THW's Flames News

THW's Flames news for 03/20/2021

March 20, 2021

The latest Flames stories from The Hockey Writers.

 

 03/20/2021 edition:

By Jayden Wasney on Mar 20, 2021 09:18 am

Despite coming away with a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday, the Calgary Flames likely aren’t satisfied with their overall effort. The Flames did well at keeping up with the top team in the North Division, but the Leafs are a desperate team right now. They have just one win in their previous seven contests, and goaltending consistency has been an issue of late. (From ‘Andersen struggles, Maple Leafs lose to Flames,’ Toronto Sun, 03/19/21)

The Flames were outshot 8-2 in the third period, and 27-18 overall. I felt they did a decent job holding the Leafs’ top-scorers to the outside, and the Flames leading the blocked-shots department 29-7 definitely depicts that, but Calgary needs to work on their time of possession. Too often on Friday, Jacob Markstrom and the Flames were left chasing the puck in their own zone, so they’ll need to make some adjustments for Saturday’s rematch.

Playing With a Lead

The Flames improved to 13-0-0 when heading into the third period with a lead this year, but playing on top was something they struggled to do against the Leafs. Calgary jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period courtesy of goals from Matthew Tkachuk, who picked up his eighth tally of the season, while Derek Ryan deposited his second. The first period saw five goals total, and the Flames led the Leafs 3-2 heading into the second.

Just 3:48 into the second frame, Calgary’s lead was erased as Mitch Marner wired a shot past Markstrom. What wasn’t erased from the Flames, though, was their ability to fight for one another. Leafs defenseman Justin Holl took a run at Flames’ star forward Johnny Gaudreau, and that didn’t sit well with Tkachuk. Following the game, Tkachuk was asked about the hit by Sportnet’s Eric Francis, and the type of message he was sending by fighting. “Don’t touch Johnny…I don’t think a lot of guys liked the hit,” Tkachuk said. Holl and Tkachuk did battle, but it was the Flames who found a burst of life via the physical spark.

Just over two minutes after Holl and Tkachuk’s spirited tilt, Mark Giordano placed a perfect shot past Andersen on the power play, and that would give the Flames a 4-3 cushion. The goal also happened to be his 50th power-play goal as a Flame, and only Al MacInnis, Gary Suter, and Paul Reinhart have more power-play goals while playing the blue line as members of that same team. The Flames were heavily tested for the duration of the game following Giordano’s game-winning goal, as the Leafs hammered the opposition with zone-time and pretty passing plays, but Markstrom and his team had all the answers. No doubt, the Flames need to execute their game more safely while playing with a lead, but last night they managed to hold on, and now sit two points back of the Montreal Canadiens for the final playoff spot.

Positive Takeaways

Sure, the shots and time of possession were both won by the Maple Leafs, but Darryl Sutter’s group appeared to be invested in each other, and managed to win a game where they were severely outplayed for most of the action. Sometimes, the victories against the top teams that your team had no business beating can be all that a team requires to get things trending in a positive direction. The Flames’ penalty-killing unit also deserves credit, as they went 3-for-3 and were responsible for shutting down the likes of Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and William Nylander just to name a few.

Sutter was honest in his assessment of the way his team played against a tough team. “Obviously they’re going to get scoring chances on their power play, and off their cycle and with the skill they have, but I thought overall it was not a track meet game at all. I think we have a team that can play together and if we just eliminate mistakes in our game and stay out of the penalty box, we can play with them” said Sutter.

It was almost inevitable that the Leafs were going to tie Friday night’s thrilling affair, but Calgary stuck to their game and ground out two critical points instead. It is likely that if Jack Campbell is healthy enough following his lower-body injury, he will be getting the crease-call on Saturday’s game for the Leafs, while Calgary will likely go to David Rittich. This is standard procedure on back-to-back games, but it’s something Calgary will need to prepare for. The Leafs have lost three straight and are looking for a spark, so the Flames will need to tweak their game.

By Greg Tysowski on Mar 19, 2021 03:25 pm

After the Calgary Flames had the doors blown off them (again) on Wednesday night by the Edmonton Oilers, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had seen this movie before. Yes, we’ve all seen the team suffer lopsided losses this season, but I realized that being at the wrong end of a blowout has been a long-term problem.

