[Game Takes] Oilers 4 Flames 1

[Bingo]

Game Takes: Oilers 4 Flames 1

- Flames start slow or Oilers start quick; either way that did them in.
- Solid game again for Markstrom
- Flames showed up and played well in the last 50 minutes
- Tkachuk physical as hell
- Gaudreau extends point streak

[soulchoice]

Agreed. Derek Ryan has become a player I will openly cheer for no matter where he is. I am happy to eat crow on my initial disappointing feeling when he was signed. A fantastic bottom 6 player.

[Strange Brew]

Agree that Tkachuk and Gaudreau really showed up. Needed that from them all season long.

Ryan a nice little player for sure, maybe he will come back next year for $900K.

[1qqaaz]

It was nice to see Tkachuk being back to his extra-pesty self today.
Especially against the Oilers.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Man, I am 100% behind you on the Derek assessment

He is one of my favourite players. He doesn’t necessarily have elite skill, but is smart, agile, and utilizes his skill set to perfection

He plays so well in such an understated manner, and is completely trustworthy

It’s funny because it was first hand knowledge from Peters that got him here, typical Flames bungling that keeps him on the 4th line, and being in lame ass Calgary, the irony is that he got paid but probably gets less recognition for his true worth

[SeanCharles]

I’ve really liked the Tkachuk-Lindholm-Gaudreau line since it’s been put back together so I hope they are all here next season.

The big changes can be elsewhere throughout the lineup.

I think Ryan was some GMs backup plan and they spent pretty much right up until the deadline trying to get their main targets. Seems silly cause he could have been had for a 4th or later rd pick.

I was against the signing at the time but like Engelland my mind was changed in short order. I would re-sign him for short-term & cheap if it made sense after the rest of the moves we do.

[ricardodw]

A reality check is required for Ryan's worth to a playoff team.

He was on a playoff team 9 months ago and was not anything that you are now giving him credit for. Rieder who was also a UFA available for a 6th round pick had a much stronger playoff performance on the Flames 4th line.

Nordstrom has a better playoff record in his last 2 years with the Bruins 26 games than Ryan.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

A reality check is required for Ryan's worth to a playoff team.

He was on a playoff team 9 months ago and was not anything that you are now giving him credit for. Rieder who was also a UFA available for a 6th round pick had a much stronger playoff performance on the Flames 4th line.

Nordstrom has a better playoff record in his last 2 years with the Bruins 26 games than Ryan.

Ryan certainly wasn't great in last year's playoffs for sure. Though they put all the talent in the top nine and didn't give him a lot to work with.

He's certainly getting by without much talent this year.

But an actual reality check?

Flames forwards in the three years where Ryan as been in Calgary (1000+ minutes)

CA60 - 1st
SA60 - 1st
GA60 - 1st
xGA60 - 2nd
SCA60 - 1st
HDCA60 - 2nd

Very good defensive forward, elite defensively maybe. And certainly something playoff teams could use. This with a much larger sample size than your simple summary.

Expected goals against against all forwards in the league in his three years in Calgary? 24th out of 386 players.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Agree that Tkachuk and Gaudreau really showed up. Needed that from them all season long.

Ryan a nice little player for sure, maybe he will come back next year for $900K.

I think those two showed up. For one play. And Tkachuk got into two altercations. Other than that they had a lot of perimeter play. So did the rest of the team. I actually only thought Mangiapane and Lindholm were consistently good throughout the majority of the game. Except Lindy had a hole in his stick - he whiffed on a couple chances.

I thought it was a rare bad game out of Lucic.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I think those two showed up. For one play. And Tkachuk got into two altercations. Other than that they had a lot of perimeter play. So did the rest of the team. I actually only thought Mangiapane and Lindholm were consistently good throughout the majority of the game. Except Lindy had a hole in his stick - he whiffed on a couple chances.

I thought it was a rare bad game out of Lucic.

That might be a tad generous. Individually he is 14th in scoring chances for per 60 and 16th in high danger chances for per 60. On ice wise, he is 14th in high danger chances against per 60. At a minus 8, only worse forward is Backlund.

Lucis is a net negative out there even though he's obviously playing with effort and is having a physical impact.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

That might be a tad generous. Individually he is 14th in scoring chances for per 60 and 16th in high danger chances for per 60. On ice wise, he is 14th in high danger chances against per 60. At a minus 8, only worse forward is Backlund.

Lucis is a net negative out there even though he's obviously playing with effort and is having a physical impact.

I guess he made even less of a positive contribution then. He was not good on zone exits and wasn’t really physical. He’s usually good for a couple decent offensive plays but not last night. He needed to chase McDavid down for that stick in the face.

That said, it’s not like anyone else on the teams GAF meter seemed really high. Maybe Mangiapane, and for a while Dube was OK too. But Dube was saddled with Backlund, who couldn’t do anything right last night, and Lucic who was slow to react.

I did think Andersson had a good game. I thought the Monahan line overall was good in their own zone, but just couldn’t generate, outside of the one early chance. Ritchie is a bad fit. And the top line - people are liking it, but I think they are just remembering the one successful play. Outside of that I can’t think of a near miss on a quality chance ES.

Debrusk was praising the 4th line but I wasn’t too keen on them. Robinson is good at skating himself into the end boards with nowhere to go. Nordstrom was less physical than usual, and Ryan tried hard but his instincts were off.

The possession stats favour Calgary but they played such a perimeter game it didn’t matter