On goals by Ryan Johansen and Kevin Fiala, and 32 saves by Pekka Rinne, the Predators shutout the Flames 2-0 in a hard-fought game at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Saturday.
NO PUCK LUCK
In October, the Flames won some games that they probably should have lost. In December, they have lost some games that they probably should have won. Saturday’s contest versus the Predators was one of those games.
The Flames out-shot, out-chanced and—for two periods—out-played the defending Western Conference champions, but couldn’t find a way to score…or win. Calgary out-shot the Predators 32-28, and that doesn’t include the four crossbars that they hit.
While there are no style points in the NHL, the Flames are playing some of their best hockey of the season right now, especially at five-on-five. If Glen Gulutzan’s group keeps playing like they did on Saturday night, and have in the last six games, sooner or later they’ll start getting rewarded.
POWER PLAY PROGRESS
The truth is, the Flames’ power play struggled mightily in Thursday’s game against the Sharks. Not only did Calgary go 0-for-3 on the man advantage in the 3-2 loss, the Sharks picked up momentum with what was a dominant penalty kill. After spending significant time working on special teams at Friday’s practice, the Flames’ power play looked a lot better in Saturday’s contest versus the Predators.
With that said, they still went 0-for-5 with the man advantage, and for the second straight game, couldn’t capitalize on a lengthy five-on-three power play in the second period. On the bright side, with nine shots on goal and a plethora of opportunities, the Flames’ power play seemed to put some wind in their sails instead of taking the air out of the building.
Calgary had more of a shooting mentality, which should serve them well moving forward. However, the Flames are now 3-for-37 on the power play in 11 games without Kris Versteeg. With the way they’re playing at even strength, if the Flames can get their special teams going, I suspect they’ll start winning far more than losing.
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CAPTAIN CONSISTENCY
Mark Giordano played a game-high 26:23 and, as usual, was stellar defensively. Offensively, he had a game-high eight shots, one shy of his career-high, and 13 shot attempts. While the Flames’ defence has certainly had some ups and downs this season, the one constant has been Giordano.
As Gulutzan has said time and time again, Giordano is “the engine” of the team. The Flames captain works as hard off the ice as he does on it. He plays the game the right way and makes the players around him, specifically his defence partner, better. My broadcast partner, Peter Loubardias, is tasked with picking the ‘Hardest Working Flame’ following each game. Loubardias picked Giordano following Thursday’s 3-2 loss to the Sharks and again after Saturday’s 2-0 setback versus the Predators.
There aren’t many, if any, nights when the veteran defenceman isn’t one of the hardest-working players. That’s why Giordano wears the ‘C.’ On and off the ice, he sets the standard for the Flames.
JAGR’S RETURN
After missing five games with a lower-body injury that has been nagging him for most of the season, Jaromir Jagr returned to the lineup on Saturday. For what might have been the first time in his soon-to-be Hall of Fame career, Jagr played primarily on the right side of the fourth line, lining up with veterans Troy Brouwer and Matt Stajan.
While Jagr spent most of the night with Brouwer and Stajan, the 45-year-old played at least one shift on all four lines, skating with Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan, Matthew Tkachuk and Mikael Backlund and Sam Bennett and Mark Jankowski. The NHL’s second all-time leading scorer isn’t what he used to be (obviously), but he can still be an impactful player that can play up and down the lineup.
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Jagr hasn’t had a lot of luck this season, in more ways than one. After playing in all 82 regular season games with the Panthers last season, the living and playing legend has had a hard time staying healthy. When on the ice, he hasn’t had a lot of puck luck either. Jagr’s shooting percentage this season (3.6) is 10 per cent lower than his career-shooting percentage. No. 68 deserves to have more than the one goal and six assists that he has in 18 games this season.
Not only does Jagr give the Flames some much-needed depth at forward, he also gives Gulutzan some options, as the veteran has shown that he can play on any of the Flames four lines and on the team’s power play.
FIND-A-WAY FLAMES
While the Flames have played well enough to win each and every one of their last six games, they have a 2-2-2 record during that stretch. With 14 of the 15 Western Conference teams still very much in the mix, the Flames have to start finding ways to win. Sunday’s game against the injury-riddled Canucks would be a good place to start.
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