Three Straight Wins Before Another Embarrassing Loss

It didn’t take me long to jump on the Darryl Sutter bandwagon, and why not? Immediately after the new bench boss took back the reins on March 11, the Flames responded by winning their next three games. They didn’t do it with overwhelming offensive firepower but rather by playing “Sutter-style” hockey, which promotes a team-first mentality that limits the opposition’s chances with tight checking. 

It’s not that I thought the Flames would not lose another game this season, but I was hoping a new era of accountability meant we wouldn’t see another humiliating defeat – at least not right away. I was shocked to see a 7-3 drubbing at the hands of the Oilers after such a solid effort the previous three games. But then I remembered something. Getting spanked by the opposition isn’t a new phenomenon; it’s practically a franchise tradition.

Wednesday’s Loss the Sixth Blowout of the Season

Before the latest debacle, the Flames were on the receiving end of five other lopsided defeats. They dropped 5-1 and 6-1 losses to the lowly Ottawa Senators, a 7-1 beatdown at the hands of the Oilers, a 5-1 setback against the Vancouver Canucks and a 4-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets. These deflating disasters erode team confidence and their ability to bounce back, and they have been happening for a while.

If the 2020-21 campaign had an 82-game schedule, the Flames would be on pace for 17 bad losses by three or more goals. If you look at last year’s total, the team would have suffered 14 losses by three or more markers over 82 games. This disturbing trend has dragged on for the past six years, the low point late in the 2017-18 season. That’s when this squad limped through an extremely rough 9-2 stretch in March 2018 when they lost all nine games by three or more and were outscored 37-13.

And yet, somehow, the Flames followed up that disastrous effort with a magical 2018-19 regular season when the boys in red finish first in the Western Conference and second overall with their second-best record in franchise history. That begs the question: how did the Flames manage to avoid those blowout losses then, and why can’t they do it again?

5 Players Had Career Years in 2018-19

In 2018-19, the Flames were rarely beaten badly, reversing a trend that ran rampant in the previous three campaigns. There were two major factors in the team’s regular-season success that year; the first had to do with five key skaters playing at the pinnacle of their career. Johnny Gaudreau had 99 points and was flirting with the NHL scoring race lead midway through the season, Sean Monahan rode on Gaudreau’s coattails for an 82-point campaign, Matthew Tkachuk had a breakout year with 77 points, and newcomer Elias Lindholm’s first season as Flame saw him score 78 points.

And, let’s not forget the career year by veteran blueliner Mark Giordano. The team captain potted 17 goals and 57 assists en route to a 74-point campaign that earned him his first Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenceman. When a team has an elite D-man on the roster and scores an avalanche of goals, it’s not that hard to avoid embarrassing blowouts.

The Flames Also Had a Hard-nosed, No-Nonsense Coach

The other reason the Flames bucked their recent trend of suffering bad losses was Bill Peters, who was hired before the 2018-19 season. Like the team’s current bench boss, Peters was a demanding head coach who didn’t come across as warm and fuzzy. The players must have responded to his style, at least in the short term, as the boys in red were best in the west.

However, it didn’t take long for the Flames to revert to their old ways, as any and all momentum gained from their 107-point season evaporated in 2019-20. Even before the disturbing allegations of racist conduct cost him his job, the players were already tuning Peters out, suffering five bad blowout losses before the head coach was replaced by Geoff Ward just two months into the campaign.

The Flames Need a Fundamental Change in Their Style of Play

While hiring Ward improved the Flames’ record and saved their season, the big losses kept piling up. Yes, every team comes up short from time to time, but it’s how this group loses that has kept them off-balance and constantly searching for that magical fix to recapture their “lighting in a bottle” regular season in 2018-19. While many teams seem to go down swinging and perhaps deserve a better fate after a tough setback, this squad has deserved to lose most of their losses.

So, is Sutter the answer? It depends. If he can bring more than a simple tough-love approach to this group, then I think he has a chance. The Flames tried Peters, and he lost the players. They also grew tired of hard-ass bench boss Bob Hartley, who was fired after a terrible 2015-16 campaign. Tough love isn’t enough. Sutter needs to squeeze as much as he can from this group and show them that stopping goals is more important than scoring them.

