim head coach Geoff Ward told us following the scrimmage that they’re building a book on each goaltender and they’ll make a decision on their starter at the end of the process – presumably this means after the Edmonton game. Through the two scrimmages Talbot has been the busier goaltender and the better goaltender. He’s allowed six goals to Rittich’s nine. (Even if you ignore the special teams work, Talbot has allowed four even strength goals to Rittich’s six.)

The Flames have their last scrimmage on Friday afternoon. They head to Edmonton on Sunday and face the Oilers in an exhibition game on Tuesday night.