Flames Post-Game: Flames skewer Sabres

The Calgary Flames came into Buffalo hoping to find consistency, puck possession, and a win. They found all three of those things in a very one-sided 5-0 victory over the Sabres on Thursday night.

The win gives the Flames a 2-1-2 record through the first five games of their seven game road trip.

The Flames got oodles of good scoring chances in the opening period, but they opened the scoring off a gorgeous pass by Matthew Tkachuk to spring Johnny Gaudreau on an almost-breakaway. Gaudreau received the pass and held off the defender long enough to beat Dustin Tokarski with a quick shot to give the Flames a 1-0 lead.

Shots were 14-8 Flames (all at five-on-five) and scoring chances 9-3 Flames in the first period.

The floodgates opened for the Flames in the second period.

First, Chris Tanev made a heads up pass to Andrew Mangiapane, who chipped the puck at the net. It bounced off Tokarski’s glove and into the net to make it 2-0 Flames.

The Flames had a power play that was fairly blah: they just couldn’t really set up in the Sabres zone. But with the PP winding down, Gaudreau, Tkachuk and Elias Lindholm executed a nifty passing play that ended with a wrist shot by Tkachuk beating Tokarski to make it 3-0 Flames, just four seconds after the PP expired.

A little later, a smart Nikita Zadorov pass sprang Mikael Backlund and Mangiapane on a two-on-one, ending with Backlund setting up Mangiapane with an easy tap-in to make it 4-0.

Finally, the Flames capped it off with a power play goal. A nice passing sequence ended with Sean Monahan executing a cross-crease pass to Gaudreau for a quick redirect that made it 5-0 Flames.

Shots were 9-7 Flames (7-4 Flames at five-on-five) and scoring chances 7-3 Flames in the second period.

The Flames played a smart game in the third period and tried to get Mangiapane a third goal, but couldn’t. Shot were 11-10 Sabres (all at five-on-five) and scoring chances 8-7 Sabres in the third period.

The Flames were clearly the better team. Buffalo is a team with some deficiencies, but the Flames did a really nice job playing their own game, making smart plays, and repeatedly punishing Buffalo for their shortcomings.

Mangiapane had two goals (and tons of chances for a third) so he gets the nod here.

But a lot of players wearing red and white looked good. Gaudreau and Tkachuk each had three points, Tanev had two assists, and lots of supporting players made smart plays at key times. Oh, and nobody scored on Jacob Markström. At all.

The Flames scored three goals in the second period in a span of just over a minute and a half. This game went from being one-sided to being a drubbing in that span, and the Sabres seemed to lose all their steam after that point.

Data via Natural Stat Trick. Percentage stats are 5v5.

Gaudreau’s first assist of this game broke a three-way tie between him, Paul Reinhart and Guy Chouinard for sixth all-time in Flames franchise history in assists.

There was no announced attendance in Buffalo, but the crowd was tiny.

The Flames (9-3-5) are off to Long Island! They’ll face the New York Islanders in the first-ever game at the brand-new UBS Arena on Saturday night.

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