Post-Game: the Flames find ways to beat the Islanders

The Calgary Flames faced a big test on Wednesday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome, facing off against the Metropolitan Division-leading New York Islanders. The Flames were engaged and sharp from puck drop and despite some rough puck luck managed to find ways to score. They were full marks in a 4-2 victory over the Islanders.

The Flames were sharp early. They had lots of early scoring chances that narrowly missed. After the Islanders whiffed on a pass in the Flames zone, Michael Frolik grabbed the loose puck and went in on an odd-man rush. He made a very nice pass to Mikael Backlund, who slowed his speed and tucked the puck calmly behind Thomas Greiss to make it 1-0.

The Flames added to their lead later in the period. The Islanders iced the puck. On the ensuing draw, Elias Lindholm won the puck, Backlund fed it to the point, and Travis Hamonic’s shot beat Greiss to make it a 2-0 game.

Shots were 12-3 Flames and scoring chances 14-6 Flames in the opening period.

Midway through the second period the Islanders got on the board. The Flames were hemmed in their own zone a little bit and began to chase the Islanders around, and on a scramble in front of the net Casey Cizikas slid a puck through a sprawling Mike Smith to cut Calgary’s lead to 2-1.

The Flames had a ton of chances in the second and were unfortunate not to score on any of them. Shots were 11-3 Flames, scoring chances were 14-6 Flames in the middle frame.

The Islanders tied things up early in the third period off a couple defensive lapses by the Flames’ top pairing. Brock Nelson won a puck battle in the corner and a couple passes later, Anders Lee scored on a one-time shot into a wide-open net to make it 2-2.

But the Flames retook the lead a little while later. In a game where they couldn’t score on several picturesque chances, a pass to the slot by Austin Czarnik deflected in off Leo Komarov’s skate to give the Flames a 3-2 edge. (It wasn’t pretty, but it counted.)

On the very next shift Garnet Hathaway drew a penalty, and six seconds into the man advantage Johnny Gaudreau beat Greiss with a wrist shot that gave the Flames a 4-2 lead.

The game got a little chippy from there, but the Flames managed to hold on for the victory. Shots were 12-8 Islanders and chances 8-3 Islanders in the third period.

To be quite honest, the Flames were a little bit better than the Islanders in just about every area of the game. They out-chanced them and out-scored them at five-on-five. They out-scored them with their special teams. Their goaltender was better than the Islanders’ goaltender. It was a very solid team win against a very good Eastern Conference foe.

Let’s go with Backlund, who had a goal and an assist in his 599th career NHL game.

The Flames were the better team for the bulk of this game but didn’t have an overwhelming lead. The game swung for them in a 29-second span:

The Flames are now 30-1-4 this season when leading or tied after 40 minutes.

After the Islanders’ second goal, Bill Peters shuffled the defensive pairings: Giordano with Andersson, Hamonic with Brodie, and Kylington with Hanifin. Brodie didn’t see very much of the ice in the third period, though he stayed on the bench for the duration.

The Flames (37-16-7) are off tomorrow. They host the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night.