[PGT] Flames 4 - Stars 5

[Yoho]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Please hockey gods, let Seattle take Giordano from us in the expansion draft

I was thinking Backlund.

[SportsJunky]

I like what Gio had to say last night.

“They played a good game,” said Giordano. “They’re a hard-working team. We fought hard and battled all night. I thought we did a good job to get it tied there. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it into overtime.

“Listen, it was 4-4 with a minute left. I thought a lot of guys deserved a lot of credit for getting us back into that game. It didn’t go our way at the end.”

It wasn't easy to get it tied up at 4-4. There was a blown assignment (according to Ward) that led to the winning goal but lets not gloss over how hard Calgary battled to get back into it.

[sa226]

Can this team go on a run without Gaudreau playing a large role? Or Monahan for that matter.

On the one hand he is just lacking the tenacity on the puck that made him so good in years past . He could cause turnovers with his speed and tenacity on the forecheck. Its just not there and I don't get it. It like his whole game needs to be rebuilt.

My only solution is to put him with players that can create space for him. Ie: Lucic and Bennett. Then play Dube with Monahan.

Anecdotally some of the best shifts I've seen from Monahan has been off weird line changes or something that results in hime on the ice with players other than Gaudreau and Lindholm.

Its tough when your middle six forwards are playing quite well, you don't want to mess with that. Monahan Gaudreau and Lindholm have been no shows 5on5 that can't continue if they want to win a round or two. Maybe if Tkachuk is out for a bit, it gives them the opportunity to tinker with the lines a bit.

As for Gio, I just don't know. Over the course of this season he looked like a guy who recognized that he no longer has the quickness he once had and was settling into more of a cerebral, positional type game. Right now he is struggling.

Sent from my SM-G973W using Tapatalk

[Saqe]

Just pure speculation but maybe the slashes on the wrists finally caught up with Gaudreau? I mean he can't hold on to the puck even close the way he did before.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Dion

I wonder if father time is catching up on him. He seemed to be a step behind the play all night.

Gio lost a step before these playoffs began. The intensity of playoffs only exposes that fact.

[Red_Baron]

Giordano looks hurt and Brodie had one of those games where he makes one nice move, then immediately tries another higher risk move and fails.

Gaudreau just hasn't been sharp with his passing. He carries the puck over the blue line, goes down the left side, passes it across the top of the circle, and the puck is back in the neutral zone. Seems to happen 4-5 times per game so far in the series. Sure would be nice to see him somewhere else in the offensive zone rather than just on the left side between the faceoff dot and the boards-and deeper in the zone than the faceoff dot as well.

[IliketoPuck]

Originally Posted by AC

Woof, Johnny. Abysmal defensive awareness in a tie game late.

Not defending Johnny, as I agree he needed to have his man.

But what is Forbort doing with his stick in that situation, exactly? Andersson has Pavelski, so Forbort either needs to close the gap on Perry to force him wide, or at least have his stick in the cross ice passing lane.

[Roof-Daddy]

I get the sinking feeling that Treliving better trade Gaudreau before its too late and his value plummets to the lowest it's ever been. I mean, what is wrong with the guy?

Also, having a (soon to be) 37 year old #1 dman eating up $6.75 million of cap space is not a recipe for future success when you can't really afford to sign or re-sign another top 4 Dman.

Man this #### really pisses me off.

The depth of this team is finally starting to look legit but now the top end has gone almost completely MIA. And now Tkachuk is probably toast. What a joke this team is. It's always gotta be something with them.

[868904]

The majority of the first lines goals are from off the rush plays or Gaudreau finding Monahan or Lindholm in the slot, those kind of goals don’t happen in the playoffs.

Teams have clued in that if you cover Monahan in the high slot and let Gaudreau run in the perimeter waiting for Monahan to get open, you pretty much nullify that line.

They need to simplify their game, don’t look for the fancy play, take what the opposition gives you. If they will let Gaudreau run on the perimeter than do take that and put hard low shots on the goalie from whatever angle you want and hope that Monahan gets the rebound. It’ll be 50/50 that Monahan gets to it but that’s better than the 0% chances right now. Gaudreau just needs to put shots on net and have Monahan at net front to tip or bang in rebounds. That should be what they are looking for because the opposition know not to give Monahan the high slot cause that’s where he is most dangerous. Create havoc in front of the opposition net, score the garbage goals, pay the price, it’s playoff hockey. Furthermore, they should have Lindholm at the high slot waiting for a rebound and also in position to defend if the puck goes the other way.

To borrow a Raptors thing, Garbage man gets paid!

[Calgary4LIfe]

I think the top line is having a tough time scoring because that line is not a 'dump and chase' line. When was Gaudreau and Monahan really effective? When they are scoring off the rush, IMO. I don't think either one of them - or even the top line in general - are very effective playing along the boards. They are better at it then before, but they don't generate anything at all. Ward needs to adjust that line's utilization, IMO. The rest of the team is playing fine along the boards, but not the top line. You can make an argument that Gaudreau no longer fits on the team because of it, but he is on the team right now in the playoffs, and Ward needs to get him off the boards and get the puck into his hands sooner, and have defencemen joining the rush to give him options. That's when Johnny is most effective, IMO.


