[PGT] Coilers 4, Flames 3: End of preseason

[direwolf]

Excellent 1st.
Ugly 2nd.
Decent 3rd.

The young guys looked good, and the PP was great during their first couple of chances.

The vets looked like they were half asleep through most of that game, which is normal for preseason, so no biggie.

The PK and Smith were the goats. Hopefully a couple of good solid practices over the next 3 days will help iron out the kinks before Wednesday.

Put Monahan and Neal in that game, and I'm betting the PP would have connected more.

[JurassicTunga12]

Flames were the better team. 5 on 5 especially. Special teams did them in.

-More often than not, gotta bear down and put the puck in the net on some of the grade A chances the Flames are getting. last year they just couldn't do it and sh% took a hit.
-Improve PP and PK
-Goaltending can be be better
-More consistency throughout the game.

[topfiverecords]

Congratulations Edmonton on winning the Preseason Cup Final and leading all of the scoring titles. Raise your banner proudly!

[Manhattanboy]

Oilers stream was way better than a SN broadcast. Multiple camera angles, shots from above on PP etc.

Now back to SN garbage for the regular season.

[Flash Walken]

Rasmus played himself off the team IMO.

[Enoch Root]

I found it interesting that the Oilers played McDavid against the Jankowski line and McDavid was invisible throughout (5 on 5). Janko, Bennett and Czarnik did a really good job against the McDavid line.

[MisterJoji]

That team is going to live and die by McDavid and Talbot. Doubled up their SOG’s but still lost. Also here’s some standings from last year’s preseason standings (division place):

Edmonton (1st)
Chicago (2nd)
Islanders (1st)
Vancouver (2nd)
Florida (2nd)
Carolina (3rd)

Winnipeg (7th)
Washington (8th)
Pittsburgh (7th)
Nashville (5th)
San Jose (5th)
Tampa (6th)

Let those losers have their preseason banner. Turned out so well last year.

[Enoch Root]

I thought Dube, Mangiapane and Valimaki all played well and made the Flames' decisions tough.

I think Andersson and Valimaki are both ahead of Kulak right now.

[CaptainYooh]

I think the verdict is clear on Anderson and Mangiapane: not ready for NHL yet. Dube - borderline yes.

[Manhattanboy]

I would like to see Dube make the team.

[Phaneufenstein]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

I think the verdict is clear on Anderson and Mangiapane: not ready for NHL yet. Dube - borderline yes.

I'm also a fan of Anders Rasmussen

[1qqaaz]

It seems like the Flames' goalies only averaged about 87% or so during the pre-season. Gillies and Parsons are probably the only ones over 90.0% and even they weren't fantastic by any means.

But with that said, goalies around the league tend to struggle throughout the pre-season. It's likely a result of sloppy defense and rust. Holtby has been awful so far in the games he has appeared in. Do I think the Capitals have a goaltending problem? No.

I don't put much, if any, weight on the preseason performances of goaltenders. It's such a small and weird sample size.

As for today, my main concern was the penalty kill. Hopefully they work these glitches out in practice.
At some point, the Flames should hopefully become better at containing the Oilers' top line.
The Oiler's top players are still young and unpredictable, but eventually a good Flames coach should learned how to mitigate their threats.

Today was one of the worst games I've seen from Tkachuk in ages. I wonder if there was a lingering injury that affected his play. Hopefully he's not out for long, if at all.
I agree with those saying that Andersson and Mangiapane did not play as well as Dube and Valimaki.
Andersson has a large track record of consistency, so I could see him still beating out Valimaki, who is quite raw.
Dube has outplayed Mangiapane for the whole of the pre-season. Dube has earned it IMO.

[Enoch Root]

Loubo saying he thinks there is no way they can leave Dube off the team. I agree. He is an NHLer. Not only is he a really smart player, but he creates things with his speed. He isn't just good, he is dynamic. And for that reason, I think he needs to be in Vancouver on Wednesday.

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

...
I think Andersson and Valimaki are both ahead of Kulak right now.

I disagree. Kulak is more mature and better than both of these kids. Safer bet for a 6thD.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

I only saw half the game but here's a few thoughts on the battles.

Andersson struggled a bit in the part I watched particularly when retrieving pucks in his corner and trying to evade the EDM forecheck. He definitely looked out of place as a top 4 guy IMO. With the depth on RHD I don't think he wins a job unless he looked like a top 4 guy. I'd send him down and keep Stone/Prout for now. Injuries are inevitable and that depth is great.

Valimaki looked decent. I think he has a better chance than Andersson of winning a job because there's a lot less depth on LHD. Valimaki basically only competing against Kulak. I think it certainly wouldn't hurt for him to start the year in Stockton but I could see it going either way. I think he'll be fine either way. Top pairing minutes in all situations in the AHL or coming along slowly on the 3rd pairing with Stone/Prout.

Dube I think has made the team. His speed and smarts are NHL calibre. He's versatile playing both centre and wing. His speed is a huge asset in today's NHL. Our team needed to get a bit faster up front. Dube, Czarnik, Ryan, Lindholm all are good to great skaters.

Mangiapane I don't think did quite enough. But I think he impressed and would be the first recall if a skilled forward was injured. It doesn't hurt for him to go down and dominate the AHL for a bit. Injuries are inevitable.

Gaudreau-Monahan-Lindholm
Tkachuk-Backlund-Neal
Bennett-Jankowski-Czarnik
Dube-Ryan-Frolik
Lazar-Hathaway

Giordano-Brodie
Hanifin-Hamonic
Kulak-Stone
Prout

Smith
Rittich

is how I'd start the year.

[direwolf]

I think Dube makes the team.

[Royle9]

Originally Posted by direwolf

I think Dube makes the team.

My body is ready and so is my wallet

[topfiverecords]

I will be seriously displeased if Dube isn’t on the opening roster and Lazar is.

Andersson hasn’t made the team. I don’t think there’s room for Mangiapane. Valimaki has been good but I’m not sure you need to rush him. Just start with Stone-Kulak and play Prout a few games early.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

It seems like the Flames' goalies only averaged about 87% or so during the pre-season. Gillies and Parsons are probably the only ones over 90.0% and even they weren't fantastic by any means.

But with that said, goalies around the league tend to struggle throughout the pre-season. It's likely a result of sloppy defense and rust. Holtby has been awful so far in the games he has appeared in. Do I think the Capitals have a goaltending problem? No.

I don't put much, if any, weight on the preseason performances of goaltenders. It's such a small and weird sample size.

As for today, my main concern was the penalty kill. Hopefully they work these glitches out in practice.
At some point, the Flames should hopefully become better at containing the Oilers' top line.
The Oiler's top players are still young and unpredictable, but eventually a good Flames coach should learned how to mitigate their threats.

Today was one of the worst games I've seen from Tkachuk in ages. I wonder if there was a lingering injury that affected his play. Hopefully he's not out for long, if at all.

The PK has been fantastic for the entire pre-season. A couple bounces tonight went the Oilers' way, but I am not at all worried personally.

[GranteedEV]

I didn't like our power play (still too much reliance on slow wristers rather than one-time slap shots, very Gulutzan-esque), and I'm not sure Peters is all that great at micro-managing a game (compared to guys like Laviolette, Hartley, Quennville - he's definitely an upgrade on Gulutzan though).



Can we fire Sigalet yet?