Post-Game: Calgary’s middle six beat Arizona

Thursday night’s game between the Calgary Flames and the Arizona Coyotes had all the markings on the calendar of a “trip up” game for the home side. The Flames were coming off a disappointing loss, a flat 4-1 performance against the Toronto Maple Leafs. They have a big-time Saturday night meeting with the Edmonton Oilers on the horizon. Thus, playing against the NHL’s worst club seemed like something to get over with rather than a challenge to surmount. But the Flames surmounted the Coyotes with arguably their most complete 60 minutes of hockey this season.

Boosted by three goals from their middle six forwards and a strong performance from the goaltender, the Flames beat Arizona 3-0.

Neither side scored in the first, but both sides had chances in a stretch that saw 30 shots on goal. Both goaltenders were sharp, with arguably Arizona’s Scott Wedgewood having to be better than Calgary’s Mike Smith. Shots were 16-14 Arizona, but scoring chances were 11-7 Flames.

The Flames began to take over the game in the second period and eventually got rewarded for it. Mark Jankowski got a great pass from Jaromir Jagr and was initially stopped by Wedgewood, but managed to jam in the rebound to make it 1-0. Shots were 13-5 Flames and scoring chances were 11-2 Flames.

The locals pulled away in the third. Matthew Tkachuk set up Mikael Backlund with a dandy play behind the net. Tkachuk out-battled the Coyotes defenders for the loose puck, then fed the puck out into the slot for a tap-in for Backlund and a 2-0 lead. A little while later, Jankowski iced this one with a great individual effort. After a face-off win in the Arizona zone, Jankowski drove the net and deked around Wedgewood to make it 3-0. Shots were 17-7 Calgary, but scoring chances were 8-7 Arizona.

This will sound mean, but aside from Wedgewood playing very well, it’s hard to imagine an area of this game where the Flames didn’t out-battle Arizona. That said, the difference-makers for the Flames were their second and third lines. When you’re not giving up a ton defensively and your team gets three goals from your middle six, you’re going to win quite a few hockey games.

Because we can, there’s a joint award here: Jankowski had his second multi-goal game of the season and Smith had his second shutout of the season, against his former team.

The Backlund goal, while also really impressive, put a back-on-their-heels Coyotes squad down a pair. It let all the air out of their proverbial balloon and the Flames dominated from then on.

This was Matthew Tkachuk’s 100th NHL game. He doesn’t turn 20 for another two weeks.

Stockton beat Bakersfield 3-1 in an afternoon clash. Jon Gillies got the win and Andrew Mangiapane had the game-winning goal.

The Flames (14-10-1) practice tomorrow and then host the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night at the ‘Dome.