Something has to change. This team is not going to go very far with a top line that is completely neutered offensively. You can win games without your best players, but it is tough to win a series - especially against good teams.


I don't know... you put up 4 goals and that should be enough, especially considering one goal got called back on top of it. Talbot hasn't looked very good, and neither did Bishop. The defence looked terrible - both defencemen and forwards turning the puck over or not picking up the right guys. It was just a disjointed looking team for the most part, and Dallas was as well.


Refs were bad - I usually expect bad calls now and then, but it seemed there was a lot of stuff that wasn't called (sometimes by either team, but I thought Dallas got away with more), and then Bennett got called for that? Even worse, the penalty on Giordano when battling Benn? There was a tonne of egregious penalties not called, but those are? I was surprised when they called the Radulov penalty on Giordano - I actually thought that Giordano was going to get called, and I think Giordano thought he was going to be called as well.


I really think that Calgary should open up the ice more for the top line and do their best to get them off their boards, and see if that helps. They haven't been digging many pucks out of the corners. When you see numbers like that from the top line - both raw scoring stats and the advanced metrics - but your players aren't hurt, obviously care enough to be playing hockey in the playoffs and are at least obviously putting the effort in defensively (aside from the game winning goal, but that's more of a mental mistake than an effort - and in all fairness, almost every player on the prior shift and almost every player on that particular shift were atrocious defensively) - you have to figure that it is something else. Unless they are playing through injuries (which it doesn't look like to me - Bennett does, but not anyone on the top line that I noticed), then I think it is the deployment/system.


The talent is obviously there on the top line. The effort is there (you have to really have a hate on to think that the top line hasn't been giving it a good effort). There are no apparent injuries. They were already having a down year in the regular season. I just think if I am Ward, I am going to look at how that top line scored often in the past - starting from whenever the Flames gained the puck in their own zone.


That's a line that is built to score off the rush, and they are not rushing, and so they are not scoring. That's what makes sense to me, anyway. It looks like none of them are playing with any confidence either, but even if players don't play with confidence, they at least can have decent underlying offensive metrics, not practically non-existent ones. My best is the system that the top line is playing under - I think you can tweak how the top line operates to better play to their strengths - Gaudreau along the boards is not a strength.

[Royle9]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

I like what Gio had to say last night.

It wasn't easy to get it tied up at 4-4. There was a blown assignment (according to Ward) that led to the winning goal but lets not gloss over how hard Calgary battled to get back into it.

I mean he said what anyone of them would say, its kind of cliche at this point. We've heard the same song and dance for 3 early playoff exits now.
I cant speak for you, but I'm honestly tired of hearing it. Talk the talk but now walk the walk, show us how desperate and determined you are to win a cup.

Gio certainly didn't battle back personally, liability all night.
They say the same thing all the time, the fact remains that the 3rd line is carrying this team and very few players including our #1 Dman and our #1 line have even been relevant in the post season.

Would have been nice to see Gio stick up for himself at the end of the 2nd period and lay some fists on the cheap hit Seguin gave him, at least then he'd look engaged and show his teammates he's ready to put in the work.

Instead he stood up and shrugged it off.
Hell as the CAPTAIN maybe even give Benn a talking to and rough him up a bit for the cheap shot on Chucky.

Your captain should be a guy you die for on the ice, a guy that leads by example and stands up for his teammates at all times (see Iginla).
Christ, even JOHNATHAN TOEWS is standing up for his teammates, looking more aggressive on the ice and in the play then Gio and that's scares me.

[I_H8_Crawford]

Originally Posted by gt4flames

The sky is falling, trade Johnny for a lifetime supply of Philly cheese steaks.

With how he is perennially a complete no-show in the playoffs, that may just be his value now.

How many teams are going to trade high picks/prospects for a player who makes a decent amount of coin and is a complete liability when games get tough???

[868904]

Originally Posted by Royle9

I mean he said what anyone of them would say, its kind of cliche at this point. We've heard the same song and dance for 3 early playoff exits now.
I cant speak for you, but I'm honestly tired of hearing it. Talk the talk but now walk the walk, show us how desperate and determined you are to win a cup.

Gio certainly didn't battle back personally, liability all night.
They say the same thing all the time, the fact remains that the 3rd line is carrying this team and very few players including our #1 Dman and our #1 line have even been relevant in the post season.

Would have been nice to see Gio stick up for himself at the end of the 2nd period and lay some fists on the cheap hit Seguin gave him, at least then he'd look engaged and show his teammates he's ready to put in the work.

Instead he stood up and shrugged it off.
Hell as the CAPTAIN maybe even give Benn a talking to and rough him up a bit for the cheap shot on Chucky.

Your captain should be a guy you die for on the ice, a guy that leads by example and stands up for his teammates at all times (see Iginla).
Christ, even JOHNATHAN TOEWS is standing up for his teammates, looking more aggressive on the ice and in the play then Gio and that's scares me.

