[Game Takes] Flames 6 Oilers 4

[Bingo]

Game Takes: Flames 6 Oilers 4

- Markstrom saves their bacon early
- Backlund / Lucic / Mangiapane resurrects the game
- Gaudreau puts it away

Thanks you! After getting laid off I was tired of the Flames gloom!

[PaperBagger'14]

Love reading your articles, but instead of game takes, could you please call it "Bingo Connects the Dots"

[roberts10]

Nice write up, Bingo. I had the same thoughts on the Tanev/McDavid play. Tanev clearly touches the puck first before his stick follows through and causes the trip. I’ve always thought that negates a penalty.

[ricardodw]

Ward must of read my opinion on the quality of the replacement players and the ice time they should be getting.

He put the very best 9 forwards in the organization (outside of Pelletier) on the top 3 lines and rolled them.

Was that so hard to do?

Did the Flames officially trade Sam Bennett for Sammy Bennett? Promise the new guy, Sammy, a long term spot with with Monahan and Gaudreau?

More important was salary retained?

[calculoso]

However, given the ice time maybe Geoff Ward figured it out himself; through two periods Rinaldo had 1:32 of ice time and a game total of only 2:04.
So in my reach … does Zach Rinaldo have a motivational effect on the Flames when he’s dressed? So much to the extent that it’s worth literally stapling him to the bench and letting him watch?.

IMO Ronaldo was in the lineup in case things got hairy, for instance if Kassian started running around.


About the playing the puck/trip thing, I don’t think it was ever a written rule but more of an unwritten one around intent - player intending to play the puck, does play the puck, and gets the benefit of the doubt as a result. Not sure this is the way it should have been, but it is how it seemed to be.

[roberts10]

Hmm.

Obviously, it's a big win. Every game is a divisional game, so it helps get us back in the win column. It was kind of the perfect timing for this type of rivalry game - the Battle of Alberta and stuff like that. I know the guys that drew into the lineup with Froese and Rinaldo, they might not have played much, but they were huge in bringing some excitement and emotion to our team. That's important, and that's what those guys are all about. Especially Rinaldo, we thrived off his energy last year and he brought it again tonight. Everyone had an impact on the game and everyone stepped up when they needed to."

[TheSquatch]

In soccer, touching the ball is part of the rules. If you hit the ball, you can take a man down. If you miss the ball, it's a trip. Not sure about hockey, but that is a common way sports are called.

I thought lots of good happened, nice to see Backlund back from the dead, Lucic was a monster.

I feel like Mangiapane makes the players on his line better. That's huge.

Dube is for real a dangerous NHL-caliber winger. How wonderful!

I'm not sure if I should be screaming at a lack of system or praising Ward for fixing things between period one and two. I'm really confused about what the team's style and identity is, and concerned about how poor the zone exits looked. Scrambly and uncertain.

How nice is it that all the Edmonton fans are gnashing their teeth in anticipation of getting Smith back in net? LOL.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Ward must of read my opinion on the quality of the replacement players and the ice time they should be getting.

He put the very best 9 forwards in the organization (outside of Pelletier) on the top 3 lines and rolled them.

Was that so hard to do?

Did the Flames officially trade Sam Bennett for Sammy Bennett? Promise the new guy, Sammy, a long term spot with with Monahan and Gaudreau?

More important was salary retained?

Pelletier hasn't played a minute of professional hockey, you have no idea where he slots.

What are you using to deem the best? He went with a set of nine for sure, but given the way that Sam Bennett and to a lesser degree Dillon Dube has played this season I wouldn't say the nine best.

When it comes to play driving Leivo is 4th by xGF% and 1st in CF% ... puck just isn't going in when he's on the ice.

Simon is 9th in play driving ...

Bennett is 13th, Dube 12th.

You need Ryan to center the fourth line when he's healthy given the top three centers.

So last night I wouldn't say he dressed the best roster, or put the best players in the top nine.

[Red]

Surprised about Dube. He has had some good looks, but maybe it's just in spurs?

Thought he fared better.

[Enoch Root]

Sometimes those stats are out to lunch.

Dube has been one of the 6 best forwards this year, never mind 9 best.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Ward must of read my opinion on the quality of the replacement players and the ice time they should be getting.

I can assure you that this did not happen.

[Red]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Sometimes those stats are out to lunch.

Dube has been one of the 6 best forwards this year, never mind 9 best.

Dube has hustle so he gets noticed, but it's possible that he is ineffective for most of that hustle. I couldn't tell one way or another to be honest and I don't know want those stats actually look for.

