[PGT] 12 straight opening night losses

[djsFlames]

It would be somewhat bold, but giving Captain Canada the C would be a savvy move by the coach and team.

He showed his chops at the WJCs and WCs. I think all the qualities are there.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Meh. I'm feeling indifferent about eichel. Make mangiapane captain and trade everything else of value. Then hope we get Wright or Bedard over the next few years. I think that would be best.

As a fan of a team without a true gamebreaker, you should feel something about it.

Because you know deep down the team will not do your latter suggestion and will not draft in that range. Not with Sutter at the helm. Not even without him there.

[SuperMatt18]

I thought the game was promising.

Flames by far the better team at 5v5 and played with sound structure most of the night. Some bad bounces and a bad mistake by Tanev and Zadorov after we made it 3-2 was the difference.

Overall you could see why they brought in some of the depth players they did, as the seemed to fit the roles that Sutter wanted them to fill perfectly. It’s too bad that Coleman and Pitlick were out because they would have helped balance the top 9, and are meant to be big parts of the PK too.

Lots of complaints about our top forwards but they were all over 70% xGF at 5v5…the points will come if they keep that up.

Also outside of the Powerplay the Flames handled McDavid at 5v5. 29% xGF, 3 shots, and 1 high danger chance. He burned them on the PP and then an empty netter.

Biggest concern to me is the Zadorov-Tanev pair, who both really struggled at times tonight and were 25% xGF as a pair.

Also in 2:21 seconds with Kylington at 5v5 the team looked great, don’t understand what the coaches are seeing over the last 10 days that seemed to drop him out of favour.

Overall it felt like a typical Flames season opener on the road.

[Jimdon]

Well here we are after game 1. Our elite goalie ended up with a save percentage that starts with an 8. Our three "bounce back" forwards that were so eager to prove themselves combined for zero goals and our new revamped bottom Six and defense that win or lose were supposed make life difficult for the other team didn't accomplish anything other than getting the best seats in the house for another McDavid hat trick.

Atomic clocks aren't this predictable.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by Robbob

Credit where credit is due. Elliott showing the Andersson didn't headbutt Yamamoto.

The best thing for the Flames is that he is suspended for 4 games and give Kylington his minutes.

Andersson played like hot garbage tonight.

[djsFlames]

Agreed. Moral victories aplenty but end of the day, same script as the last couple years.

Use your offseason to make half measure solutions, expect largely the same results.

Now, Sutter is absolutely a factor in potentially instilling an approach that brings better results over time, but his work will take the whole 82 to show its progress and it still may not be enough with the lack of elite level talent in the room.

We do need Markstrom to play like a top ten goalie for us. That's the contract he was signed to.

[flamesforcup]

Flames need Eichal

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

I’d keep Richie in over Backlund. Backlund’s just not interested to be out there anymore. Laziest player on the team by a country mile. Was the worst player on the ice tonight. Maybe Lucic I dunno.

I have said it before, this is Backlund every year to start. Then at the halfway point he will go from 4th line plug ability to first line C. It is maddening how streaky the guy is.

[Britflamesfan]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I have said it before, this is Backlund every year to start. Then at the halfway point he will go from 4th line plug ability to first line C. It is maddening how streaky the guy is.

Sadly that's simply not good enough for a professional player who should be ready to go from game one not game 42. Excepting this sort of professionalism is the reason the club never moves forward. Its like JG, every summer everybody forgets how he will always disappear when the games are physical. All is forgiven, almost. Well last night was another physical game and he promptly did his disappearing act again as did Mony. No way we are winning the Stanley Cup with these two as part of the Core. If you are happy to be a middling team you keep them, but if you want to win it all I am sorry they have to go, especially JG if he is costing 9M+ a year.

[Patek23]

Originally Posted by saillias

I've seen enough of the Flames running up the shot metrics and lose to not get impressed by this. The last Flames team that was poor analytically was Hartley.

The Flames are great at doing the things that make the models and metrics print high percentages. bad at converting those to wins. nothing new there. been the story since Gulutzan.

You might even go so far as to say all those numbers are meaningless.....

But hey guys! We won the Corsi!

[Huntingwhale]

It's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.

[btimbit]

Flames were the better team, I'm happy enough with that. Take less penalties next time

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Lindholm scored one of the two goals and Tkachuk assisted on it and had 8 shots

Somehow Dube was better?

Even though lindholm scored I thought he was one of the worst forwards tonight. I thought Tkachuk played well.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

As much as it pains me to say this, Edmonton is probably one of the best teams in the West this year, at least based on talent. I think they're deeply flawed when it comes to the playoffs, but in the regular season they're going to win a lot of games. I think the only teams that are better are Colorado and Vegas when healthy. Their top end talent can break a game that's close, or help them win even when they aren't carrying the play.

That's what happened last night. It's probably something you're going to see a lot of this year with Edmonton. They'll look bad winning many nights. That's why they'll lose easily in the playoffs, but in the regular season, you can win a lot of games simply by having McDavid and Draisaitl, and a lethal power play.

Fear not, intrepid Flames fans, this team is actually quite competitive, even if we don't have a comparable top end talent. There are few teams in the league that do, so we can't stress about that too much. What you want to see is exactly what we saw last night. Cohesive play, drive possession in the offensive end, especially 5 on 5, physical responses and camaraderie, and timely goal scoring. The only thing missing was the last point, and I think that's due to it being game 1. They had chances, but couldn't bury them. They fumbled the puck a lot more than you would normally see in an NHL game. That's just rust of not playing for over a week as well.

I suspect that they will actually be solidly in a playoff spot by the time the year is over, just a hunch. I don't know what happens from there, but job one is getting to the playoffs, and this team is good enough to do it, especially in a weak Pacific.

[Roof-Daddy]

I watched the 1st period and the Flames were all over the oilers, then two unlucky bounces and it was 2-0.

Not sure how the rest of the game went, I went to bed.

[BagoPucks]

I thought the flames were calmer in the last 2 periods but they also were less physical. Lots of garbage passing in their own and neutral zone

[Poe969]

Rinse and repeat.

Every year we hear the same things from the players, management, and most fans: if they play like this every night, they'll win more than they lose.

It's BS, and the reason you can tell it's BS is the same end of year results most every year. You need at least 1 dominant #1C to be a good team. This team doesn't have that. You need your best players to be your best players more often than not, you need your goalie to steal more games than he costs. You need young players and prospect who can step up and steal important roster spots. You need a team that plays like they have to win at all costs.

I watched the Sabres vs. Coyotes and they are both bad teams who won't make the playoffs. The Flames are way better than those teams. I watched the lightning vs. Caps and the Flames are nowhere near as good as them. This team is what it has been for years and is what it will be for years until something drastically changes.

If nothing major changes, this team will be drafting in the mid teens again.

[Lanny_McDonald]

I have a sneaking suspicion this is going to be a year of moral victories. The Flames will be analytic darlings and try really hard, but like this one, come up short more often than not. Most games will be a race to three. The first team to get to three goals will win the game, because that seems to be the top end for the Flames scoring. The onus is on the defense and goaltending.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Tkachuk was great tonight. So was Gudbranson, incredibly.

They need to split Tanev and Zadorov, that pairing is a recipe for disaster.

That will be Grossman's best game as a Flame. He was much better than expected.

[BagoPucks]

Just watched Sutter postgame, calls out Monahan at the end.