That kind of tough stuff happens at the end of a game. When it was 4-2 late, I was expecting the Flames to rough up the stars with scrums and fights but then they tied it up and were actually in position to win so the rough stuff can’t happen.

If the Flames are losing by two goals with less than 30 seconds, I bet we see the crash line out to cause trouble.

[868904]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I think the top line is having a tough time scoring because that line is not a 'dump and chase' line. When was Gaudreau and Monahan really effective? When they are scoring off the rush, IMO. I don't think either one of them - or even the top line in general - are very effective playing along the boards. They are better at it then before, but they don't generate anything at all. Ward needs to adjust that line's utilization, IMO. The rest of the team is playing fine along the boards, but not the top line. You can make an argument that Gaudreau no longer fits on the team because of it, but he is on the team right now in the playoffs, and Ward needs to get him off the boards and get the puck into his hands sooner, and have defencemen joining the rush to give him options. That's when Johnny is most effective, IMO.


Something has to change. This team is not going to go very far with a top line that is completely neutered offensively. You can win games without your best players, but it is tough to win a series - especially against good teams.


I don't know... you put up 4 goals and that should be enough, especially considering one goal got called back on top of it. Talbot hasn't looked very good, and neither did Bishop. The defence looked terrible - both defencemen and forwards turning the puck over or not picking up the right guys. It was just a disjointed looking team for the most part, and Dallas was as well.


Refs were bad - I usually expect bad calls now and then, but it seemed there was a lot of stuff that wasn't called (sometimes by either team, but I thought Dallas got away with more), and then Bennett got called for that? Even worse, the penalty on Giordano when battling Benn? There was a tonne of egregious penalties not called, but those are? I was surprised when they called the Radulov penalty on Giordano - I actually thought that Giordano was going to get called, and I think Giordano thought he was going to be called as well.


I really think that Calgary should open up the ice more for the top line and do their best to get them off their boards, and see if that helps. They haven't been digging many pucks out of the corners. When you see numbers like that from the top line - both raw scoring stats and the advanced metrics - but your players aren't hurt, obviously care enough to be playing hockey in the playoffs and are at least obviously putting the effort in defensively (aside from the game winning goal, but that's more of a mental mistake than an effort - and in all fairness, almost every player on the prior shift and almost every player on that particular shift were atrocious defensively) - you have to figure that it is something else. Unless they are playing through injuries (which it doesn't look like to me - Bennett does, but not anyone on the top line that I noticed), then I think it is the deployment/system.


The talent is obviously there on the top line. The effort is there (you have to really have a hate on to think that the top line hasn't been giving it a good effort). There are no apparent injuries. They were already having a down year in the regular season. I just think if I am Ward, I am going to look at how that top line scored often in the past - starting from whenever the Flames gained the puck in their own zone.


That's a line that is built to score off the rush, and they are not rushing, and so they are not scoring. That's what makes sense to me, anyway. It looks like none of them are playing with any confidence either, but even if players don't play with confidence, they at least can have decent underlying offensive metrics, not practically non-existent ones. My best is the system that the top line is playing under - I think you can tweak how the top line operates to better play to their strengths - Gaudreau along the boards is not a strength.

Goals aren’t scored off the rush in the playoffs, it rarely happens and it’ll be even rarer against one of the best defensive teams in the league. The Dube goal in game one was an exception, Stars’ weren’t ready and still in round robin mode.

First line has to adapt, play for rebounds, they have one of the best garbage men out there, SHOOT FOR REBOUNDS.

[CSharp]

Last minute tied 4-4 and you put Gaudreau out? That's a bad coaching decision. Talbot was weak all night as well down and slow on his knees as usual. I think the Ducks (Oops, the Stars) found the holes! So not pulling Talbot was another coaching mistake as Talbot will likely play again tonite back-to-back and it'll be a must win situation.

[VilleN]

Originally Posted by Moneyhands23

Yup. Guy just is to scared and doesn't have the drive to put on muscle. He and Monahan probably both need to go. Sucks to say, but it's just obvious

Why Monahan? I thought he has been ok, more of a physical presence than he has been. Gaudreau has been useless and invisible. Never dangerous. If he isn’t an offensive threat, he brings absolutely nothing. The writing is on the wall, if he doesn’t turn it around these playoffs he has to go.

[dissentowner]

Didn't log on here until today because I knew this thread would be full of ridiculous in the moment posts that are quite frankly embarassing.

[GoinAllTheWay]

I like playoff Bennett. Like, a lot.

Also, can someone find Monahan a helmet that fits?

[Wastedyouth]

Ah yes, we have re-entered "post one game loss in playoffs blow up entire organization and trade everyone and everyone sucks" mode.

Fun! I love this part!

[ricardodw]

Linholm played his best hockey of the last 2 games at least when he got to play with Backlund.

Move Rieder up to Monahan and Gaudreau and give them 3rd line minutes.