Yes, I know a big chunk of this core had career years a couple of seasons ago, but here’s the thing: they call them career years for a reason. They simply don’t happen all the time, and you certainly can’t bank on them to return year after year. After Wednesday’s humbling loss to the Oilers, Sutter was very clear about the direction his team needs to go in. The answer won’t be found by the core group replicating their high-octane offence from two seasons ago. In fact, the head coach told reporters that his team simply doesn’t have the big guns to match their Scotia North Division rivals:

“I think it kind of follows up to what I said at the start when I came here, in this division there’s way too much power in terms of offence and our team has to play a very, very strong checking game…It doesn’t matter who we are playing next. This team has to learn we don’t have the firepower to put ourselves in a position to not be good defenders or check in our own zone.”

– Darryl Sutter

If the Flames buy into Sutter’s brand of hockey, I think they have a realistic shot at turning the franchise around and leaving the era of bad losses in the rearview mirror. If they don’t, then we will witness a complete dismantling of Calgary’s core group and see a brand new management team installed by ownership. This was the last bullet in general manager Brad Treliving’s chamber: if this doesn’t fix the Flames, then buckle up. We are in for a seismic shift.

By Colton Pankiw on Mar 18, 2021 05:27 pm

With the trade deadline already less than a month away, teams are starting to get ready to either sell for future assets or pick players up in hopes of a playoff run. Despite not being in a playoff position at the moment, the Calgary Flames are expected to be buyers at this year’s deadline, given the expectations they had heading into the season. On top of that, general manager Brad Treliving’s future with the organization may be in question if they miss the playoffs, meaning he is going to do everything in his power to get them in.

One forward who doesn’t seem to be getting a ton of attention, and one that I believe could be a great fit for the Flames, is Kyle Palmieri. The New Jersey Devils will be sellers at this year’s deadline, given that they are well outside of a playoff position, and Palmieri, who is on an expiring contract, is one of their most attractive assets.

Perfect Fit

As far as the Flames’ lineup goes, the 30-year-old Palmieri would be a great addition because he is a goal-scoring right winger. The Flames’ lines this season have seemingly changed game by game, particularly the right side on Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan’s line, which feels like a revolving door at this point. Most recently, they have had Brett Ritchie playing with them, which will not cut it come playoff time.

While Palmieri has struggled this season with just four goals and 12 points in 25 games, a lot of it plays into just how bad the entire Devils roster has been. Prior to this year, he had scored at least 24 goals in five straight seasons, including 25 in 65 games last season. His low goal totals in 2020-21 appear to be bad puck luck more than anything else, as his shooting percentage is at 6.5 percent right now, a far cry from his 586-game career 12.5 percentage.

Aside from being a great addition to their top six, he is also a very good option on the power play. Last season, he had 11 goals on the man advantage, which would have led the Flames. With Calgary’s power play being quite average (15th in league) this season, bringing in Palmieri would provide them a major boost in that department.

Making It Work

The one difficult aspect of bringing in Palmieri for Treliving is the salary cap, which the Flames have very little space remaining. Given that he is on a deal that carries a cap hit of $4.65 million, they will have to get creative. One player they could and would likely have to move in order to get it done is Sam Bennett, who is also on an expiring deal that has a cap hit of $2.55 million.

Given Bennett’s trade request earlier in the season, moving him in exchange for Palmieri certainly makes sense for the Flames. It also makes sense for the Devils, who are not a very good team now but have a lot of young talent who are expected to turn the franchise around soon. While it hasn’t worked out in Calgary, Bennett is still just 24 years old and was a former fourth overall selection. Perhaps a change of scenery is all he needs to discover his offensive touch at the NHL level.

Another interesting aspect to this from the Devils’ end is that Bennett will be a restricted free agent at season’s end, meaning they won’t have to worry about potentially losing him to free agency. He would likely command a contract with a cap hit similar to his current deal or perhaps even a bit lower, making him a very low-risk, high-reward investment for the Devils.

Sooner the Better

The other difficult aspect of not only this trade but any this season involving teams across the border is mandatory 14-day quarantine players have to enter due to the pandemic. With the condensed schedule this season, there are a lot of games played in a two-week span, so it would be tough to not only wait two full weeks to have Palmieri join the mix but also be down another roster player (likely Bennett) in that time.

Still, this is the type of trade Treliving will have to make in order for this team to capture a playoff berth. Continuing to sit and wait is not beneficial to the team, and bringing in Palmieri sooner than later would give him more time to get comfortable and gain chemistry with the Flames. Given where they currently sit in the standings, he has little time to waste.

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