A Tale of Two Cities... it was a great game, and it was an awful game.
Have the Flames really played great? Or were they awful, and stole 3 points? Truth is somewhere in the middle I think.
Toronto out-chanced and out-classed Calgary. Simple as that. If not for the heroics of Rittich, this team would have been feeling an incredible amount of heat right now.
I don't understand what is going on. Are the Flames trying to be an elite defensive team that ekes out 1-0 and 2-1 wins?
Goaltending has covered up a LOT of warts on this team this season so far. Montreal has played much better than Calgary, but Price not being elite any longer cost Julien his job. Ward better better be buying presents for Markstrom and Rittich right now.
This team seems to be converting to a much more defensive team, but they bleed chances. They are stifling themselves offensively. Sorry, but the last thing I want to see here is Devils hockey. It worked in the 90's, but it doesn't work any longer... just ask the Wild.
3/4 points is great - especially considering that Toronto has been on a bit of a roll this season so far, and the Flames historically do poorly there.
Great PK though - that's some serious PK'ing that they have done to earn those 3 points so far. Truly awesome stuff.
Rittich just unreal. I remember someone posting his stats sometime over the off-season, citing how strong he is on high danger chances, but terrible on the low-danger chances. I thought it was either a mental thing, or just small corrections needed. It looks like whatever it was, he is good at all shots. He has been fantastic.
I read Lebrun's tweet about Julien being relieved of his duties. It made some sense. He basically said that he didn't think it was an issue with effort in Montreal, but more so that the team looked confused.
I don't think Calgary is suffering from apathy or a lack of effort. They are just not executing properly as a team. Why? Rattled? Unable to play the system properly? Don't know the system well enough? I don't know, but they are giving up too much and not generating enough. Where would they be without Markstrom's huge games and Rittich's huge games?
I get it - Rittich and Markstrom are both part of the team, and there is no shame in them stealing some games. I agree with that statement 100%. However, it is not sustainable to expect them to be THAT good consistently game in and game out. Having to rely on your goalie to steal games too often is not a recipe for success - it is a recipe for disaster. It also ends up with your goalies getting worn out, and maybe even a bit shell-shocked like Edmonton does with their goalies.
Flames need to fix whatever is broken, and do it quickly. If Ward can't fix whatever is going on, then the Flames better find someone who can, or we can expect another mediocre season where the Flames don't make the playoffs, or just squeak in and get bounced in the first round again.
There were some positives. Any time you take 3/4 points is a positive in itself. It is the manner in which the Flames have been playing for a while that makes these 'steals' a bit disappointing.
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