Joonas Donskoi scored the game-winning goal with 2:48 remaining in regulation time to help the San Jose Sharks defeat the Calgary Flames 3-2 at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Thursday night.
TWO OUT OF THREE AIN’T BAD
But that wasn’t good enough for the Flames on Thursday. The Flames out-shot the Sharks 13-9 in the first period and 11-6 in the third period but were on the run for almost the entire second period, when they were out-shot 14-10 and out-scored 1-0.
The Flames had a pair of early power play opportunities in the middle stanza, including a 38-second-long 5-on-3. Not only were they unable to capitalize on those power plays, the unsuccessful power plays seemed to suck the life out of the Flames, while at the same time, injecting it into the Sharks. After killing off those penalties, the Sharks started to take over, and halfway through the second period, they took the lead thanks to their other special teams unit.
Chris Tierney’s power play goal not only gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead, it put Peter DeBoer’s team in a position to improve their already perfect record when leading following 40 minutes, which they did. The Sharks are now 11-0-0 when leading through two periods of play this season.
POWER PLAY PROBLEMS
The Flames’ power play is struggling. Mightily. Not only did Calgary go 0-for-3 on the man advantage on Thursday, they struggled to win faceoffs, had a hard time gaining the offensive blue line, and in turn, getting set up in the Sharks’ zone.
As a result, the Flames managed to get only three shots on goal in 4:03 minutes of power play time. The Flames’ power play hasn’t been the same since the team lost Kris Versteeg to a hip injury that will keep the versatile winger out of the lineup for months. In 10 games without the veteran playmaker, the Flames are 3-for-32 on the power play.
While replacing Versteeg has proved to be a challenge, it hasn’t been the only problem. Calgary needs to win more faceoffs. The players also need to shoot the puck more. Shots can break down the defensive structure of a penalty kill and create havoc, which usually leads to scoring chances. In my opinion, the Flames’ power play has to get back to basics. Get pucks and bodies to the net. While that might sound overly simplistic, it’s exactly how the Sharks scored their power play goal on Thursday night.
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SWITCH-A-ROO
With his first line struggling at both ends of the ice on Thursday night, specifically in the defensive zone, head coach Glen Gulutzan decided to make a change in the second period. He swapped two left wingers, moving Johnny Gaudreau onto a line with Mark Jankowski and Garnet Hathaway, and Sam Bennett onto a unit with Sean Monahan and Micheal Ferland.
It worked. Both lines looked better for the rest of the night. Gaudreau not only played on the “third line,” he was regularly double-shifted with the fourth line, as well. He scored a goal and had a game-high six shots.
After the game, I asked assistant coach Paul Jerrard if the changes were temporary. He said yes. Even though they haven’t been as effective or productive of late, the Flames’ first line of Gaudreau, Monahan and Ferland has been one of the best lines in the NHL this season, while the threesome of Bennett, Jankowski and Hathaway has been building chemistry and has, at least on a few nights, been the team’s best.
While I would leave all four lines intact for the time being, what we saw in the second half of Thursday’s game gives the Flames some options on nights when things aren’t going their way or if they have to shake things up in the future.
IMPORTANT PRACTICE
Since I suspect that a significant portion of Friday’s practice at WinSport will be spent working on special teams, I’m anxious to see if there are any changes to the power play personnel. I’m also looking forward to seeing what the line combinations look like. Jaromir Jagr’s status for this weekend’s games against the Predators on Saturday and the Canucks on Sunday could impact both.
Jagr, who has missed the last five games with a lower-body injury, practiced with the team for the first time on Wednesday. While I would be surprised if Jagr played in both games this weekend, I think there’s a pretty good chance he plays in one of them. Gulutzan likes to put fresh legs in the lineup in the second-half of back-to-backs.
With the Flames hosting the Predators in Calgary on Saturday, my guess is if Jagr is cleared to play by the team’s medical staff, he’ll return to the lineup when the Flames visit the Canucks in Vancouver on Sunday.
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BIG WEEKEND
The Flames will play the defending Western Conference Champion Predators at home before wrapping up their second three-game in four-day stretch this month on the road versus the Canucks. After losing Thursday’s proverbial four-pointer, the Flames sit two points behind the Sharks in the fight for third place in the Pacific Division and a pair of points away from the Wild, Stars and Blackhawks, who are tied for the two Wild Card spots in the Western Conference.
While it feels way too early to be talking about playoff spots, points in December are just as valuable as points in April. Despite losing three of their last five games, all three of those losses were by one goal and two of them were in shootouts.
The Flames are actually playing some of their best hockey of the season right now. But with every team in the conference, except the Coyotes, still very much in the mix, Calgary has to start winning more than losing.
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