[PGT] Flames beat Islanders 4-1

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

I wonder if the righty lefty plays are a part in it. Prior to Toffoli it was all left hand shots with just Lindholm and Andersson.

I'm not sure if this is accurate but it seems like a lot of the top units have more left shots?

Something like 70% of all players shoot left, so there are going to be more lefties on the PP. I don't think that makes lefties more effective though. But I do think that the guys on either side should be playing on their off wing, it is just so much easier to get a shot off, especially a one-timer, from the off wing.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

Which is great because we really need him. We need our depth to be relevant and not floating around disinterested like he was the first 30 games.

But this is Coleman amping up for the playoffs. I have no doubt that his earlier disappointing returns has mostly to due with how he approaches and plays through a season, like the savvy, multiple Stanley Cup winning veteran he is. Coleman is running a marathon, not a sprint.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Yes, I knew what you were trying to say, but had to make fun of what you actually posted.

And yes, the Flames record, when posting 40+ shots, is terrible, and when registering less than 30 shots, is really good. This is obviously counter-intuitive, but actually isn't as uncommon or off-kilter as it appears. If you look at games where a team (any team) posts 50+ shots, the records of those teams is shockingly bad. I remember one year where it happened 8 times, and that team lost 7 of those games. And I don't think that year was any great anomaly.

Maybe biased recollection but to me a lot of the low shot count games were ones where they stifled the opposition for a long time but then let a breakaway or two on one be the first thing the goalie faced. And that pattern then continued thru the game.

[Classic_Sniper]

Solid win by the team last night with all 4 lines contributing in some fashion. Thought the Islanders slept through the 1st and blew quite a few golden opportunities that could’ve made the game more interesting. But overall, the team played well overall and the win was deserved. Markstrom made some pivotal saves, so that was encouraging to see. In the end, nice of the team to give the fanbase a game where we’re not on the edge of our seats living or dying on every goal that’s scored.

In terms of the PP talk. I thought they tried a few different looks yesterday and I’m not sure it helped much. We’ve got the same coaches and systems from last year that made the powerplay top 10 in the league and we still have 3 out of the same 5 from last year’s PP1 unit. Obviously, the big 2 that are missing are Gaudreau and Tkachuk which are huge losses because they both were dynamite on the PP.

But in my opinion, if the team wants to try to at least replicate some of the success they had last season, they need that one timer from Lindholm to get going. Last season, Tkachuk was so good down low at making goaltenders guess depending on what the opposition took away. He would either drive it hard to the net himself or if Lindholm was open in the slot, one touch pass to Lindholm and bang, one timer from the slot. Gaudreau also did a great job on the flank. He was shooting more to keep defensemen honest, but he also drew a lot of defenders his way which opened up a myriad of other opportunities and also, he was great at finding Lindholm open for that dangerous seam pass.

If this PP can establish a credible threat somewhere, then that should open up opportunities elsewhere when the defenders start to cheat. But sadly, that’s not happening, they’re too easy to defend everywhere right now, in the slot, side of the net and on the flank. The best powerplays in the league make the opposition defense work, they keep them guessing and create a ton of chaos in their structure. But with the Flames, there’s no havoc, the opposition just sets up camp and is never under any duress because there’s no threat anywhere, it’s all telegraphed, they just sort of pass it around and shoot low percentage shots. It just looks like a 26th ranked powerplay right now and that’s exactly where they currently sit, 26th.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Toffolis dog died not sure if she was sick but might be a reason for a quiet night. All they posts seems show he was really attached to the dog.

[Manhattanboy]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

Toffolis dog died not sure if she was sick but might be a reason for a quiet night. All they posts seems show he was really attached to the dog.

Ya that’s not easy. So many things can affect performance. I got a really annoying email from my ex yesterday out of the blue and it derailed my whole night. The brain is a funny thing.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Manhattanboy

Ya that’s not easy. So many things can affect performance. I got a really annoying email from my ex yesterday out of the blue and it derailed my whole night. The brain is a funny thing.

Same thing happened with Lindholm to start the season everyone said he was bad turns out his wife was pregnant considering she has two miscarriage during covid you can see why he would be a bit distracted.