[bigrangy]

It was a pretty good result but a team really shouldn't need 3 powerplay goals to beat the 2016-17 Coyotes. The first 10 minutes might have been the worst ten minutes, effort-wise, of the season. It's good to see that someone was able to light a fire under the team for the 2nd and 3rd. Elliott was ok, and while he made some bad, bad mistakes, it's still a win, so hopefully he can build off of it.

Monahan was super casual for most of the game, and then he decides to run over Jooris for what looked like no reason. I'd like to know what got into him on that one. Douglas was fantastic again, the best d-man tonight imo. Ferland had some casual moments on the breakouts (which has been happening more than usual lately), but his line with Stajan and Hathaway pulled their weight.

The Flames took more big hits tonight than I think they have in any other game, which is concerning. Maybe they're a little out of it since they've been be playing so sparsely lately. Also, I can't recall any times that Gaudreau took as many hits as he did, especially the big ones (even if they were late). Usually he can see them coming from a mile away. It's probably not the easiest thing in the world to get up to play these Coyotes but a team with playoff aspirations needs to bring a better effort level than the Flames showed tonight imo.

Regardless, a win is a win. I'm looking forward to the Heat/Flames doubleheader tomorrow in San Jose. Should be a good pair of games.