My eye says that Dube has been better than Leivo for one.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Red

Dube has hustle so he gets noticed, but it's possible that he is ineffective for most of that hustle. I couldn't tell one way or another to be honest and I don't know want those stats actually look for.

My eye says that Dube has been better than Leivo for one.

IMO, the hustle alone puts him in the top 6 for this season so far.

I think that only Gaudreau, Monahan and Lindholm have been better to this point.

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by Bingo

So last night I wouldn't say he dressed the best roster, or put the best players in the top nine.

Appreciate the article, and advanced stats.

I was enjoying the game with a few pops, which accentuated my “analysis”, of Nordstrom.

What’s your take on him?

[Sylvanfan]

In Dube's case it's still a small sample size still. But the eye test would say he's been much more dangerous on the Power play than at even strength thus far. If they can get him into a regular rotation with Lindholm and Tkachuck I do think those numbers will come up a fair bit.

The Monahan line didn't do well at all for the first two periods seeming losing to the super trio or Real deal, Jar jar Khara, and Caveman Kasian on every shift. But they did salvage the night by getting the two goals in the third that proved to be the difference in the game.

It's not path to long term success but when the Flames deploy Backlund as their #2 Center they seem to do their best. Last night he seemed quite effective all night long, and Mangiapane was also on his game too, which made that duo very good. Seems like if you can get Backlund with a tenacious guy who's

Something that I didn't see touched on was Hanifin playing his 400th career game already last night. He's about 11 days North of his 24th birthday and he'd be closer to 450 possibly if not for the Pandemic. I don't think the offensive part of his game is going to develop they way we hope. To me he's not particularly good at shooting the puck. But he's developed into a pretty solid defender and it looks like he'll be one of those guys who easily plays till he's 38 and be close to 1500 games played.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Good write up. Always one of my favourite post game reads

I think one thing that gets missed in the whole crease crash story is just how Oileresque it is. The Oilers were on the power play. They are up 5 guys to 4 and McDavid decides that rather than gain the zone and use the man advantage, that’s the time to try and beat the Flames 1 on 4. He is a selfish player.

And then giving him a 6 minute shift to end the game does nothing to make him think he should be otherwise.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Bingo

And what a case in point tonight. The team wasn’t ready to play.

They scored first which should have been the start they needed, but then it was gaff after gaff, silly penalty after silly penalty … no jam at all.

I agree with this, but I also thought that first call on Tkachuk was nonsense. It looked to really throw the team out of their groove, but you are right: they need to be significantly more mentally resilient to overcome these sorts of bad breaks.

Also, on the McDavid crash, I don't think any of the officials could possibly have noticed the trip by Giordano in real time, but I also wonder if they were determined about the goaltender interference call just on the basis of how dangerous that play is. It's great for McDavid that he can skate like that, but the way I look at it, he should also be expected to shoulder the responsibility for that gift, and to suffer the consequences when he badly endangers everyone else with it.

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

Appreciate the article, and advanced stats.

I was enjoying the game with a few pops, which accentuated my “analysis”, of Nordstrom.

What’s your take on him?

Nordstrom isn't an NHL player to be honest. But he has an aggressive nature when killing penalties that makes him excellent in that alone.

Dube ...

His negative trend this season is creating less than he's giving up when on the ice. His shot attempts splits are fine, but his scoring chance exchange is in the red.

Why? Not taking the puck to the net? Not going to the net himself would do it.

I'm going to watch though.

Could just be a mismatch ... Dube without Tkachuk and Lindholm is 68% xGF, and Tkachuk and Lindholm without Dube are 73%. Together they are 40%.

Some have suggested Dube with Gaudreau and Monahan. Might be worth a look.

[Jiri Hrdina]

My read on Dube has been
- His offensive skills have been better than I expected
- His two-way and defensive play have been worse

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Nordstrom isn't an NHL player to be honest. But he has an aggressive nature when killing penalties that makes him excellent in that alone.

Dube ...

His negative trend this season is creating less than he's giving up when on the ice. His shot attempts splits are fine, but his scoring chance exchange is in the red.

Why? Not taking the puck to the net? Not going to the net himself would do it.

I'm going to watch though.

Could just be a mismatch ... Dube without Tkachuk and Lindholm is 68% xGF, and Tkachuk and Lindholm without Dube are 73%. Together they are 40%.

Some have suggested Dube with Gaudreau and Monahan. Might be worth a look.

Oh, I know. How about Dube with Bennett and Lucic?

Just kidding, there are other threads for that