Flames should have won but Anderson was a wall tonight. More efforts like this would be nice to see. 4th line playing with a minute to go in the 3rd was something the coach should stop.
Just managed to catch the tail end of the shootout: Nylander scores, Backlund misses (blech).
Glad to hear they've tightened things up defensively. Obviously missing Versteeg in the shootout; I was a little surprised that Backlund was picked (only one attempt in 2016/17 -- did not score; prior to that you have to go back to 2013/14 when he had two attempts, did not score on either). Janko might have been a better pick; it's too bad Johnny doesn't do all that well in shootouts (only 3 for 15 in his career including tonight).
Generally liked the Flames game. Thought the D was tight and quite liked, especially, Kulak and Hamonic - both held their positions well and made smart plays.
Can't believe how often Flames players were right in front of the Leaf net, facing it, and the puck ended up behind them - a couple of times it stopped dead. No one could swing around fast enough to swat it in.
Entertaining and relatively fast paced - a few sloppy plays, but both goalies were excellent and stopped very good close-in chances. Not much to complain about at all.
Thought the call on Johnny was made up b/c they missed the hold on the breakaway, so just called something that looked kind of similar. Oh well. On to Montreal with a point in the pockets.
Leafs looked a little bit slow tonight, and we punished them for it. That's IMO one of the big strengths of our current systems and playstyle: if the other team is a little off their game, we force a ton of turnovers and own the puck all game. Our offensive execution was still pretty iffy though. Lots of bobbled passes and a pretty slow counterattack. Felt like there was only a handful of clean scoring chances. Most of our dangerous chances were broken plays and bouncing pucks that landed in a dangerous area, which is the result of having the puck a lot but not necessarily a result of good execution.
Definitely something to build off of. A strong game by Brodie and Hamonic in particular should do wonders for their confidence. Also some of our best work all season on the PK. But some of the flaws I worry about are still there: we still struggled to exit our zone with speed, especially against a forecheck, and our execution with the puck wasn't great.
Anderson 's best save was when he intentionally knocked the net off its posts. I love how the ref reviews it and says net was off so no goal. The NHL must consider it a good hockey play - all goalies should do it.
Last edited by Phaneuf_Phan; 12-07-2017 at 12:01 AM.
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Really great game by the Flames. Defence was great. No turnovers. Quick outs. Craig Button just said if not for Andersen this game would have been a blowout.
As far as GG, might be just me but in the third he looked like a different coach. Kept coming back with the top line when the face offs were in the Leafs end. Used Janko and Co. well. More of this please Glenn.
At some point, the bounces have to go this team's way. They're playing really good hockey again. No luck again tonight.
Ahahahahaha you're ridiculous, honestly. Did the Flames play a great game? Yes. Was it GG's fault we lost this one? Definitely not.
But to say 'we're playing great hockey again' after one good game is asinine. Especially after w got our asses whooped by the Leafs, Oilers and Flyers at home.
Ahahahahaha you're ridiculous, honestly. Did the Flames play a great game? Yes. Was it GG's fault we lost this one? Definitely not.
But to say 'we're playing great hockey again' after one good game is asinine. Especially after w got our asses whooped by the Leafs, Oilers and Flyers at home.
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Oh please. Move the goal posts where ever you’d like. In the last 5, we shutout a team 3-0 with shots 30-11. We got caved in twice by two canadian teams yet nearly fought back in one, chincy goals going both ways. Then back breaks costs us a great effort against a team due for a win. Oh then bad breaks again cost us a point against a “juggernaut” we dominated all night. A couple break our way and a few more point for and this slump looks like a streak. Flames are basically .500 last 5 games the way I see it. Be hyperbolic if you want but they are likely a lot closer to being “great again” than being poverty mode.
Just managed to catch the tail end of the shootout: Nylander scores, Backlund misses (blech).
Glad to hear they've tightened things up defensively. Obviously missing Versteeg in the shootout; I was a little surprised that Backlund was picked (only one attempt in 2016/17 -- did not score; prior to that you have to go back to 2013/14 when he had two attempts, did not score on either). Janko might have been a better pick; it's too bad Johnny doesn't do all that well in shootouts (only 3 for 15 in his career including tonight).
To me it did look like Johnny had Andersen beat 5-hole though, if he only hadn't bobbled the puck on his attempt.
Oh please. Move the goal posts where ever you’d like. In the last 5, we shutout a team 3-0 with shots 30-11. We got caved in twice by two canadian teams yet nearly fought back in one, chincy goals going both ways. Then back breaks costs us a great effort against a team due for a win. Oh then bad breaks again cost us a point against a “juggernaut” we dominated all night. A couple break our way and a few more point for and this slump looks like a streak. Flames are basically .500 last 5 games the way I see it. Be hyperbolic if you want but they are likely a lot closer to being “great again” than being poverty mode.
Talk about moving goalposts....
You can see it anyway you like but the FACT is that they are not .500. They are 1-3-1 with 18GA in that time span. They got blown out by the Leafs, they got blown out by the Oilers (anyone other than Broissoit in net, Flames don't score those flukey goals.) and they got blown out by the Flyers. Yeah, all signs of greatness...
The Flames played fantastic tonight. There is absolutely no doubt about that. However, one great game doesn't suddenly make them play "great hockey". A bad team can play great and win a single game, a great team can play a bad game and lose. What separates them is consistency. A great team will play great more often than not. Can you HONESTLY say that the Flames played great more often than not under Gulutzan?
Last edited by nemanja2306; 12-07-2017 at 12:35 AM.
