The good:
Flames pushed the pace a lot.
Smith was good.
Ferland was riled-up and not taking crap from anyone.
Flames protected Smith with all those late whistles - nice to see.
Brouwer sticking up for Hathaway without hesitation.
Flames were playing some pretty good D.
The Bad.
Zero goals.
Zero goals on 5 pps.
Zero goals even with a 5 on 3 PP.
Yes, they hit 4 goal posts. Those are misses. The Flames either shot wide or they shot it right at Rinne's crest (or head one time).
They need to start generating more offence at home-plate. That's the problem. They need to start jamming the net. Get some greasy goals. Move around a lot more on the PPs, pass the puck a bit more (and I mean more than just back and forth between two players). They are predictable on the PP.
Want to fix the PP? Get some guys in front of the net, shoot the puck on net, and use the man advantage to get a greasy goal.
Next PP I would love to see the following on the 2nd unit:
Bennett - Jagr - Ferland
Giordano - Brodie
Brodie can make great passes to the forwards, Giordano does have a nice shot that has to be respected, thus pulling at least one forward towards him, and just get a puck on net and have Bennett, Jagr and Ferland jamming away at it. Simple greasy pressure.
These perimeter shots are only making the players clutch their sticks harder and lose confidence. It seems like everyone's shot is a bit off right now. Simplify the game, and let the natural talent of the team take over. Get this team to battle more in front of the net.
1st unit PP should be:
Gaudreau - Monahan - Tkachuk - Jankowski
Hamilton
Tkachuk right in front of the goalie. Jankowski right at the side of the net. Monahan circling in the slot, puck on Gaudreau's stick, and Hamilton ready to tee-off. Jankowski can retrieve pucks along the boards - he can skate well, has a long reach, and great IQ, and he can also make great passes. He can be set for a tap-in as well, and if it misses, hopefully Tkachuk can get a greasy goal.
Last thing I want to see on a PP is what I saw for a while - puck carrier behind the net, one guy 10 feet away and covered the left of the goalie, another guy 10 feet away and covered, and two players playing the point at the blueline. Everyone standing still. Exactly how are you supposed to score there?
Simplify the PP. Just attack the net and use the man-advantage. Just battle more.
5 on 5 I felt the Flames did really well, but the 2nd period was a gong-show. I felt they got severely out-played and out-muscled by Nashville. Nashville turned it up, and I saw a team that was almost rattled for a long stretch.
They are just playing too much of a perimeter game at the moment. I don't know if that is a symptom from the system - maybe too worried about coverage on D? Maybe they are just wanting to get that perfect shot in? Maybe they are just second-guessing everything out there and it completely slows the PP down.
Gaudreau is losing the puck too often now too. Monahan's elite shot has become as effective as Brouwer's lately. I am betting this is a symptom of just losing some confidence and being a bit rattled.
It is really difficult to criticize them for playing an otherwise really good game. I anticipated Nashville being the team that would be pushing the pace more in this game, but the Flames really controlled play, especially in the first period. I thought they really started well, finished-up decently, but the 2nd (or at least, a long stretch in the 2nd) was the game. They are not getting the job done on the PP, and they are not generating enough high-danger chances 5 on 5. Now, I have no idea what the actual number of high-danger chances were, but it seems like to me that not all high-danger chances are actually high-danger. I want more 2nd and 3rd and 4th chances off a shot from in-tight. Scramble plays. Just attack the crease more to generate chances. That's what I mean in this case of not generating enough high-danger quality chances, ignoring for a moment what the analytics community records what a high-danger chance was.
You can't fire a coach when the team is playing this well otherwise. Nobody can look at this team and say: "They aren't playing well" right now. However, nobody can look at this team and say: "The coach isn't on the hot seat" or "the coach is safe". A loss is a loss is a loss. Flames are 5th worst in the west, they own a -10 goal differential, and they are losing ground, not gaining. Anaheim with all their injury woes are a point up on the Flames now. That is a team that has been missing huge parts of their team, not just injuries to replacement level players. Their top players have been rotating out of the lineup for long stretches, and yet they are sitting a point ahead of the incredibly healthy Flames.
At some point, something has to give. Something needs to change. Something has to be done. It is not ok to play well and lose for a long stretch. You also can't pull the plug on something too soon when it LOOKS like the team is playing well. Tough job for Treliving here. You don't want to make a knee-jerk trade. You don't want to fire a coach when the team overall seems to be playing effectively. You also can't sit on your hands and just keep watching these losses add up either, especially when the Flames have already traded away their participation ribbon at the start of the season (their draft pick).
They need to start getting the wins, regardless of what the CORSI numbers are, regardless of how well they look like, regardless of how much they out-play the other team. If they keep doing this, changes will be made, for better or for worse.
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