The Philadelphia Flyers broke a 1-1 tie with three goals in a span of 1:11 in the second period and snapped a franchise record-tying 10-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday. Here are five thoughts from the game.
MONKEY OFF BROUWER’S BACK
After playing a pretty good first period, the Flames were rewarded with less than two minutes left. Curtis Lazar, who was back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch in two consecutive contests and five of the previous seven games, fired the puck at the Flyers net. Brian Elliott made the save but surrendered a juicy rebound that Troy Brouwer buried. The goal was not only Brouwer’s first this season, it was his first in 33 games dating back to March 22 of last season.
Brouwer, a three-time 20-goal getter, scored 17 or more goals in seven straight seasons prior to tallying 13 times last season, his first with the Flames.
Wayne Gretzky, who has scored more goals than anybody in NHL history, once said “You miss 100 per cent of the shots that you don’t take.” Brouwer should hang that quote in his locker. Going into Monday’s game, Brouwer had 23 shots on goal in 27 games. Brouwer is a big, strong guy with a fantastic shot. If he goes to the net and shoots the puck more often, he has the ability to provide the Flames with some much-needed secondary scoring. I’m anxious to see if Monday’s goal gets Brouwer going.
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POOR MANAGEMENT
The Flames sometimes struggle to manage games. Here are a couple of recent cases in point.
Trailing the Oilers 2-0 last Saturday, Michael Frolik scored a short-handed goal to make it 2-1. Right after he scored, I said on the air “Okay, they’re back in it, but now they need to kill off the rest of this penalty.” Technically the Flames did, but four seconds later, the Oilers scored to regain a two-goal lead.
On Monday, Brouwer scored with 1:45 left in the first period to give the Flames a 1-0 lead for just the 11th time this season. The Flames couldn’t let the Flyers get that goal back before the end of the period. But they did. 1:01 later, Valterri Filppula scored to tie the game.
The Flames have to do a better job managing games. Speaking of which…
GONE IN 71 SECONDS
To their credit, even after giving up a goal with 44 seconds left in the first period, the Flames dominated the Flyers in the first seven-plus minutes of the second frame. Just when it looked like the Flames were about to regain the lead, the game turned on a dime.
Scott Laughton gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead at 7:31. Twenty-five seconds later, Michael Raffl made it 3-1. At 8:42, Wayne Simmonds scored his team’s third goal in a span of 71 seconds.
Raffl’s goal was another example of poor game management by the Flames. Trailing by a goal but clearly outplaying the Flyers, the Flames tried to answer right back instead of just staying with it and continuing to play the right way. Defenceman T.J. Brodie got caught up ice, which led to a 2-on-1 for the Flyers, who capitalized on the chance by scoring the eventual game-winning goal. While it’s hard to fault Brodie for trying to make something happen, I can’t help but wonder if the Flames would have been rewarded for being more patient after falling behind. I guess we’ll never know.
STREAKING SAM
For the second straight game, Sam Bennett was a bright spot for the Flames. In addition to stretching his season-long point streak to four games with an assist, Bennett had a career-high eight shots on goal, double his previous season-high for shots in a game. After going pointless in his first 15 games of 2017-18, goalless in his first 16 and recording only three points in his first 23, the 2014 fourth overall pick has posted six points (two goals, four assists) in the last four games.
It looks like Bennett is starting to develop some real chemistry with linemates Mark Jankowski and Jaromir Jagr, who have started to provide the Flames with some much-needed secondary scoring. You could make a pretty strong argument that in the Flames’ last six home games, the Bennett-Jankowski-Jagr line has been their best. Let’s see if Calgary’s third line takes its show on the road to Toronto and Montreal. Chances are the Flames will need them in games against Frederik Andersen and the Maple Leafs and Carey Price and the Canadiens on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
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ROAD WARRIORS
For some reason, the Flames have been a better team on the road than they have been at home this season. Calgary is 7-8-0 inside Scotiabank Saddledome and 7-4-1 outside of their antiquated arena, tending to play a simpler brand of hockey on the road than it does at home.
While that is a problem, it’s one that the Flames won’t have to solve until next Saturday night, when they’ll host the surprising Canucks. Between now and then, the Flames will visit Air Canada Centre and Bell Centre, where they’ll meet a Maple Leafs team that beat them 4-1 last week, and a Canadiens club that has won five consecutive contests.
I truly believe that when they’re on their game, the Flames can compete with any team in the NHL. The problem is the Flames were far from being at their best during their four-game homestand, playing one good game and winning one game — a convincing 3-0 shutout victory over the last-place Coyotes Thursday.
I can’t wait to see how the Flames respond in road games against a really good Maple Leafs team and a pretty good Canadiens team (with the world’s best goaltender) this week. A good road trip could really get the Flames going. A bad road trip might force the team’s management group and/or coaching staff to make some changes.
